AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs AMD Radeon HD 8850M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits these two mobile GPUs along a single clear axis: the AMD Radeon HD 8850M wins the only head-to-head test, the Geekbench OpenCL workload, with a score of 7447 against 6581 for the AMD Radeon HD 7730M. That is a 13.2% advantage, a meaningful gap for tasks that scale with raw compute throughput, such as OpenCL-accelerated filters, physics simulations, or general-purpose GPU compute in productivity applications.

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M, by contrast, does not win any recorded benchmark comparison. Its strength lies not in winning a single test but in its positioning relative to its own nearest rivals. The data shows the HD 7730M sits within 1.4% above or below a cluster of competing parts, making it a stable, mid-pack performer for its generation. It trails the HD 8850M in every measured scenario, but it does hold one distinct hardware advantage: a higher boost clock of 675 MHz compared to 625 MHz, which narrows the gap in lightly threaded or memory-bound workloads where the extra clock speed can compensate for fewer shaders.

For use-case planning, the HD 8850M is the choice when compute intensity is the priority. Its 640 shading units, 40 texture units, and 800.0 GFLOPS of FP32 throughput provide a substantial mathematical ceiling. The HD 7730M, with 512 shaders and 691.2 GFLOPS, is more suited to legacy 1080p gaming at reduced settings or as a basic acceleration engine for older DirectX 11 titles, where its 16 ROPS and 10.80 GPixel/s pixel rate keep rasterization moving even if texture work lags.

Architecture Differences

Both parts share the same fundamental DNA. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M and the AMD Radeon HD 7730M are built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process, and each packs 1,500 million transistors onto a 123 mm² die. The transistor density is identical at 12.2M per mm². Both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, so their API feature sets are indistinguishable in practice.

The differences begin at the chip level. The HD 8850M uses the Venus chip, while the HD 7730M uses Chelsea. Both are GCN 1.0, but the silicon configurations diverge in compute resources. The HD 8850M scales up to 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The HD 7730M drops to 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and keeps the same 16 ROPs. That means the HD 8850M has 25% more shader cores and 25% more texture units, which directly explains its 13.2% lead in the OpenCL test.

Memory architecture is a second major divergence. The HD 8850M pairs its 2 GB frame buffer with GDDR5 memory running at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 64.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7730M uses 2 GB of DDR3 at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) on the same 128-bit bus, but only achieves 28.80 GB/s. That is a 2.22x bandwidth advantage for the HD 8850M, a massive difference that will show up in any texture-heavy or large-buffer workload. The HD 7730M's 675 MHz boost clock (versus 625 MHz) is the sole area where it posts a higher number, and it helps mitigate but does not erase the memory deficit.

Platform integration also differs. The HD 8850M uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the HD 7730M uses PCIe 2.0 x16. For a mobile discrete GPU, this affects host-device transfer speeds, particularly for data that cannot be cached locally. The HD 7730M also lists "Portable Device Dependent" for its display outputs, indicating its connectivity is determined by the laptop implementation, whereas the HD 8850M leaves that field unspecified. Both are end-of-life products, with the HD 8850M released on 2013-03-31 and the HD 7730M earlier on 2012-04-23. The HD 8850M's predecessor is London and its successor is Gem System; the HD 7730M's predecessor is Vancouver and its successor is Solar System.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8850M is faster. It scores 7447 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 13.2% higher than the HD 7730M's 6581.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same modern APIs?

A: Yes. Both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, so their software compatibility is identical for those interfaces.

Q: Why is the HD 8850M so much faster despite similar clocks?

A: The HD 8850M has 640 shading units and 40 TMUs versus 512 shading units and 32 TMUs on the HD 7730M. It also uses GDDR5 memory with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth, more than double the HD 7730M's 28.80 GB/s from DDR3.

Q: Does the HD 7730M have any clock speed advantage?

A: Yes. Its boost clock is 675 MHz, while the HD 8850M boosts to 625 MHz. The base clocks are equal at 575 MHz. This higher boost helps the HD 7730M in certain scenarios but does not overcome its lower core count and memory bandwidth.

Q: How do these GPUs compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The HD 8850M is 0.1% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics 750, 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 350, 0.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, and 1.4% behind the Intel Arc A310. The HD 7730M is 0.4% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750, 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R7 M460, 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M, and 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M.

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

A: The HD 7730M has a higher pixel rate at 10.80 GPixel/s, while the HD 8850M achieves 10.00 GPixel/s. This is due to the HD 7730M's higher boost clock, despite both having 16 ROPs.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs share identical process technology, transistor count, die size, transistor density, architecture, and API support, but the following fields differ:

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 8850M | AMD Radeon HD 7730M |

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

| Chip | Venus | Chelsea |

| Generation | Solar System (HD 8800M) | London (HD 7700M) |

| Base Clock | 575 MHz | 575 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 625 MHz | 675 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 64.00 GB/s | 28.80 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 640 | 512 |

| TMUs | 40 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 10.00 GPixel/s | 10.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 25.00 GTexel/s | 21.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 800.0 GFLOPS | 691.2 GFLOPS |

| TDP | (not specified) | 25 W |

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

| Display Outputs | (not specified) | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Predecessor | London | Vancouver |

| Successor | Gem System | Solar System |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single head-to-head benchmark between these two parts: the Geekbench OpenCL test. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M records a score of 7447, while the AMD Radeon HD 7730M records 6581. The delta is 13.2%, making the HD 8850M the clear winner in this comparison.

That 13.2% margin is substantial but not overwhelming. It aligns closely with the hardware differences. The HD 8850M's 640 shaders versus 512 shaders gives it a 25% theoretical compute advantage, but the HD 7730M's higher boost clock (675 MHz vs 625 MHz, an 8% increase) narrows the realized gap. The memory bandwidth difference is more extreme: 64.00 GB/s versus 28.80 GB/s is a 122% advantage for the HD 8850M. In an OpenCL workload that stresses memory access, one would expect a larger separation, but the test's score suggests it is more compute-bound, allowing the HD 7730M's higher clock to keep it closer than the bandwidth numbers alone would predict.

Looking at the HD 8850M's nearest rivals, its score of 7447 places it within a very tight cluster. It is only 0.1% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425). It sits 0.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (7472) and 1.4% behind the Intel Arc A310 (7550). This is a razor-thin margin group; the HD 8850M is essentially tied with those parts in raw OpenCL performance, despite being an older mobile GPU.

The HD 7730M, with its 6581 score, occupies a similar tight grouping but at a lower tier. It is 0.4% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6554), 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513), and 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (6493). It trails the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612) by 0.5%. The HD 7730M's percentile rank among all GPUs is 38, versus 40 for the HD 8850M, reflecting its position roughly two percentile steps lower in the overall distribution.

The interpretation is straightforward: the HD 8850M delivers a solid, measurable performance increase over the HD 7730M in the only recorded benchmark, driven primarily by its superior memory subsystem and higher shader count. The HD 7730M's higher boost clock and identical ROP count keep its pixel throughput competitive, but in aggregate compute, the HD 8850M leads by a clear margin. For any application relying on OpenCL acceleration, the HD 8850M is the better part, while the HD 7730M remains a serviceable entry-level option within its own performance class.