AMD Radeon 780M vs NVIDIA N1 16SM Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon 780M and the NVIDIA N1 16SM occupy different positions in the database, and their strengths are defined by what each was designed to do. The Radeon 780M has recorded benchmark scores across three separate tests, while the NVIDIA N1 16SM currently has no recorded benchmark entries. This absence of data for the N1 16SM means the comparison must rely on architectural specifications and the Radeon 780M’s measured performance.

The AMD Radeon 780M wins decisively in any test that has been run. Its recorded scores include 480 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 18,602 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 33,683 in Geekbench Vulkan. These figures place it at the 61st percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17,588. The NVIDIA N1 16SM, by contrast, sits at the 50th percentile and has an average benchmark score of zero, as no tests have been completed.

The Radeon 780M also leads in pixel throughput. It delivers 92.80 GPixel/s, while the N1 16SM manages 56.30 GPixel/s. This represents a significant advantage for the AMD part in fill-rate-bound workloads, such as heavy fragment shading or high-resolution rendering. However, the NVIDIA part counters in texture throughput, posting 300.3 GTexel/s against the Radeon’s 139.2 GTexel/s, a gap of roughly 116 percent.

In raw floating-point compute, the NVIDIA N1 16SM edges ahead. It delivers 9.609 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, while the Radeon 780M produces 8.909 TFLOPS for both formats. The NVIDIA part therefore holds a modest lead of about 7.9 percent in theoretical shader throughput, though this advantage comes with a much larger die and a different memory configuration.

Architecture Differences

The two chips come from different manufacturers and different architectural generations. The AMD Radeon 780M uses the Phoenix chip built on RDNA 3.0, part of the Navi III IGP generation. It is fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC, with 25,390 million transistors on a 178 mm² die. The NVIDIA N1 16SM uses the GB20B chip built on Blackwell 2.0, part of the Blackwell IGP generation, also fabricated at TSMC but on a 5 nm process. Its die size is considerably larger at 382 mm², though its transistor count is listed as unknown in the database.

Shader resources differ sharply. The Radeon 780M has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The N1 16SM has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units. The NVIDIA part therefore has 2.67 times the shading units and 2.67 times the texture units, but 25 percent fewer ROPs. This explains the divergence in pixel and texture rates: the Radeon has more ROPs, while the NVIDIA part relies on its far larger TMU count.

Ray tracing hardware also differs. The Radeon 780M includes 12 ray tracing cores, while the N1 16SM includes 16. Additionally, the NVIDIA part has 64 tensor cores, which the Radeon lacks entirely. Tensor cores are specialized for matrix operations, often used in AI inference and certain compute workloads, so the N1 16SM offers capabilities that the AMD part cannot match.

Memory architecture is a fundamental split. The Radeon 780M uses system-shared memory, with a bus width, type, and bandwidth all listed as system dependent. There is no dedicated VRAM. The NVIDIA N1 16SM, however, has 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 273.2 GB/s. Its memory clock is listed as 1067 MHz with 8.5 Gbps effective. This is a substantial fixed memory pool, far beyond what any integrated part typically uses, and it operates at a specific bandwidth rather than being dependent on the host system’s memory configuration.

Clock speeds also differ. The Radeon 780M has a base clock of 800 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. The N1 16SM has a base clock of 741 MHz and a boost clock of 2346 MHz. Despite the lower clocks, the NVIDIA part’s much higher shader count lets it reach a higher FP32 throughput. The Radeon’s higher boost clock helps it achieve its pixel rate, since pixel rate scales with ROP count and clock frequency.

Interface and display support differ as well. The Radeon 780M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the N1 16SM uses PCIe 5.0 x16, offering double the lanes at a newer generation. Display outputs are motherboard dependent for the AMD part, while the NVIDIA part lists a single HDMI output. Power connectors are absent on both, as both are integrated GPUs. The Radeon 780M has a TDP of 15 W; the N1 16SM’s TDP is unknown.

API support is another major distinction. The Radeon 780M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA N1 16SM lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, indicating it either does not expose these APIs or the database has not recorded them. This is a substantial functional difference for any software that relies on standard graphics APIs.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split in use cases. The AMD Radeon 780M is the only one of the two with measured benchmark results, and those results place it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 17,588 sits nearly even with several discrete GPUs from the database: the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17,551 with a delta of 0.2 percent, the AMD Radeon Pro 460 scores 17,509 with a delta of 0.5 percent, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 scores 17,639 with a delta of -0.3 percent. The Radeon 780M is therefore within a fraction of a percent of these parts in average performance, despite being an integrated processor.

The NVIDIA N1 16SM has no benchmark scores, no recorded average, and no rivals in the database. Its percentile of 50 is a default placement, not a measured result. Any assessment of its performance must come from its specifications alone. Those specifications show a part with 2,048 shading units, 128 texture units, 64 tensor cores, and 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory. This is a configuration aimed at compute-heavy or memory-intensive workloads, not necessarily at standard graphics API rendering, given the lack of recorded DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan support.

The Radeon 780M is the better choice for any application that requires established graphics API support and known performance. Its Vulkan score of 33,683 and OpenCL score of 18,602 confirm it can handle general-purpose compute and modern graphics workloads. Its 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support make it suitable for gaming and real-time rendering tasks.

The NVIDIA N1 16SM is the better choice for workloads that can leverage its tensor cores and massive memory bandwidth. Its 273.2 GB/s bandwidth and 128 GB capacity are orders of magnitude beyond the system-shared approach of the Radeon, but only if software can actually use them. Without recorded API support, its utility in conventional graphics pipelines remains unverified.

For a system builder needing a known, measured integrated GPU with broad software compatibility, the Radeon 780M is the data-backed pick. For a workload that specifically needs tensor cores, high bandwidth, and a very large memory pool, the N1 16SM’s specifications make it a candidate, but its lack of benchmark data means performance cannot be confirmed.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon 780M has an average benchmark score of 17,588. The NVIDIA N1 16SM has an average benchmark score of 0, as no benchmarks have been recorded for it.

Q: How does the Radeon 780M compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Radeon 780M is within 0.5 percent of its nearest rivals. It is 0.2 percent faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 560, 0.5 percent faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 460, 0.3 percent slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, and 0.4 percent slower than the AMD Radeon HD 7790.

Q: What memory configuration does the NVIDIA N1 16SM use?

A: The N1 16SM uses 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 273.2 GB/s and a memory clock of 1067 MHz with 8.5 Gbps effective.

Q: Does the NVIDIA N1 16SM support DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan?

A: The database lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan support on the N1 16SM. The AMD Radeon 780M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA N1 16SM has 2,048 shading units, while the AMD Radeon 780M has 768 shading units.

Q: What is the pixel rate difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon 780M has a pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s, while the NVIDIA N1 16SM has a pixel rate of 56.30 GPixel/s. The Radeon leads by roughly 65 percent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

No head-to-head benchmark results are recorded in the database for these two parts. The winsA and winsB fields are both zero, and the headToHeadBenchmarks array is empty. This means there is no direct test where both GPUs ran the same workload and produced comparable scores.

The closest available comparison comes from the AMD Radeon 780M’s individual benchmark results and the NVIDIA N1 16SM’s specifications. The Radeon 780M scores 480 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 18,602 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 33,683 in Geekbench Vulkan. These are its only recorded measurements.

In theoretical compute, the NVIDIA N1 16SM shows a higher FP32 figure at 9.609 TFLOPS versus 8.909 TFLOPS for the Radeon 780M. That is a 7.9 percent advantage for NVIDIA. The texture rate also favors NVIDIA strongly: 300.3 GTexel/s versus 139.2 GTexel/s, a 116 percent lead.

The AMD Radeon 780M leads in pixel rate, with 92.80 GPixel/s versus 56.30 GPixel/s for the N1 16SM. It also leads in clock speed, with a boost of 2900 MHz versus 2346 MHz. The Radeon’s process node is smaller at 4 nm versus 5 nm, and its die is far smaller at 178 mm² versus 382 mm².

The NVIDIA part counters with its memory pool. The Radeon 780M has no dedicated memory, relying on system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The N1 16SM has 128 GB of LPDDR5X at 273.2 GB/s, a fixed and large resource. The NVIDIA part also has more ray tracing cores (16 versus 12) and 64 tensor cores, which the Radeon does not have at all.

The Radeon 780M’s average score of 17,588 places it at the 61st percentile, with rivals that include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 at 17,639 and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17,551. The N1 16SM has no rivals listed and no scores, so it cannot be positioned relative to these parts.

In practical terms, the Radeon 780M is a measured performer within 0.5 percent of several discrete GPUs. The N1 16SM is an unmeasured part whose specifications suggest high compute and memory capacity, but whose actual benchmark behavior remains unknown. Any direct comparison of the two must therefore rely on the recorded scores for the AMD part and the architectural specifications for the NVIDIA part.