AMD Radeon 880M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M and AMD Radeon 880M occupy very different positions in the mobile graphics landscape, separated by a decade of architectural evolution. The GTX 850M, built on NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture at 28 nm, was designed for gaming laptops of its era, while the Radeon 880M, using RDNA 3.5 on a 4 nm process, is a modern integrated graphics solution for Strix Point mobile processors. The recorded benchmark data shows a decisive overall winner, but the details of where each part excels and how they compare to their respective peers paint a more nuanced picture.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two direct benchmark comparisons available in the database are the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests. The results are starkly one-sided. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon 880M scores 31,285 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M manages 9,821 points. The 880M leads by 68.6% in this test, a massive margin that reflects the substantial generational gap between the two parts. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further: the 880M scores 40,006 points against the 850M's 8,782 points, a 78% advantage for AMD.

These deltas are not modest improvements; they represent a complete overhaul in compute capability. The Vulkan result is particularly telling because it measures modern graphics API performance, where the 880M's newer architecture and features provide a fundamental advantage. The 850M, with its DirectX 12 (11_0) API support, cannot match the 880M's DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) level, which includes hardware ray tracing cores and other advanced features.

The average benchmark score across all recorded tests further confirms the hierarchy. The 880M averages 8,436 points across a broader suite that includes PassMark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, plus compute and 2D tests. The 850M averages 9,302 points, but this figure is based solely on the two Geekbench tests, so it is not directly comparable. What is comparable is the head-to-head result: two wins for the 880M, zero for the 850M.

Where Each One Wins

Given the head-to-head results, the AMD Radeon 880M wins every direct comparison in the database. Its OpenCL and Vulkan scores are not just higher; they are dramatically higher, indicating superior compute throughput and modern API efficiency. The 880M also shows strength across the PassMark suite, with its DirectX 9 score of 97 and DirectX 11 score of 73 standing out relative to its other results, suggesting legacy DirectX workloads run relatively well on this hardware.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M, however, is not without a case in its own context. Its average score of 9,302 places it in the 46th percentile of all GPUs, while the 880M sits in the 43rd percentile. This means the 850M outperforms a slightly larger share of the GPU population in the database, even though it loses to the 880M directly. The 850M's nearest rivals include the GTX 465 (average 9,294, within 0.1%), the Radeon R7 M380 (9,313, 0.1% behind), the GTX 960 (9,273, 0.3% ahead), and the Radeon Vega 8 (9,221, 0.9% ahead). These are all older discrete or integrated parts, and the 850M sits right among them, showing it was competitive for its generation.

The 880M's nearest rivals tell a different story. It sits within 0.3% of the GeForce MX330 (8,458) and the Radeon HD 8870M (8,462), while being 0.1% behind the GTX 675MX (8,427) and 1.3% ahead of the R9 M375X (8,325). These are all older discrete mobile GPUs, and the 880M, as an integrated solution, matches or beats them. This is the key insight: the 880M is an IGP that competes with discrete graphics from previous generations, while the 850M is a discrete GPU that competes with its own contemporaries.

For use-case splits, the data supports the 880M for any modern, compute-heavy workload. Its OpenCL score of 31,285 suggests strong general-purpose GPU compute, and its Vulkan score of 40,006 indicates excellent performance in modern game engines that use Vulkan. The 850M, with its lower but still respectable scores, would be better suited for older DirectX 11-era titles or applications that do not leverage modern APIs, where its 46th percentile standing among all GPUs gives it a more favorable relative position.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by more than just time; their fundamental designs diverge completely. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M uses the GM107 chip, built on the Maxwell architecture at a 28 nm process node from TSMC. It packs 1,870 million transistors into a 148 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The 880M, in contrast, uses the Strix Point chip with RDNA 3.5 architecture, fabricated on a 4 nm process. It contains 34,000 million transistors across a 233 mm² die, a density of 145.9 million per square millimeter, over 11 times higher.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The 850M has 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 32.03 GB/s of bandwidth. The 880M uses system shared memory, with its bandwidth described as system dependent. This means the 880M's memory performance varies with the host system's RAM configuration, while the 850M has fixed, dedicated bandwidth. In practice, the 850M's dedicated memory avoids contention with the CPU, but its 32.03 GB/s is low by modern standards.

Compute resources also differ. The 850M has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The 880M has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The 880M also includes 12 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the 850M. Pixel rate for the 850M is 14.43 GPixel/s, while the 880M reaches 46.40 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 36.08 GTexel/s for the 850M versus 139.2 GTexel/s for the 880M. Floating point performance (FP32) is 1,154.6 GFLOPS for the 850M and 4.454 TFLOPS for the 880M, nearly four times higher. The 880M also supports FP16 at 4.454 TFLOPS (1:1), which the 850M does not offer at all.

Clock speeds reflect their different roles. The 850M runs its memory at 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective), with no base or boost clock listed for the core. The 880M has a 400 MHz base clock and a 2900 MHz boost clock, showing a wide dynamic range for power management. Power consumption differs substantially: the 850M has a TDP of 45 W, while the 880M is rated at 15 W. Both are classified as IGP (integrated graphics) slot width with no power connectors, and both are portable device dependent for display outputs.

API support further separates them. The 850M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 880M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 12_2 feature level in the 880M enables hardware ray tracing, mesh shaders, and other modern rendering techniques. Both use PCIe, but the 850M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 while the 880M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, a trade-off between lanes and bandwidth that favors the newer standard.

The Verdict

The recorded data points to a clear verdict: the AMD Radeon 880M is the superior GPU in direct competition. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 68.6% and 78%, has nearly four times the FP32 throughput, supports modern API features like DirectX 12 Ultimate and ray tracing, and does all of this at a 15 W TDP compared to the 850M's 45 W. For any application that uses OpenCL, Vulkan, or modern DirectX, the 880M is the better choice.

However, the percentile rankings add context. The 850M sits in the 46th percentile of all GPUs, slightly above the 880M's 43rd percentile. This is because the 850M's average score of 9,302 is based on a narrower set of tests, and its rivals are similarly aged parts. The 880M's average of 8,436 drags it down due to its very low PassMark DirectX scores (31 for DX10, 32 for DX12, 73 for DX11), which likely reflect driver or test methodology quirks rather than real-world performance, given its strong Geekbench results.

For users with older software that relies on DirectX 10 or 11, the 850M's relative standing among its peers (0.1% behind the GTX 465, 0.3% ahead of the GTX 960) suggests it remains a functional, if aging, option. For any new workload, the 880M's 4.454 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, 12 ray tracing cores, and 139.2 GTexel/s texture rate make it the only rational choice. The 850M is end-of-life, while the 880M is active. The data does not support choosing the 850M for any modern task.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M has an average benchmark score of 9,302, while the AMD Radeon 880M averages 8,436. However, the 850M's average is based only on two Geekbench tests, while the 880M's includes a broader PassMark suite.

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon 880M in Vulkan?

A: The 880M scores 40,006 in Geekbench Vulkan compared to 8,782 for the 850M, a 78% advantage for the AMD part.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The GTX 850M has a TDP of 45 W, while the Radeon 880M is rated at 15 W. The 880M delivers higher performance at one-third the power draw.

Q: Does the GTX 850M support ray tracing?

A: No. The 850M has no ray tracing cores. The Radeon 880M includes 12 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which enables hardware ray tracing.

Q: How do the two compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The 850M sits within 0.3% of the GTX 465, R7 M380, GTX 960, and Vega 8. The 880M is within 0.3% of the GTX 675MX, MX330, and HD 8870M, and 1.3% ahead of the R9 M375X.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon 880M has 768 shading units, compared to 640 on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M. The 880M also has more texture mapping units (48 vs 40), while both have 16 ROPs.