AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M Comparison

The Verdict

The data positions the AMD Radeon HD 7730M as the faster mobile GPU in this pairing, but only by a narrow margin. In the sole available benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD part scores 6581 against 6493 for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M — a delta of 1.4%. That is a slim but consistent edge, placing the HD 7730M at the 38th percentile of all GPUs and the GT 555M at the 37th. For a user choosing strictly on measured performance, the AMD card is the correct pick. The NVIDIA part is not without merit, though: it ties the AMD card in memory bandwidth (28.80 GB/s) and ROP count (16), and it carries a 1 GB frame buffer versus 2 GB on the AMD side. The catch is that the GT 555M gives up 1.4% in raw compute while drawing 10 W more power (35 W vs. 25 W). If the workload is purely about OpenCL throughput per watt, the AMD card wins decisively. If the workload is about driver maturity or software compatibility in older laptops, the GT 555M remains a reasonable fallback, but the benchmark data does not favor it.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,500 million transistors onto a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M uses the older Fermi architecture, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 40 nm node. That larger process allows only 1,170 million transistors across a 238 mm² die, for a density of 4.9M per mm². The density difference — 12.2M vs. 4.9M per mm² — is the single largest architectural gap between them.

The functional block counts reinforce the generational leap. The HD 7730M has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The GT 555M has 144 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. That means the AMD chip has 3.6 times as many shaders and 1.3 times as many texture units, while matching the ROP count. The pixel rate reflects this: 10.80 GPixel/s for AMD versus 3.540 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. Texture rate follows suit at 21.60 GTexel/s versus 14.16 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute figure tells the biggest story — 691.2 GFLOPS for the HD 7730M versus 339.8 GFLOPS for the GT 555M, a 2.03x advantage in raw floating-point throughput.

Both GPUs are end-of-life, with the AMD part released on 2012-04-23 and the NVIDIA part on 2011-07-01. The AMD chip is the successor to the Vancouver series and was itself succeeded by Solar System; the NVIDIA chip follows GeForce 400M and precedes GeForce 600M. Neither supports ray tracing or tensor cores — both fields are null in the data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head section contains a single benchmark: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins with 6581 points against 6493 for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, a delta of 1.4%. That is the entire measured comparison, so every conclusion about performance must flow from this one number. A 1.4% lead is small enough that it could be considered a statistical tie in some contexts, but the data is unambiguous about the winner: AMD takes the only head-to-head test.

Looking at the nearest rivals provides context. The HD 7730M’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon R7 M460 at 6612 points (0.5% ahead of the HD 7730M), followed by the Intel UHD Graphics P750 at 6554 (0.4% behind), then the GTX 670M at 6513 (1% behind), and finally the GT 555M at 6493 (1.4% behind). So the HD 7730M sits in a tight cluster where a 1.4% gap separates it from its nearest rival. For the GT 555M, the picture is similar but inverted: it trails the Intel UHD Graphics P750 by 0.9%, sits 0.3% behind the GTX 670M, and is 0.2% ahead of the Quadro M5000M. The GT 555M’s own nearest-rival list does not include the HD 7730M, but the head-to-head data places the AMD part 1.4% ahead.

The only benchmark win goes to AMD (1 win, 0 for NVIDIA). The magnitude of that win — 1.4% — is consistent with the percentile gap: 38th percentile for AMD versus 37th for NVIDIA. In practical terms, a user would not feel a 1.4% difference in most workloads, but the data does not provide any other test to break the tie.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the available benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 1.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M’s 6493. The HD 7730M is the winner of the only head-to-head test.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in power consumption?

A: The HD 7730M has a TDP of 25 W, while the GT 555M has a TDP of 35 W. The AMD part delivers higher benchmark performance while drawing 10 W less power.

Q: Do they have the same memory bandwidth?

A: Yes. Both GPUs use DDR3 memory with a 128-bit bus and both achieve 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is identical at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective).

Q: Which GPU has more VRAM?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M has 1024 MB (1 GB) of DDR3 memory. The AMD part has twice the frame buffer.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The HD 7730M is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, while the GT 555M uses a 40 nm process, also at TSMC. The smaller node allows the AMD chip to pack 1,500 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, versus 1,170 million in a 238 mm² die for NVIDIA.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M has 512 shading units, compared to 144 on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M. That is a 3.6x difference in shader count, which drives the AMD part’s FP32 throughput of 691.2 GFLOPS versus 339.8 GFLOPS.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins on raw compute performance. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 6581 is 1.4% higher than the GT 555M’s 6493, and that lead is supported by the underlying specification gap: 512 shading units versus 144, 32 TMUs versus 24, and 691.2 GFLOPS versus 339.8 GFLOPS. The AMD part also wins decisively in pixel rate (10.80 GPixel/s vs. 3.540 GPixel/s) and texture rate (21.60 GTexel/s vs. 14.16 GTexel/s). For any workload that stresses shader throughput — OpenCL compute, pixel-heavy rendering, or texture sampling — the HD 7730M is the stronger choice. It also wins on power efficiency, delivering better performance at 25 W versus 35 W.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M wins on memory capacity per dollar of power draw, though that is a narrow claim. It matches the AMD part in memory bandwidth (28.80 GB/s) and ROP count (16), so it is not completely outclassed in fill-rate-limited scenarios. The GT 555M also has a smaller die (238 mm² vs. 123 mm²), which — while less efficient — means it was designed for a different era of laptop integration. Its 144 shading units are fewer, but the Fermi architecture’s driver support in older software stacks may be a qualitative advantage. The GT 555M also sits closer to its nearest rivals in the percentile ranking (37th vs. 38th), indicating a more balanced competitive position against the field. But the data does not show a single benchmark win for the NVIDIA part; its only “win” is the absence of a loss in areas where the two are tied.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs:

| Field | AMD Radeon HD 7730M | NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Fermi |

| Process node | 28 nm | 40 nm |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 1,170 million |

| Die size | 123 mm² | 238 mm² |

| Transistor density | 12.2M / mm² | 4.9M / mm² |

| Shading units | 512 | 144 |

| TMUs | 32 | 24 |

| Pixel rate | 10.80 GPixel/s | 3.540 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 21.60 GTexel/s | 14.16 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 691.2 GFLOPS | 339.8 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 25 W | 35 W |

| Memory size | 2 GB | 1024 MB |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | null |

| Release date | 2012-04-23 | 2011-07-01 |

| Predecessor | Vancouver | GeForce 400M |

| Successor | Solar System | GeForce 600M |

| Geekbench OpenCL | 6581 | 6493 |

| Percentile | 38 | 37 |

Fields that are the same: memory type (DDR3), bus width (128 bit), bandwidth (28.80 GB/s), memory clock (900 MHz / 1800 Mbps effective), ROPs (16), bus interface (PCIe 2.0 x16), display outputs (Portable Device Dependent), OpenGL (4.6), production status (End-of-life), and launch MSRP (null for both). The GT 555M has no base or boost clock listed, while the HD 7730M runs at 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. Neither GPU has RT cores, tensor cores, or FP16 support.