AMD Radeon 840M vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 Comparison

FAQ

Q: What are the fundamental differences between the AMD Radeon 840M and the AMD Radeon RX 9070?

A: The Radeon 840M is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, using the Krackan Point chip, while the RX 9070 is a discrete dual-slot graphics card based on RDNA 4.0, using the Navi 48 chip. The 840M has a 15 W TDP and relies on system shared memory, whereas the RX 9070 has a 220 W TDP with 16 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus.

Q: How do their benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 23,877, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. The Radeon 840M has no recorded benchmark scores and an average score of 0, placing it in the 50th percentile. The RX 9070 delivers substantial performance in every recorded test category.

Q: What are the key architectural differences?

A: The 840M uses RDNA 3.5 with 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, 8 ROPs, and 4 RT cores. The RX 9070 uses RDNA 4.0 with 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, 128 ROPs, and 56 RT cores. Both are built on TSMC's 4 nm process, but the RX 9070's chip contains 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die.

Q: What are the clock speed differences?

A: The 840M has a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. The RX 9070 has a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The RX 9070 also has a memory clock of 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), whereas the 840M uses system shared memory with dependent bandwidth.

Q: What APIs do these GPUs support?

A: Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 9070's display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, while the 840M's outputs are portable device dependent.

Q: What is the release timing for each product?

A: The Radeon 840M was released on 2025-02-28, and the Radeon RX 9070 was released on 2025-03-05. Both are listed as Active in production status. The RX 9070 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent distinct tiers within AMD's mobile and desktop stacks. The Radeon 840M is an integrated part of the Krackan Point chip, built on RDNA 3.5, and designated as part of the Navi III IGP generation for Strix Point Mobile. The RX 9070 belongs to the Radeon RX 9000 series, uses the Navi 48 chip, and represents the Navi IV generation. Both share the same 4 nm TSMC fabrication process, but that is where the similarity ends.

The compute configuration differs dramatically. The 840M has 256 shading units, 16 texture mapping units, and 8 raster output units, with 4 RT cores. The RX 9070 scales this up to 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, with 56 RT cores. That represents a 14-fold increase in shading units and a 14-fold increase in RT cores. The pixel rate for the 840M is 23.20 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 46.40 GTexel/s; the RX 9070 reaches 322.6 GPixel/s and 564.5 GTexel/s respectively.

Memory architecture is a fundamental separator. The 840M uses system shared memory, with its bandwidth described as system dependent and no dedicated VRAM. The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. This dedicated memory arrangement removes the bottleneck of sharing system RAM with the CPU, directly impacting texture streaming and high-resolution rendering.

The transistor count and die size provide additional context. The RX 9070's Navi 48 chip houses 53,900 million transistors across a 357 mm² die, with a transistor density of 151.0M per mm². The 840M's transistor count and die size are unknown, but its integrated nature and much smaller shading unit count suggest a far smaller footprint.

Clock behavior also differs. The 840M boosts to 2900 MHz from a 400 MHz base, which is a very high boost for an IGP. The RX 9070 operates at a 1330 MHz base, 2070 MHz game clock, and 2520 MHz boost. Despite the lower boost clock, the RX 9070's massive compute unit count gives it overwhelming throughput. The FP32 performance is 1,484.8 GFLOPS for the 840M versus 36.13 TFLOPS for the RX 9070, a more than 24-fold difference. Both offer FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32.

The power envelope reflects the performance gap. The 840M is rated at 15 W with no power connectors, typical of an integrated solution. The RX 9070 requires 220 W, uses two 8-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 550 W. The RX 9070 is a dual-slot card, while the 840M is an IGP with no slot width. The bus interface differs too: PCIe 4.0 x8 for the 840M versus PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RX 9070.

The Verdict

The recorded data points to two completely different market segments. The Radeon 840M is an integrated graphics solution for portable devices, with a 15 W TDP and system shared memory. Its 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs, despite having no benchmark scores, reflects its position as a capable IGP for light workloads. The RX 9070 sits in the 69th percentile with an average benchmark score of 23,877, placing it in the upper tier of discrete graphics cards.

For users constrained to a portable device without discrete graphics, the 840M is the only option of the two. Its 2900 MHz boost clock and 256 shading units handle basic rendering tasks, and its RDNA 3.5 architecture brings modern feature support including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. The data shows no benchmark scores for this chip, so quantitative performance claims cannot be made.

For anyone building a desktop system with a dedicated GPU, the RX 9070 is the clear choice. Its 16 GB GDDR6 memory, 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, and 3,584 shading units deliver scores of 25,381 in Passmark G3D and 131,539 in Geekbench OpenCL. The RX 9070 outperforms its nearest rivals: it is 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile, 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800S, and 1.2% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER.

The verdict from the data is straightforward: the 840M serves the integrated mobile segment, while the RX 9070 serves the performance desktop segment. They are not competitors but rather different product categories within AMD's lineup.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The 840M uses the Krackan Point chip with RDNA 3.5 architecture, while the RX 9070 uses the Navi 48 chip with RDNA 4.0. The 840M is in the Navi III IGP generation, and the RX 9070 is in the Navi IV generation. Both are 4 nm TSMC parts, but the RX 9070 has a known transistor count of 53,900 million and die size of 357 mm², while the 840M's are listed as unknown.

Clock speeds diverge significantly. The 840M has a 400 MHz base and 2900 MHz boost. The RX 9070 has a 1330 MHz base, 2070 MHz game clock, and 2520 MHz boost, plus a 2518 MHz memory clock. Memory configuration is entirely different: system shared for the 840M versus 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth for the RX 9070.

The compute units scale massively. The 840M has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, 8 ROPs, and 4 RT cores. The RX 9070 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, 128 ROPs, and 56 RT cores. Pixel rate goes from 23.20 GPixel/s to 322.6 GPixel/s, texture rate from 46.40 GTexel/s to 564.5 GTexel/s, and FP32 from 1,484.8 GFLOPS to 36.13 TFLOPS.

Power and physical specifications differ completely. The 840M is rated at 15 W with no power connectors and IGP slot width. The RX 9070 is rated at 220 W with two 8-pin connectors, a dual-slot design, and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The bus interface moves from PCIe 4.0 x8 to PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the 840M, while the RX 9070 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a.

Release dates are close: 2025-02-28 for the 840M and 2025-03-05 for the RX 9070. The RX 9070 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD. The 840M's predecessor is listed as Navi II IGP, and the RX 9070's predecessor is Navi III. Both support the same API set: DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark data contains no direct comparison entries, so the analysis relies on the RX 9070's recorded benchmark suite. The Radeon 840M has no benchmark scores in the database, making direct numerical comparison impossible. The RX 9070's scores provide the only quantitative performance data available.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 9070 scores 6,290. This test targets modern DirectX 12 workloads with heavy geometry and ray tracing effects. The score indicates strong rasterization and ray tracing throughput, consistent with the 56 RT cores and 128 ROPs.

Geekbench OpenCL shows a score of 131,539 for the RX 9070. This compute-oriented benchmark exercises general purpose GPU workloads. The score reflects the 3,584 shading units and 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 performance. Geekbench Vulkan records 58,705, showing the GPU's cross-API compute capability.

Passmark results break down by DirectX version. The RX 9070 scores 343 in DirectX 9, 281 in DirectX 11, and 74 in DirectX 12. The lower DirectX 12 score compared to DirectX 9 is typical of Passmark's older test methodology, which does not fully utilize modern GPU features. The G3D score of 25,381 provides the overall graphics performance metric, while G2D scores 1,280 for 2D operations. GPU compute scores 14,737, reinforcing the compute-oriented design.

The average benchmark score of 23,877 places the RX 9070 in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals cluster closely: the GTX TITAN Z averages 23,736 (0.6% behind), the RX 6800S averages 24,063 (0.8% ahead), the RTX 3080 Mobile averages 23,628 (1.1% behind), and the RTX 2080 SUPER averages 24,170 (1.2% ahead). This tight grouping suggests the RX 9070 sits within a narrow performance band around these established cards.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon 840M wins in scenarios where its integrated nature is the deciding factor. Its 15 W TDP means no external power connectors are needed, making it suitable for portable devices where power consumption and physical space are constrained. The 2900 MHz boost clock is notably high for an IGP, and its 256 shading units with 4 RT cores provide entry-level ray tracing support. The system shared memory model eliminates the cost and complexity of dedicated VRAM, which is appropriate for lightweight workloads.

The RX 9070 wins decisively in every performance category with recorded data. Its 16 GB GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth handle high-resolution textures and large datasets that would overwhelm system shared memory. The 3,584 shading units deliver 36.13 TFLOPS FP32, which is essential for modern gaming and compute tasks. The 56 RT cores provide substantially more ray tracing capability than the 840M's 4 cores. The 220 W TDP and dual 8-pin connectors indicate a card designed for sustained high-performance workloads.

The use-case split is clear from the data. For integrated graphics in a portable device, the 840M is the only viable choice between the two. For discrete desktop graphics where performance is the priority, the RX 9070 wins every measurable metric. The RX 9070's percentile ranking of 69 versus the 840M's 50, and its average benchmark score of 23,877 versus 0, quantify the performance chasm. The RX 9070 also offers more display outputs, a faster PCIe interface, and dedicated memory, making it the superior choice for any workload that can accommodate its power and space requirements.