AMD Radeon 780M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon 780M compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 in average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon 780M records an average benchmark score of 17,588, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 scores 14,747. This places the 780M in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 770 sits in the 57th percentile.

Q: Which GPU wins in Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD Radeon 780M dominates in Vulkan, scoring 33,683 versus 19,166 for the GTX 770. That is a 75.7% advantage for the 780M, the largest single benchmark gap between the two cards.

Q: What about OpenCL performance?

A: The 780M also leads in OpenCL, posting 18,602 points against 15,707 for the GTX 770, an 18.4% margin. The GTX 770 does have a Metal benchmark score of 9,369, but the 780M has no recorded Metal result in the database.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card based on average score?

A: The 780M's closest competitors are the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, just 0.2% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639, 0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17,666, 0.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17,509, 0.5% behind). The GTX 770's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14,692, 0.4% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000 (14,532, 1.5% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (15,063, 2.1% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560X (15,082, 2.2% ahead).

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor count?

A: The AMD Radeon 780M packs 25,390 million transistors on a 178 mm² die, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 has 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The 780M's transistor density is 142.6 million per mm² versus 12.0 million per mm² for the GTX 770.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The 780M is an integrated graphics processor with a 15 W TDP and no power connectors, while the GTX 770 is a dual-slot discrete card with a 230 W TDP, requiring one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector, with a suggested 550 W power supply.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data paints a clear picture: the AMD Radeon 780M wins both head-to-head tests recorded, taking the OpenCL and Vulkan contests by substantial margins. Its 18.4% OpenCL lead over the GTX 770 translates into a meaningful advantage for compute-heavy workloads that leverage OpenCL acceleration. The Vulkan gap is even more pronounced at 75.7%, indicating that the 780M is the stronger choice for modern graphics APIs and the workload patterns they enable.

The GTX 770, by contrast, has no benchmark wins in the head-to-head comparison. Its recorded strengths lie elsewhere: it offers a Metal score of 9,369, a benchmark category where the 780M has no recorded data. For users specifically targeting Metal-based applications, the GTX 770 at least provides a measurable data point, though the 780M's absence from that test leaves the comparison incomplete.

In terms of overall standing, the 780M's 61st percentile placement versus the GTX 770's 57th percentile shows that the integrated part sits above its older discrete rival in the broader GPU landscape. The 780M's average score of 17,588 is 19.3% higher than the GTX 770's 14,747, a decisive margin. The 780M also sits within 0.5% of the Radeon Pro 460 and 0.2% of the Radeon Pro 560, while the GTX 770 trails its nearest rival, the Radeon RX 5500 XT, by only 0.4%, and sits 2.1% behind the GTX 660 Ti. This suggests the 780M competes in a slightly higher performance tier than the GTX 770, despite being an integrated solution.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different design eras and philosophies. The AMD Radeon 780M uses the Phoenix chip built on RDNA 3.0 architecture, part of the Navi III IGP generation, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 uses the GK104 chip based on Kepler architecture, belonging to the GeForce 700 generation, and is built on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. The process node gap is stark: 4 nm versus 28 nm, which explains the massive difference in transistor density (142.6M per mm² versus 12.0M per mm²).

The 780M is an integrated graphics processor with a 15 W TDP, while the GTX 770 is a discrete, dual-slot card drawing 230 W. The 780M has no power connectors and relies on the motherboard for display output, whereas the GTX 770 requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector and provides dedicated display outputs including dual DVI, HDMI 1.4a, and DisplayPort 1.2. The bus interfaces also differ: the 780M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the GTX 770 uses PCIe 3.0 x16.

API support reflects their respective generations. The 780M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 770 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The 780M also includes 12 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the GTX 770, which has no ray tracing hardware. The GTX 770 lacks any recorded tensor cores or RT cores, while the 780M's ray tracing capability positions it for modern rendering workloads that the older Kepler card cannot handle.

Specification Differences

The most obvious specification difference is memory. The 780M uses system shared memory, with size, type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as system dependent. The GTX 770 has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 224.4 GB/s of bandwidth. This means the GTX 770 has a fixed, dedicated memory pool, while the 780M's memory performance scales with the host system's RAM.

Clock speeds also diverge significantly. The 780M has a base clock of 800 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz, with memory clock listed as system shared. The GTX 770 runs at a base clock of 1046 MHz and boost of 1085 MHz, with memory clocked at 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The 780M's boost clock is nearly three times higher than the GTX 770's, though the GTX 770's dedicated memory clock provides consistent bandwidth.

The compute unit layouts differ as well. The 780M has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 770 has 1536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Despite having half the shading units and fewer TMUs, the 780M achieves higher fill rates: 92.80 GPixel/s versus 34.72 GPixel/s in pixel rate, and 139.2 GTexel/s versus 138.9 GTexel/s in texture rate. The FP32 compute is also lopsided: 8.909 TFLOPS for the 780M versus 3.333 TFLOPS for the GTX 770. The 780M also lists FP16 performance at 8.909 TFLOPS (1:1), while the GTX 770 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Physical dimensions and power requirements separate the two further. The GTX 770 measures 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width, and requires a 550 W suggested power supply. The 780M, as an IGP, has no listed dimensions, no power connectors, and a 15 W TDP. The GTX 770 was released in 2013 and is end-of-life, while the 780M was released in 2024 and remains active. The GTX 770 had a launch MSRP of 399 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head benchmark results both favor the AMD Radeon 780M, but the margins tell different stories about where each card's strengths lie.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the 780M scores 18,602 against the GTX 770's 15,707. That is an 18.4% advantage. This result aligns with the 780M's compute-oriented RDNA 3.0 architecture, which delivers 8.909 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The GTX 770's Kepler architecture, meanwhile, manages 3.333 TFLOPS, and the OpenCL test reflects that gap. The 780M's higher shading units, despite their lower count, are offset by much higher clock speeds, and the data shows the integrated part pulling ahead in a general-purpose compute workload.

The Vulkan benchmark is where the 780M truly runs away. The 780M scores 33,683, while the GTX 770 manages 19,166, a 75.7% difference. This is the largest single gap in the head-to-head data, and it highlights the generational advantage of the 780M's modern API support. The 780M supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 770 is limited to Vulkan 1.2.175, and the 780M's DirectX 12 Ultimate support further underscores its readiness for contemporary graphics workloads. The GTX 770's DirectX 12 (11_0) support is a legacy feature set by comparison.

The 780M's win count in the head-to-head is 2 wins to 0 losses, with no recorded losses. The GTX 770 has 0 wins and is the clear underdog in both tests. The average benchmark score gap of 17,588 versus 14,747 confirms the overall trend, as does the percentile placement of 61st for the 780M against 57th for the GTX 770. The 780M's nearest rival data shows it sits within 0.2% of the Radeon Pro 560 and 0.5% behind the Radeon Pro 460, while the GTX 770's nearest rival data shows it trailing the RX 5500 XT by 0.4% and trailing the Quadro M2000 by 1.4%. None of those rival deltas approach the margins seen in the head-to-head tests, meaning the 780M's advantage over the GTX 770 is not a marginal one, it is substantial and consistent across both recorded benchmarks.