AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data shows a single head-to-head comparison in Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is decisive. The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile scores 7,435, while the AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6,581. That is a 13% advantage for the Vega 8 Mobile. This is not a marginal gap; it represents a meaningful performance tier separation between the two parts.

Contextualizing the Vega 8 Mobile’s score reinforces this lead. Its average benchmark score across all tests is 7,203. That places it just 0.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (7,222) and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE (7,171). In practical terms, the Vega 8 Mobile is landing in the same performance neighborhood as those discrete desktop cards. The HD 7730M, by contrast, averages 6,581, which is 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6,612) and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6,513). The HD 7730M’s company is older mobile parts and integrated graphics, not desktop-class silicon.

What matters more than the raw delta is the percentile placement. The Vega 8 Mobile sits at the 39th percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 7730M sits at the 38th. That one-percentile gap might seem small, but it understates the actual performance difference. The Vega 8 Mobile’s 13% lead in OpenCL is a much larger spread than the percentile rankings suggest, because percentile data is compressed at this range. A 13% compute advantage translates into a modest but consistent edge in any workload that scales with shader throughput.

The Vega 8 Mobile also shows a second benchmark result: 6,970 in Geekbench Vulkan. The HD 7730M has no Vulkan score listed, so no direct comparison is possible there. However, the Vulkan number is close to the OpenCL score, indicating that the architecture handles both APIs with similar efficiency. The HD 7730M’s lack of a Vulkan benchmark is itself notable, as its API support tops out at Vulkan 1.2.170, while the Vega 8 Mobile reaches Vulkan 1.3.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial, and it explains the benchmark results. The Vega 8 Mobile is built on GCN 5.0 architecture, whereas the HD 7730M uses GCN 1.0. That is a four-generation leap within the same fundamental design family, bringing improvements in instruction scheduling, memory compression, and power management.

The process node tells a similar story. The Vega 8 Mobile uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the HD 7730M uses a 28 nm process from TSMC. The smaller node allows the Vega 8 Mobile to pack 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 23.5 million per mm². The HD 7730M has 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a density of 12.2 million per mm². The Vega 8 Mobile nearly doubles the transistor density, which directly enables higher clock speeds and more compute throughput without increasing power draw.

Clock speeds reflect this architectural maturity. The Vega 8 Mobile runs at a base of 300 MHz and boosts to 1,101 MHz. The HD 7730M is much slower, with a base of 575 MHz and a boost of 675 MHz. Despite the HD 7730M’s higher base clock, its boost ceiling is far lower. The Vega 8 Mobile’s boost clock is 63% higher than the HD 7730M’s boost clock, and that clock advantage drives much of the performance delta.

Memory is another major divergence. The Vega 8 Mobile uses system-shared memory, with bandwidth listed as system-dependent. The HD 7730M has dedicated 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. Dedicated memory is typically an advantage, but here it is not enough to overcome the Vega 8 Mobile’s other advantages. The Vega 8 Mobile’s system-shared memory can be slower or faster depending on the host system’s RAM, but in benchmark conditions it clearly sustains competitive throughput.

Shading units are identical at 512, and texture mapping units are also the same at 32. However, the render output units differ: the Vega 8 Mobile has 8 ROPs, while the HD 7730M has 16 ROPs. That gives the HD 7730M a pixel rate advantage, with 10.80 GPixel/s versus 8.808 GPixel/s for the Vega 8 Mobile. The HD 7730M wins on pixel fill rate, but loses decisively on texture rate and floating-point compute. The Vega 8 Mobile’s texture rate is 35.23 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s for the HD 7730M. FP32 performance is 1,127.4 GFLOPS versus 691.2 GFLOPS.

The Vega 8 Mobile also supports FP16 at 2.255 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the HD 7730M has no FP16 capability listed. That makes the Vega 8 Mobile relevant for mixed-precision workloads, whereas the HD 7730M is strictly FP32. API support also favors the newer part: the Vega 8 Mobile supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, while the HD 7730M supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. OpenGL 4.6 is common to both.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner: the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 7730M by 13% in OpenCL compute. It also has a higher average benchmark score (7,203 versus 6,581), a better percentile ranking (39th versus 38th), and a more modern feature set. For any workload that relies on shader compute, texture throughput, or FP32 performance, the Vega 8 Mobile is the superior choice.

The HD 7730M does have one notable strength: it is 13% ahead of the Vega 8 Mobile in pixel fill rate. That is a narrow win condition. The HD 7730M’s 16 ROPs and 10.80 GPixel/s will handle simple rasterization tasks with slightly more headroom. However, this advantage is unlikely to matter in real-world gaming or compute scenarios, where texture rate and FP32 throughput dominate.

Users choosing between these two parts should default to the Vega 8 Mobile. It is faster, newer, more efficient per transistor, and supports more recent APIs. The HD 7730M is only relevant if a system requires dedicated VRAM and cannot rely on system-shared memory, or if the workload is heavily pixel-bound. For everything else, the Vega 8 Mobile is the data-backed pick.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile than the AMD Radeon HD 7730M?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Vega 8 Mobile scores 7,435 versus 6,581 for the HD 7730M, a 13% advantage.

Q: Which GPU has more render output units?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M has 16 ROPs, while the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile has 8 ROPs.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 7730M support Vulkan 1.3?

A: No. The HD 7730M supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the Vega 8 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the FP16 performance of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile?

A: The Vega 8 Mobile delivers 2.255 TFLOPS of FP16 performance with a 2:1 ratio. The HD 7730M has no listed FP16 capability.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in texture fill rate?

A: The Vega 8 Mobile achieves 35.23 GTexel/s, which is 63% higher than the HD 7730M’s 21.60 GTexel/s.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Vega 8 Mobile averages 7,203, compared to 6,581 for the HD 7730M.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile wins in every compute-oriented category. Its FP32 throughput of 1,127.4 GFLOPS is 63% higher than the HD 7730M’s 691.2 GFLOPS. Its texture rate of 35.23 GTexel/s is also 63% higher. In the only head-to-head benchmark, it wins by 13%. It also has a higher avgBenchmarkScore (7,203 versus 6,581) and a better percentileVsAllGpus ranking (39 versus 38). For OpenCL workloads, Vulkan workloads, and any task that stresses shading units or texture mapping, the Vega 8 Mobile is the clear winner.

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins in exactly one measurable category: pixel fill rate. Its 10.80 GPixel/s is 23% higher than the Vega 8 Mobile’s 8.808 GPixel/s. That comes from having twice as many ROPs (16 versus 8). In scenarios where the render target is small and the workload is heavily rasterization-bound, the HD 7730M could show a slight edge. The HD 7730M also benefits from dedicated 2 GB DDR3 memory with a fixed 28.80 GB/s bandwidth, which eliminates variability from system memory. However, this dedicated memory does not translate into a benchmark win, as system-shared memory on the Vega 8 Mobile proves sufficient.

The HD 7730M also wins on base clock speed, running at 575 MHz versus 300 MHz for the Vega 8 Mobile. But the Vega 8 Mobile’s boost clock of 1,101 MHz dwarfs the HD 7730M’s 675 MHz boost, making the base clock advantage irrelevant under sustained load.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The most significant differences are in architecture, process node, and memory configuration.

Architecture: The Vega 8 Mobile uses GCN 5.0, while the HD 7730M uses GCN 1.0. Process node: 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) versus 28 nm (TSMC). Transistor count: 4,940 million versus 1,500 million. Die size: 210 mm² versus 123 mm². Transistor density: 23.5M per mm² versus 12.2M per mm².

Clock speeds: The Vega 8 Mobile has a 300 MHz base and 1,101 MHz boost. The HD 7730M has a 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. Memory: The Vega 8 Mobile uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The HD 7730M has 2 GB DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute units: Both have 512 shading units and 32 TMUs, but the Vega 8 Mobile has 8 ROPs versus 16 ROPs for the HD 7730M. Pixel rate: 8.808 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 35.23 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s. FP32: 1,127.4 GFLOPS versus 691.2 GFLOPS. FP16: 2.255 TFLOPS for the Vega 8 Mobile; none listed for the HD 7730M.

API support: The Vega 8 Mobile supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The HD 7730M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Bus interface: The Vega 8 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors, while the HD 7730M uses PCIe 2.0 x16. TDP is identical at 25 W. Both are end-of-life products, but the Vega 8 Mobile was released later and has a successor in Navi II IGP, whereas the HD 7730M’s successor is Solar System.