AMD Radeon 740M vs AMD Radeon HD 7770M Comparison

AMD’s two very different generations of mobile graphics collide in this comparison: the GCN 1.0-era Radeon HD 7770M, a discrete 28 nm part from 2012, and the RDNA 3.0-based Radeon 740M, a 4 nm integrated graphics processor from 2024. While the HD 7770M holds a single Geekbench Metal score of 13,536, the 740M counters with OpenCL and Vulkan results of 10,172 and 15,568 respectively. The average benchmark scores tell a tighter story than the architectural gap suggests: the HD 7770M averages 13,536 against the 740M’s 12,870, a difference of roughly 5% in favor of the older discrete GPU, though the 740M’s Vulkan result outstrips the HD 7770M’s best effort by over 2,000 points.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data presents a split decision. In the only directly comparable cross-API metric, the HD 7770M’s Geekbench Metal score of 13,536 places it in the 54th percentile of all GPUs, edging past the 740M’s average of 12,870, which sits in the 53rd percentile. That 666-point gap in average scores is modest but consistent across the rivals each GPU attracts. The HD 7770M’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 13,543, a delta of just -0.1%, meaning the 7770M essentially trades blows with a modern flagship in this specific legacy benchmark. Conversely, the 740M’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 580 at 12,928, with the 740M trailing by 0.4%, while it leads the AMD FirePro W5100 by 0.2% and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 by 0.3%.

Digging into the 740M’s individual scores reveals where its strength lies. Its Vulkan result of 15,568 is the single highest number in this entire comparison, surpassing the HD 7770M’s Metal score by 2,032 points, or roughly 15%. That Vulkan performance is what pushes the 740M’s average up, as its OpenCL score of 10,172 is significantly lower—about 35% below its own Vulkan result. The HD 7770M has no OpenCL or Vulkan figures in the data, so its 13,536 Metal score stands as its sole data point. When comparing the two GPUs directly, the 740M wins the Vulkan battle decisively, while the HD 7770M wins the overall average war by a narrow margin, largely because its only recorded benchmark happens to be competitive with the 740M’s peak.

The rivalry deltas also reveal how each GPU stacks against its own competitive set. The HD 7770M leads the NVIDIA P106-090 by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 by 1%, showing it is right at the median of its performance class. The 740M, meanwhile, is just as tightly clustered: it beats the FirePro W5100 and Pro 455 by 0.2% and 0.3% respectively, ties with the GTX 590 at 0.3%, and loses to the RX 580 by 0.4%. Neither GPU dominates its nearest rivals; both sit in a narrow performance band where a few points separate winners from losers. The practical takeaway is that in raw compute terms, these two are far closer than their release dates suggest.

Architecture Differences

The architectural chasm between these two parts is vast. The HD 7770M uses the Chelsea chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The 740M employs the Phoenix2 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process also at TSMC, packing 20,900 million transistors into a 137 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: the 740M achieves 152.6 million transistors per mm² versus the 7770M’s 12.2 million per mm², a more than 12-fold increase in packing efficiency.

Compute resources are inverted in an interesting way. The HD 7770M carries 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The 740M has exactly half the shading units at 256, half the TMUs at 16, and half the ROPs at 8. Yet the 740M compensates with clock speed and newer architecture: its base clock is 800 MHz with a boost of 2800 MHz, while the 7770M’s clock data is limited to a memory clock of 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). The 740M’s FP32 compute is 2.867 TFLOPS against the 7770M’s 691.2 GFLOPS—a 4.1x advantage. The 740M also supports FP16 at 2.867 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), a feature entirely absent from the 7770M’s spec sheet.

Memory configuration could not be more different. The HD 7770M uses 1024 MB of dedicated GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 64.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The 740M relies on System Shared memory with a System Dependent bandwidth figure and a bus width that is also system-dependent. This makes the 740M’s performance heavily reliant on the host system’s memory speed, whereas the 7770M has fixed, predictable bandwidth. The 740M’s pixel rate of 22.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 44.80 GTexel/s more than double the 7770M’s 10.80 GPixel/s and 21.60 GTexel/s, despite the fewer ROPs and TMUs, thanks to the massive clock advantage.

Feature support diverges sharply. The 740M includes 4 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the 7770M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1). Vulkan support also differs: the 740M runs Vulkan 1.4, the 7770M only 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The 740M is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a 45 W TDP and no power connectors, while the 7770M is a discrete part with a 32 W TDP—notably, the newer integrated chip draws more power than the older discrete one. The 740M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, the 7770M uses PCIe 2.0 x16. The 740M is built on the Navi III IGP generation with a predecessor of Navi II IGP, while the 7770M belongs to the London (HD 7700M) generation, succeeded by Solar System.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 7770M wins in scenarios where consistent, dedicated memory bandwidth matters. Its fixed 64.00 GB/s GDDR5 allocation ensures predictable performance regardless of system memory configuration, which is critical for legacy applications and older game engines that cannot dynamically allocate shared memory efficiently. Its 512 shading units, double the 740M’s count, also help in compute workloads that scale with raw shader count rather than clock speed. The 7770M’s 54th percentile ranking, slightly above the 740M’s 53rd, suggests it holds a marginal edge in overall benchmark averages, likely due to that dedicated memory advantage.

The 740M wins decisively in modern API workloads. Its Vulkan score of 15,568 is the standout number in this comparison, 15% above the 7770M’s Metal result. This indicates the 740M is far better suited to modern titles that leverage Vulkan’s low-overhead architecture. The 740M’s FP16 support at 2.867 TFLOPS (1:1) gives it a compute advantage in workloads that utilize half-precision arithmetic, common in AI inference and certain graphics effects. The 4 ray tracing cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, something the 7770M lacks entirely. The 740M’s 2.867 TFLOPS FP32 output is 4.1x higher than the 7770M’s 691.2 GFLOPS, meaning any compute-bound task that can utilize the 740M’s architecture will see massive gains.

The 740M also wins on connectivity and power efficiency in a broader sense. Its PCIe 4.0 x8 interface offers double the bandwidth per lane of the 7770M’s PCIe 2.0 x16, and its 4 nm process node represents a generational leap in efficiency that allows 20,900 million transistors to operate within a 45 W envelope. The 7770M’s 28 nm process is long obsolete, and its end-of-life production status contrasts with the 740M’s active status. For anyone running modern games that support DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan 1.4, the 740M is the clear choice, despite its lower average benchmark score.

The Verdict

The data does not crown a single outright winner; it identifies two different tools for two different jobs. The AMD Radeon HD 7770M is the choice for legacy software compatibility and scenarios where dedicated VRAM is non-negotiable. Its 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory and 64.00 GB/s bandwidth provide a stable foundation for older DirectX 11-era titles, and its 54th percentile standing with a 13,536 Metal score shows it remains competitive even against modern parts like the RX 9070 XT in that specific benchmark. Gamers with older libraries or productivity apps that rely on Metal performance should not dismiss this 2012-era chip.

The AMD Radeon 740M is the pick for modern workloads and API-forward applications. Its Vulkan score of 15,568 is the highest single benchmark in this comparison, and its ray tracing cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility make it future-proof in ways the 7770M cannot match. The 740M’s 2.867 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 performance dwarf the 7770M’s 691.2 GFLOPS, and its 4 nm process node represents the current state of the art in integrated graphics. The trade-off is its system-shared memory, which introduces variability that the discrete 7770M avoids.

Strictly from the numbers, the 740M is the better overall investment for anyone running current software, despite its slightly lower average benchmark score. The 7770M’s edge in the average is a function of its single Metal benchmark being strong, not a reflection of broader superiority. The 740M’s two benchmarks show a wider range—10,172 OpenCL to 15,568 Vulkan—indicating it scales with API utilization, while the 7770M is locked into one performance tier. The 740M’s active production status, modern feature set, and higher peak performance make it the rational choice for new systems. The 7770M remains a curiosity for retro builds and specific legacy use cases.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7770M has an average benchmark score of 13,536, compared to the AMD Radeon 740M’s 12,870, a difference of 666 points in favor of the 7770M.

Q: What is the highest single benchmark score recorded between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon 740M’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 15,568 is the highest, surpassing the HD 7770M’s Geekbench Metal score of 13,536 by 2,032 points.

Q: How do the shading unit counts compare?

A: The HD 7770M has 512 shading units, while the 740M has 256—exactly half. Despite this, the 740M’s higher clock speeds (boost up to 2800 MHz) give it 2.867 TFLOPS FP32 versus the 7770M’s 691.2 GFLOPS.

Q: Does the Radeon 740M support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the 740M includes 4 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The HD 7770M has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (11_1).

Q: What memory configurations do these GPUs use?

A: The HD 7770M uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The 740M uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth and bus width, meaning its performance depends on the host system’s memory.

Q: Which GPU is currently in production?

A: The AMD Radeon 740M is marked as Active, while the AMD Radeon HD 7770M is End-of-life. The 740M was released on 2024-01-30, while the 7770M dates from 2012-04-23.