AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile Comparison

# AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M edges out the AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile in the only head-to-head benchmark available, but the two are separated by a razor-thin margin that makes the choice far more nuanced than a simple score comparison. In Geekbench OpenCL, the HD 7730M scores 6581 against the Vega 10 Mobile's 6476, a delta of just 1.6%. Both GPUs sit in the bottom tier of the benchmark database — the HD 7730M ranks at the 38th percentile of all GPUs, while the Vega 10 Mobile sits one point lower at the 37th percentile. The practical takeaway: these are comparable performers in raw compute, but they achieve that parity through fundamentally different architectures, memory configurations, and power envelopes.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL result is the sole benchmark where both GPUs appear, and it favors the older AMD Radeon HD 7730M. The HD 7730M posts 6581 points, while the Vega 10 Mobile trails at 6476 points — a 1.6% advantage for the discrete GPU. That is a narrow win, well within the noise of typical benchmark variance, but it is a win nonetheless.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces how close these two are. The HD 7730M's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon R7 M460, which scores 6612 and beats the HD 7730M by 0.5%. The Intel UHD Graphics P750 scores 6554, just 0.4% behind the HD 7730M. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M scores 6513, a 1% gap, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M scores 6493, 1.4% behind. Every one of these deltas is under 2%, meaning the HD 7730M sits in an extremely tight cluster of mid-low-range GPUs.

The Vega 10 Mobile's rival list tells the same story from the other side. The NVIDIA Quadro M5000M scores 6481, just 0.1% ahead of the Vega 10 Mobile. The GeForce GT 555M is 0.3% ahead at 6493, and the GeForce GTX 670M is 0.6% ahead at 6513. The most striking entry is the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell, which scores 6407 — a full 1.1% behind the Vega 10 Mobile, despite being a workstation-class product with far more memory. That result underscores how meaningless raw percentile positions are when the benchmark pool includes such disparate hardware.

In this head-to-head, the HD 7730M wins the only direct comparison, but the margin is small enough that real-world application performance could plausibly flip the result depending on driver optimization, memory bandwidth requirements, or thermal constraints.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581, which is 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile's 6476.

Q: How does each GPU compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M?

A: The HD 7730M beats the GT 555M by 1.4% (6581 vs 6493), while the Vega 10 Mobile trails the GT 555M by 0.3% (6476 vs 6493).

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The HD 7730M has a TDP of 25 W, while the Vega 10 Mobile has a TDP of 10 W — a 15 W difference in favor of the integrated solution.

Q: Do both GPUs support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, but at different feature levels: the HD 7730M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the Vega 10 Mobile supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What memory does each GPU use?

A: The HD 7730M uses 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega 10 Mobile uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The Vega 10 Mobile has 640 shading units, compared to 512 on the HD 7730M — a 25% advantage in raw shader count.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent opposite ends of AMD's architectural evolution. The HD 7730M is built on GCN 1.0, the original Graphics Core Next design, using the Chelsea chip manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The Vega 10 Mobile uses GCN 5.0, the final iteration of GCN, with the Raven-M chip built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. That process jump is significant: the Vega 10 Mobile packs 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 23.5M per mm². The HD 7730M, by contrast, contains 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding just 12.2M per mm². The Vega 10 Mobile is nearly double the transistor density of the older part.

The shader configuration differs substantially. The Vega 10 Mobile has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The HD 7730M has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The Vega 10 Mobile thus has 25% more shading units and 25% more TMUs, but only half the ROP count. That ROP deficit shows up in pixel throughput: the HD 7730M delivers 10.80 GPixel/s versus 10.41 GPixel/s on the Vega 10 Mobile, a 3.7% advantage for the older chip. Texture throughput is a different story — the Vega 10 Mobile hits 52.04 GTexel/s against 21.60 GTexel/s on the HD 7730M, a 2.4x advantage.

Compute throughput also favors the Vega 10 Mobile decisively. It delivers 1.665 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, more than double the HD 7730M's 691.2 GFLOPS. The Vega 10 Mobile also supports FP16 at 3.331 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the HD 7730M has no FP16 capability listed. The clock speeds explain much of this: the Vega 10 Mobile boosts to 1301 MHz from a 300 MHz base, while the HD 7730M runs at a 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. The Vega 10 Mobile's boost clock is nearly double the HD 7730M's boost clock.

API support also differs. The Vega 10 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_1), while the HD 7730M supports Vulkan 1.2.170 and DirectX 12 (11_1). Both list OpenGL 4.6. The Vega 10 Mobile is the modern part here, with newer API versions and a newer architecture generation.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet shows two GPUs with almost nothing in common beyond the AMD brand. The HD 7730M is a discrete mobile GPU with a 25 W TDP, while the Vega 10 Mobile is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 10 W TDP. The HD 7730M connects via PCIe 2.0 x16; the Vega 10 Mobile has no bus interface listed, being integrated directly into the Raven-M chip.

Memory is the most fundamental split. The HD 7730M has 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 10 Mobile uses system-shared memory with a system-dependent bandwidth — it has no dedicated VRAM and no fixed bus width. This makes the Vega 10 Mobile's performance heavily dependent on the host system's memory configuration, while the HD 7730M has predictable, dedicated bandwidth.

Clock specifications diverge sharply. The HD 7730M runs at 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost, with memory clocked at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). The Vega 10 Mobile runs at a 300 MHz base and 1301 MHz boost — a 4.3x boost multiplier, indicating aggressive power management. The transistor counts differ by more than 3x: 4,940 million for the Vega 10 Mobile versus 1,500 million for the HD 7730M.

Rasterization rates are nearly identical: the HD 7730M produces 10.80 GPixel/s versus 10.41 GPixel/s on the Vega 10 Mobile. Texture rates are wildly different: 21.60 GTexel/s for the HD 7730M versus 52.04 GTexel/s for the Vega 10 Mobile. The HD 7730M has 16 ROPs versus 8 on the Vega 10 Mobile, but the Vega 10 Mobile compensates with far more TMUs.

The release dates are 2012 for the HD 7730M and 2019 for the Vega 10 Mobile — a seven-year gap. Both are end-of-life, but the HD 7730M's predecessor is Vancouver and its successor is Solar System, while the Vega 10 Mobile's predecessor is GCN 3.0 IGP and its successor is Navi II IGP.

The Verdict

The benchmark data shows a near-tie in raw compute, but the architecture and specification differences point to different use cases. The HD 7730M wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 1.6%, but that advantage is trivial. The Vega 10 Mobile's 2.4x texture throughput and 2.4x FP32 compute are the real differentiators, offset by its half-sized ROP count and system-shared memory.

For users who need predictable, dedicated memory bandwidth and higher pixel throughput, the HD 7730M is the safer choice. Its 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory at 28.80 GB/s avoids the system-dependent variability of the Vega 10 Mobile. Its 16 ROPs deliver 10.80 GPixel/s, slightly ahead of the Vega 10 Mobile's 10.41 GPixel/s.

For users who value compute throughput and power efficiency, the Vega 10 Mobile is the clear winner. Its 1.665 TFLOPS FP32 is more than double the HD 7730M's 691.2 GFLOPS. Its 10 W TDP is less than half the HD 7730M's 25 W. Its 52.04 GTexel/s texture rate is more than double the HD 7730M's 21.60 GTexel/s. The Vega 10 Mobile also supports newer APIs: Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_1) versus Vulkan 1.2.170 and DirectX 12 (11_1).

The percentile rankings are nearly identical — 38th for the HD 7730M, 37th for the Vega 10 Mobile — suggesting that in the aggregate benchmark pool, neither card distinguishes itself. The Geekbench OpenCL score is a single data point; the architecture differences suggest they will diverge significantly in specific workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins in scenarios that favor dedicated memory and higher pixel fill. Its 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory at 28.80 GB/s provides consistent bandwidth, while its 16 ROPs enable 10.80 GPixel/s — the higher of the two. The 1.6% Geekbench OpenCL lead is narrow, but it holds in the only direct comparison available. For older games or applications that are ROP-bound, the HD 7730M's pixel rate advantage could translate into better frame pacing.

The AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile wins in compute-heavy and texture-heavy workloads. Its 640 shading units and 40 TMUs deliver 52.04 GTexel/s and 1.665 TFLOPS FP32 — both more than double the HD 7730M's figures. The 1301 MHz boost clock, compared to 675 MHz on the HD 7730M, shows the architecture's efficiency at higher clocks. The 10 W TDP makes it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where power draw is a constraint.

The Vega 10 Mobile also wins on API modernity. DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3 support mean better compatibility with recent titles and driver features, while the HD 7730M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. The FP16 capability at 3.331 TFLOPS (2:1) gives the Vega 10 Mobile an edge in workloads that can use reduced precision.

In terms of process technology, the Vega 10 Mobile's 14 nm node with 23.5M transistors per mm² represents a generational leap over the HD 7730M's 28 nm node with 12.2M per mm². This density advantage enables the Vega 10 Mobile to pack 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die, versus 1,500 million in 123 mm² for the HD 7730M. The architectural efficiency of GCN 5.0 over GCN 1.0 is evident in these numbers, even if the benchmark scores are similar.