AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs NVIDIA GeForce 945M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded database separates these two mobile GPUs into different performance tiers, and the split is not subtle. The NVIDIA GeForce 945M wins the only direct benchmark comparison available, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a score of 8099 against 6581 for the AMD Radeon HD 7730M. That is a decisive 23.1% margin, which places the 945M in a distinctly higher performance class.

Looking at the broader percentile rankings, the 945M sits at the 42nd percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the HD 7730M sits at the 38th percentile. A four percentile gap may sound modest, but the raw score difference tells the real story: the 945M produces roughly 23% more compute throughput in the measured workload. The 945M also finds itself flanked by substantially more powerful company. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M at 8135 (just 0.4% ahead) and the AMD Radeon R9 M360 at 8129 (0.4% ahead). The HD 7730M, by contrast, is surrounded by lower-tier parts like the Intel UHD Graphics P750 at 6554 (0.4% behind) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M at 6493 (1.4% behind).

The use-case split follows directly from these numbers. The 945M is the choice for any workload that leans on raw parallel compute, whether that is OpenCL-accelerated content creation, GPU-assisted encoding, or modern game rendering that scales with shading power. The HD 7730M, with its 512 shading units and 691.2 GFLOPS of FP32 throughput, is suited to lighter duties: older titles, 2D workloads, and basic acceleration where the lower power draw matters more than peak output.

The advantage is not confined to compute alone. The 945M delivers a pixel rate of 16.32 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s for the HD 7730M, and a texture rate of 40.80 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s. Both GPUs share the same 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with identical 28.80 GB/s bandwidth, so memory is not a differentiator. The win comes from the GPU core itself, and it is a substantial one.

The Verdict

The verdict is straightforward: the NVIDIA GeForce 945M is the faster GPU, and it is not close. A 23.1% lead in the only head-to-head benchmark recorded is a decisive margin, especially when both cards share identical memory configurations. Anyone choosing between these two for compute-heavy or modern gaming workloads should take the 945M without hesitation.

The HD 7730M does have one meaningful advantage in the data: power consumption. Its TDP is 25 W against 75 W for the 945M. For a thin-and-light laptop where battery life and thermal headroom are priorities, that threefold difference in power draw is significant. The HD 7730M also uses a PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface, while the 945M is an MXM-B (3.0) module, which means the 945M is more likely found in larger, upgradeable laptops rather than ultraportables.

The architecture gap reinforces the performance split. The 945M uses NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture on the GM107 chip with 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die. The HD 7730M uses AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture on the Chelsea chip with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. Both are built on TSMC's 28 nm process, so the transistor density is nearly identical (12.6M per mm² for NVIDIA, 12.2M per mm² for AMD), but NVIDIA packs more compute resources per transistor: 640 shading units and 40 TMUs against 512 shading units and 32 TMUs.

For the user who wants maximum performance in a laptop GPU, the 945M is the clear pick. For the user who needs a low-power mobile solution and can accept significantly lower compute throughput, the HD 7730M remains functional but is outclassed in every measured performance metric.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison recorded in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it tells a complete story on its own. The NVIDIA GeForce 945M scores 8099, while the AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581. The delta is 23.1% in favor of NVIDIA, and there are no recorded benchmark categories where the AMD part wins.

That 23.1% margin is consistent with the underlying specifications. The 945M has 640 shading units clocked at a base of 928 MHz with a boost of 1020 MHz. The HD 7730M has 512 shading units clocked at a base of 575 MHz with a boost of 675 MHz. The combination of more cores and higher clocks produces a raw FP32 throughput of 1,305.6 GFLOPS for the 945M versus 691.2 GFLOPS for the HD 7730M. That is an 89% advantage in theoretical compute, though real-world OpenCL scaling closes some of that gap. The measured 23.1% lead reflects actual workload behavior rather than pure theoretical peak.

The texture and pixel throughput numbers reinforce the same conclusion. The 945M sustains 40.80 GTexel/s and 16.32 GPixel/s. The HD 7730M manages 21.60 GTexel/s and 10.80 GPixel/s. Both GPUs have 16 ROPs, but the 945M's higher clocks give it a 51% advantage in pixel fill rate and an 89% advantage in texture fill rate. Memory bandwidth is identical at 28.80 GB/s, so neither card can blame memory constraints for the gap.

The nearest-rival data confirms that the 945M is not merely beating a weak opponent; it is competing in a higher tier. The 945M's closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M at 8135, which is only 0.4% ahead, and the AMD Radeon R9 M360 at 8129, also 0.4% ahead. The HD 7730M's closest rival is the AMD Radeon R7 M460 at 6612, which is 0.5% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M at 6513, which is 1% behind. The 945M sits in the company of mid-range desktop-class parts; the HD 7730M sits with entry-level mobile parts.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the recorded benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 945M is faster. It scores 8099 in the Geekbench OpenCL test, while the AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581, a 23.1% difference in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: Do both GPUs have the same memory configuration?

A: Yes. Both have 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The memory clock is also identical at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective).

Q: Which GPU consumes less power?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M has a TDP of 25 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M has a TDP of 75 W. The AMD part draws significantly less power.

Q: What architectures do these GPUs use?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 945M uses the Maxwell architecture on the GM107 chip. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M uses GCN 1.0 on the Chelsea chip. Both are manufactured on TSMC's 28 nm process.

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

A: The 945M's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M at 8135 (0.4% ahead) and the AMD Radeon R9 M360 at 8129 (0.4% ahead). The HD 7730M's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon R7 M460 at 6612 (0.5% behind) and the Intel UHD Graphics P750 at 6554 (0.4% behind).

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 945M has 640 shading units, while the AMD Radeon HD 7730M has 512 shading units. The 945M also has 40 texture mapping units versus 32 for the HD 7730M.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce 945M is built on the Maxwell architecture, implemented in the GM107 chip. Maxwell was designed by NVIDIA to maximize performance per watt and per transistor, with a focus on efficient scheduling and high clock speeds. The GM107 die contains 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter.

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M is built on GCN 1.0, the first generation of AMD's Graphics Core Next architecture, implemented in the Chelsea chip. GCN 1.0 was designed for compute-heavy workloads with a focus on scalar throughput and asynchronous compute. The Chelsea die contains 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2 million per square millimeter.

Both chips are fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process, so the manufacturing technology is identical. The difference in transistor density is negligible. The architectural difference is what matters: Maxwell achieves higher clocks (boost of 1020 MHz versus 675 MHz) and delivers more throughput per clock in the measured workloads. GCN 1.0's advantage in compute-oriented features does not translate into a win here, as the OpenCL benchmark shows a 23.1% margin for the Maxwell part.

The 945M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 7730M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The API support is broadly comparable, with the 945M offering a newer Vulkan version and the HD 7730M offering a slightly higher DirectX feature level.

Both GPUs have 16 ROPs, but the 945M's higher clocks give it a significant fill rate advantage. The 945M also uses an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, indicating it is designed for modular laptop upgrades, while the HD 7730M uses PCIe 2.0 x16, a more conventional laptop integration path.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the NVIDIA GeForce 945M and the AMD Radeon HD 7730M:

• Manufacturer: NVIDIA versus AMD
• Chip: GM107 versus Chelsea
• Architecture: Maxwell versus GCN 1.0
• Generation: GeForce 900M versus London (HD 7700M)
• Transistors: 1,870 million versus 1,500 million
• Die size: 148 mm² versus 123 mm²
• Transistor density: 12.6M per mm² versus 12.2M per mm²
• Base clock: 928 MHz versus 575 MHz
• Boost clock: 1020 MHz versus 675 MHz
• Shading units: 640 versus 512
• Texture mapping units: 40 versus 32
• Pixel rate: 16.32 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 40.80 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s
• FP32 throughput: 1,305.6 GFLOPS versus 691.2 GFLOPS
• TDP: 75 W versus 25 W
• Bus interface: MXM-B (3.0) versus PCIe 2.0 x16
• Vulkan version: 1.4 versus 1.2.170
• DirectX version: 12 (11_0) versus 12 (11_1)
• Release date: October 2015 versus April 2012
• Predecessor: GeForce 800M versus Vancouver
• Successor: GeForce 10 Mobile versus Solar System

The two GPUs share identical memory specifications: 2 GB of DDR3, 128-bit bus, 28.80 GB/s bandwidth, and 900 MHz memory clock (1800 Mbps effective). They also share the same process node (28 nm TSMC), the same 16 ROPs, and the same display output behavior (portable device dependent). Neither GPU has a launch MSRP recorded in the database.