AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs AMD Radeon R7 M370 Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M370 and AMD Radeon HD 7730M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions built on the same GCN 1.0 architecture, yet they represent different generations and design philosophies. The benchmark data positions them closely in overall performance, with the R7 M370 holding a slight edge in the single available head-to-head test, but their underlying specifications tell a more complex story about how each GPU achieves its results.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the results show a narrow victory for the newer AMD Radeon R7 M370. It scores 7,063 points against the HD 7730M’s 6,581, yielding a 7.3% performance advantage. This is a meaningful but not overwhelming gap—it places the R7 M370 clearly ahead in raw compute workloads, yet the margin is small enough to suggest that real-world gaming differences could vary depending on driver optimizations and thermal constraints.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces this picture. The R7 M370’s average benchmark score of 6,764 sits within a tight cluster: it is 1% slower than the AMD FirePro M5100 (6,830), 1% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (6,698), and 2.3% faster than the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6,612). Meanwhile, the HD 7730M’s average score of 6,581 places it 0.4% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6,554), 0.5% behind the R7 M460 (6,612), and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6,513). Both GPUs occupy the same percentile rank of 38 among all GPUs, confirming that they are statistical peers in overall capability.

The 7.3% delta in the head-to-head OpenCL test is the single most important number in this comparison. It shows that the R7 M370’s higher clock speeds and newer memory technology translate into a measurable compute advantage. However, the HD 7730M’s superior pixel and texture rates—detailed in the specification differences—suggest that certain rasterization-heavy tasks could narrow or even reverse this gap.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the GCN 1.0 architecture and are manufactured on TSMC’s 28 nm process, but they diverge significantly in their physical design. The R7 M370 uses the Litho chip, which contains 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The HD 7730M uses the Chelsea chip, which packs 1,500 million transistors onto a 123 mm² die, yielding a slightly lower density of 12.2M per mm². This means the HD 7730M has roughly 58% more transistors and a 60% larger die, yet it delivers less compute performance—proof of the R7 M370’s more efficient implementation.

The shader configuration differs substantially. The HD 7730M features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 render output units (ROPs), while the R7 M370 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. Despite having fewer processing units, the R7 M370 achieves higher clock speeds: its base clock runs at 875 MHz with a boost up to 960 MHz, compared to the HD 7730M’s 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. This clock advantage is the primary reason the R7 M370 posts superior FP32 performance at 737.3 GFLOPS versus 691.2 GFLOPS for the HD 7730M.

Memory architecture is another critical divider. The R7 M370 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 57.60 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7730M also has 2 GB on a 128-bit bus, but it uses slower DDR3 memory, capping bandwidth at 28.80 GB/s—exactly half. The memory clock figures tell the same story: the R7 M370 runs at 900 MHz with 3.6 Gbps effective speed, while the HD 7730M runs at 900 MHz with only 1,800 Mbps effective. This bandwidth disparity is likely to manifest in texture-heavy scenes and higher-resolution workloads.

The R7 M370 also benefits from a newer bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x8 versus PCIe 2.0 x16 on the HD 7730M. While this is less impactful for discrete GPUs, it reflects the generational shift. Both GPUs support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, so API compatibility is identical. The TDP figures differ, with the HD 7730M rated at 25 W while the R7 M370 has no listed TDP—though the R7 M370’s smaller die and lower transistor count suggest it could be more power-efficient in practice.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear but modest winner in the AMD Radeon R7 M370. Its 7.3% lead in OpenCL compute, combined with double the memory bandwidth and significantly higher clock speeds, makes it the better choice for general-purpose GPU tasks and modern game titles that rely on compute shaders. The R7 M370 also holds a slight edge in the nearest-rival comparison, with its average score of 6,764 exceeding the HD 7730M’s 6,581 by roughly 2.8%.

However, the HD 7730M is not without merit. Its 512 shading units and 16 ROPs—double the R7 M370’s count—give it superior pixel throughput (10.80 GPixel/s versus 7.680 GPixel/s) and a higher texture rate (21.60 GTexel/s versus 23.04 GTexel/s for the R7 M370, though the latter is actually higher). For older games or applications that are heavily rasterization-bound and insensitive to memory bandwidth, the HD 7730M could deliver comparable or better frame rates despite its lower clocks.

For users choosing between these two, the R7 M370 is the safer recommendation based on raw compute performance and memory subsystem. The HD 7730M makes sense only in scenarios where its higher ROP count and larger shader array can be fully utilized—primarily legacy titles or specific OpenGL workloads that favor parallel pixel processing over bandwidth. Given that both are end-of-life products, the R7 M370’s newer release date (May 2015 versus April 2012) also suggests better long-term driver support, though the data does not explicitly confirm this.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon R7 M370 than the HD 7730M in benchmark tests?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the R7 M370 scores 7,063 against the HD 7730M’s 6,581, representing a 7.3% performance advantage.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both the R7 M370 and HD 7730M support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. They are identical in this regard.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The R7 M370 offers 57.60 GB/s of bandwidth using GDDR5 memory, while the HD 7730M provides 28.80 GB/s with DDR3 memory. The R7 M370 has exactly double the bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor count difference between the two chips?

A: The HD 7730M’s Chelsea chip contains 1,500 million transistors, while the R7 M370’s Litho chip has 950 million. The HD 7730M has approximately 58% more transistors.

Q: Are these GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are listed as end-of-life products. The R7 M370 was released on May 4, 2015, while the HD 7730M came out on April 23, 2012.

Q: How do the R7 M370 and HD 7730M compare to the Radeon R7 M460?

A: The R7 M370 is 2.3% faster than the R7 M460 (average score 6,764 versus 6,612), while the HD 7730M is 0.5% slower than the same rival (6,581 versus 6,612).

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R7 M370 wins decisively in compute-oriented workloads. Its OpenCL score of 7,063 versus 6,581 demonstrates superior performance in GPGPU applications, and the 57.60 GB/s memory bandwidth gives it a clear edge in games that stream large textures or use compute-based effects like ambient occlusion and depth of field. The higher clock speeds—875 MHz base and 960 MHz boost—also make it more responsive in lightly-threaded workloads where single-thread performance matters.

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins in raw pixel-pushing capability. With 16 ROPs and a pixel rate of 10.80 GPixel/s, it can theoretically render fill-rate-bound scenes faster than the R7 M370’s 8 ROPs and 7.680 GPixel/s. Its 512 shading units also provide more parallel processing lanes, which could benefit certain OpenGL applications that are not bandwidth-limited. The 25 W TDP is explicitly documented, whereas the R7 M370 has no listed TDP, so the HD 7730M has a clearer power-profile advantage for thin-and-light laptops.

For legacy DirectX 11 games that predate the compute-heavy era, the HD 7730M’s architecture might hold up better thanks to its larger shader array. However, the R7 M370’s memory bandwidth advantage becomes more pronounced in modern titles that use higher-resolution textures and post-processing effects. The data ultimately favors the R7 M370 for future-proofing, while the HD 7730M is a niche pick for specific older workloads.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every major specification category, reflecting their different generations and design targets. The R7 M370 uses the Litho chip with 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, while the HD 7730M uses the Chelsea chip with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die—the latter is 60% larger. Transistor density is nearly identical at 12.3M and 12.2M per mm², respectively.

Clock speeds diverge sharply: the R7 M370 runs at 875 MHz base and 960 MHz boost, whereas the HD 7730M is limited to 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. The R7 M370’s memory operates at 900 MHz with 3.6 Gbps effective speed, while the HD 7730M’s memory runs at 900 MHz with 1,800 Mbps effective speed. Memory type differs as well, with GDDR5 on the R7 M370 and DDR3 on the HD 7730M, leading to bandwidth figures of 57.60 GB/s versus 28.80 GB/s.

The shader configurations are inverted relative to clocks: the HD 7730M has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, while the R7 M370 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. This yields pixel rates of 10.80 GPixel/s for the HD 7730M versus 7.680 GPixel/s for the R7 M370, and texture rates of 21.60 GTexel/s versus 23.04 GTexel/s. FP32 compute favors the R7 M370 at 737.3 GFLOPS against 691.2 GFLOPS.

The bus interface differs, with the R7 M370 using PCIe 3.0 x8 and the HD 7730M using PCIe 2.0 x16. The HD 7730M has a documented TDP of 25 W, while the R7 M370 has no listed TDP. Both have the same 2 GB memory capacity, 128-bit bus width, and support for DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The HD 7730M’s display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," while the R7 M370 has no display output information.