AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs AMD Radeon HD 8730M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single direct benchmark comparison between the AMD Radeon HD 7730M and the AMD Radeon HD 8730M: the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the HD 7730M scores 6581, while the HD 8730M scores 5955. That is a 10.5% advantage for the HD 7730M, a clear and consistent margin in the only head-to-head measurement available.

The HD 7730M's score of 6581 places it at the 38th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6554, 0.4% behind), the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612, 0.5% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513, 1% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (6493, 1.4% behind). The HD 7730M sits in a tight cluster, edging out the Intel part by a negligible margin while trailing the R7 M460 by a similarly small amount. The practical takeaway: the HD 7730M is competitive with a mid-range mobile GeForce from a previous generation, and its OpenCL throughput is within a rounding error of a modern integrated GPU.

The HD 8730M, with a score of 5955, lands at the 34th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro K620M (5957, essentially tied at 0% delta), the AMD Radeon HD 8750M (5970, 0.3% ahead), the Intel UHD Graphics 730 (5929, 0.4% behind), and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982, 0.5% ahead). The HD 8730M is effectively dead-even with the Quadro K620M, and it trades places with the other listed parts within a narrow 0.5% band. This is a different performance class than the HD 7730M: the 8730M's score is roughly 9.5% lower than its older sibling's, which is a meaningful gap in compute workloads.

The head-to-head delta of 10.5% is consistent across the board. The HD 7730M does not just win; it wins by a margin that separates it from the HD 8730M's entire rival cluster. For OpenCL compute, the HD 7730M is the clear pick. The HD 8730M's score, while lower, is still respectable for its era and sits within striking distance of some modern integrated solutions.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 10.5% higher than the HD 8730M's 5955.

Q: How does each GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The HD 7730M is within 1.4% of all four nearest rivals, ranging from 0.4% behind the Intel UHD Graphics P750 to 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M. The HD 8730M is within 0.5% of all four nearest rivals, with the NVIDIA Quadro K620M being a perfect tie and the AMD Radeon HD 8750M being 0.3% ahead.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each GPU?

A: The HD 7730M sits at the 38th percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 8730M sits at the 34th percentile.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The HD 7730M has 512 shading units, while the HD 8730M has 384 shading units.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same DirectX version?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What is the memory configuration for each GPU?

A: Both have 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, with 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth and 1800 Mbps effective memory speed.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon HD 7730M outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 8730M in the only recorded benchmark. With a 10.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, the HD 7730M is the stronger compute part. Its percentile ranking (38th vs. 34th) reinforces this conclusion.

For anyone choosing between these two mobile GPUs, the HD 7730M is the better option for OpenCL workloads, content creation, or any task that leverages GPGPU compute. The HD 8730M is not a bad performer; its score of 5955 is respectable and ties with the NVIDIA Quadro K620M. But it is a step behind the HD 7730M, and the gap is large enough to matter in real-world compute tasks.

The HD 8730M does have one advantage in the specification sheet: it uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while the HD 7730M uses PCIe 2.0 x16. However, benchmark results show this does not translate into a performance win. In fact, the HD 8730M's lower shading unit count (384 vs. 512), lower TMU count (24 vs. 32), and lower ROP count (8 vs. 16) explain why it falls behind.

The verdict is simple: pick the HD 7730M if you need maximum compute performance. The HD 8730M is only preferable if you specifically require the newer PCIe 3.0 interface, but the recorded data shows that interface does not compensate for the raw compute deficit.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in several key specifications, all of which favor the HD 7730M except for one interface detail.

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7730M | AMD Radeon HD 8730M |

|---------------|---------------------|---------------------|

| Chip | Chelsea | Mars |

| Generation | London (HD 7700M) | Solar System (HD 8700M) |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 950 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 77 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.2M / mm² | 12.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 575 MHz | 650 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 675 MHz | 700 MHz |

| Shading Units | 512 | 384 |

| TMUs | 32 | 24 |

| ROPs | 16 | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 10.80 GPixel/s | 5.600 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 21.60 GTexel/s | 16.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 691.2 GFLOPS | 537.6 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 25 W | Not recorded |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Release Date | 2012-04-23 | 2013-03-31 |

| Predecessor | Vancouver | London |

| Successor | Solar System | Gem System |

The HD 7730M has more of everything that matters for compute: 33% more shading units, 33% more TMUs, 100% more ROPs, and 28.6% higher FP32 throughput. Its pixel rate is nearly double (10.80 vs. 5.600 GPixel/s), and its texture rate is 28.6% higher. The HD 8730M counters with higher clocks (650/700 MHz vs. 575/675 MHz) and a newer PCIe interface, but these advantages cannot overcome the larger chip.

The HD 7730M uses a substantially larger die (123 mm² vs. 77 mm²) with 58% more transistors (1,500 vs. 950 million). Interestingly, the transistor density is nearly identical (12.2M vs. 12.3M per mm²), indicating both are built on the same 28 nm TSMC process. The HD 8730M was released roughly 11 months later, but it is a smaller, less capable chip.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental architecture: GCN 1.0, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The API support is identical: DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Neither has ray tracing or tensor cores.

The differences lie in the chip design. The HD 7730M is based on the Chelsea chip, while the HD 8730M uses the Mars chip. Chelsea is a larger implementation of GCN 1.0, with 1,500 million transistors spread across a 123 mm² die. Mars is a smaller cut, with 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die. The transistor density is nearly the same (12.2M vs. 12.3M per mm²), which suggests the same design rules and manufacturing process.

The HD 7730M allocates its transistor budget to more execution resources: 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The HD 8730M reduces this to 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. This is a classic tiering strategy: the HD 8730M is a cut-down version of the same architecture, designed to fit a lower power and cost envelope.

Both use 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, with identical 28.80 GB/s bandwidth and 1800 Mbps effective memory speed. The memory subsystem is the same, so the performance difference comes entirely from the compute and rasterization pipelines.

The HD 8730M does have a newer bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x8 vs. PCIe 2.0 x16). In theory, this could offer higher bandwidth to the host system, but the benchmark data shows no benefit in OpenCL compute. The HD 7730M's larger compute pipeline simply overwhelms any interface advantage.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins in:

• OpenCL compute: 6581 vs. 5955, a 10.5% lead.
• Pixel throughput: 10.80 GPixel/s vs. 5.600 GPixel/s, nearly double.
• Texture throughput: 21.60 GTexel/s vs. 16.80 GTexel/s, a 28.6% lead.
• Raw FP32 compute: 691.2 GFLOPS vs. 537.6 GFLOPS.
• Any workload that scales with shading units, TMUs, or ROPs. The 512 shading units and 16 ROPs give it a clear edge in both compute and rasterization-heavy tasks.

AMD Radeon HD 8730M wins in:

• Clock speed: 650 MHz base and 700 MHz boost vs. 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. This does not compensate for the fewer execution units.
• Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x8 vs. PCIe 2.0 x16. This may help with data transfer in some scenarios, but the benchmark does not show it.
• Efficiency per transistor: it achieves a similar density (12.3M vs. 12.2M per mm²) with a smaller die, which could imply lower power draw per unit of performance, though TDP is not recorded for the HD 8730M.

The HD 8730M also has a later release date (2013-03-31 vs. 2012-04-23), which may mean it is found in slightly newer laptop platforms. However, the performance data is clear: the HD 7730M is the stronger GPU.

For a practical use case: if you are running OpenCL-based applications (video encoding, image processing, some game physics), the HD 7730M is the better choice. If you are constrained by a platform that only supports PCIe 3.0 and you need the newer interface, the HD 8730M is the only option, but you will sacrifice roughly 10% compute performance. For gaming, the HD 7730M's higher pixel and texture rates should translate to better fill-rate-bound performance, while the HD 8730M's higher clocks might help in shader-bound scenes with lower resolution. Overall, the HD 7730M is the winner in nearly every measurable category.