AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE are both end-of-life mobile and desktop graphics cards, respectively, but they represent vastly different design philosophies and eras. In the single available benchmark comparison, the AMD Radeon HD 7730M emerges victorious, but the data reveals a more nuanced story about architectural efficiency versus raw throughput. The HD 7730M wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 6,581 against the GTX 460 SE's 6,389, a margin of 3%. This places the AMD part at the 38th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card sits just one point lower at the 37th percentile, indicating they are closely matched in overall compute performance despite their structural differences.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it shows a narrow victory for the AMD Radeon HD 7730M. The AMD card scores 6,581 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE scores 6,389 points. This 3% delta is significant in the context of their respective nearest rivals. The HD 7730M's score places it just 0.4% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6,554) and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6,513), but it trails the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6,612) by 0.5%. This suggests the HD 7730M is competitive with a wide range of both integrated and discrete solutions from later generations.

For the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE, its score of 6,389 puts it in a dead heat with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M, which also scores 6,389, resulting in a 0% delta. It is 0.3% behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell (6,407) and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 (6,330). This indicates that despite its older Fermi architecture, the GTX 460 SE's compute performance remains relevant when compared to much newer professional and mobile parts, though it cannot overcome the efficiency advantage of the newer GCN-based AMD chip in this specific workload.

The 3% win for the AMD card is not a landslide, but it is a consistent one. The HD 7730M achieves this with a dramatically lower thermal design power (25 W versus 150 W) and a smaller die, which underscores that the benchmark is testing compute capability per clock and per watt, not just raw fill rate. The GTX 460 SE's higher texture fill rate (31.20 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (7.800 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s) do not translate into a win in this OpenCL compute test, where the AMD architecture's scheduling and shader efficiency appear to hold the advantage.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental divergence between these two cards lies in their process technology and microarchitecture. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture using a 28 nm TSMC process, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE uses the Fermi architecture on a 40 nm TSMC process. This node difference is stark: the AMD chip packs 1,500 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2 million transistors per square millimeter. In contrast, the NVIDIA chip has 1,950 million transistors spread across a massive 332 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 5.9 million transistors per square millimeter. This means the HD 7730M is more than twice as dense, a direct consequence of the smaller manufacturing node.

The compute resources are organized differently. The HD 7730M features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 raster operation units (ROPs). The GTX 460 SE counters with fewer shading units at 288, but more TMUs at 48 and double the ROPs at 32. This configuration explains why the NVIDIA card has a higher texture rate (31.20 GTexel/s) despite its lower shader count. The AMD card's higher pixel rate (10.80 GPixel/s versus 7.800 GPixel/s) is notable given it has half the ROPs, suggesting the GCN architecture's ROPs are more efficient per unit.

Memory subsystems also differ significantly. The HD 7730M uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 460 SE uses 1 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 108.8 GB/s of bandwidth—nearly four times the bandwidth of the AMD card. The NVIDIA card's memory clock is 850 MHz (3.4 Gbps effective), while the AMD card runs at 900 MHz (1,800 Mbps effective). This bandwidth advantage is typical for a desktop card of that era and is crucial for texture-heavy workloads, though it did not help in the OpenCL compute benchmark.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6,581 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE's score of 6,389.

Q: How do these cards compare in terms of power consumption?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M has a TDP of 25 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE has a TDP of 150 W. This makes the AMD card six times more power-efficient in terms of thermal design.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The AMD card has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 108.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE has 1,950 million transistors, compared to the AMD Radeon HD 7730M's 1,500 million transistors. However, the AMD chip is built on a smaller 28 nm process.

Q: What is the release timing for these GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M was released on April 23, 2012, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE was released earlier on November 14, 2010.

Q: Do both cards support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, both cards support DirectX 12, but with different feature levels. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but only the AMD card lists Vulkan support (version 1.2.170).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification category. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture on a 28 nm process, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE uses Fermi on a 40 nm process. The AMD chip is smaller (123 mm² vs 332 mm²) and has fewer transistors (1,500 million vs 1,950 million) but achieves a higher transistor density (12.2M/mm² vs 5.9M/mm²).

In terms of compute units, the AMD card has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, versus the NVIDIA card's 288 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The AMD card has a higher pixel rate (10.80 GPixel/s vs 7.800 GPixel/s), but the NVIDIA card has a higher texture rate (31.20 GTexel/s vs 21.60 GTexel/s). The FP32 performance is close, with the AMD card at 691.2 GFLOPS and the NVIDIA card at 748.8 GFLOPS, a 7.7% advantage for NVIDIA.

Memory differs fundamentally: the AMD card has 2 GB DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA card has 1 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 108.8 GB/s bandwidth. Power consumption is vastly different at 25 W versus 150 W TDP. The NVIDIA card requires a dual-slot cooler, two 6-pin power connectors, and a 450 W suggested PSU, whereas the AMD card's power connectors and slot width are listed as "Portable Device Dependent" and null, respectively. The NVIDIA card is 210 mm (8.3 inches) long, while the AMD card's dimensions are not specified.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows that the AMD Radeon HD 7730M is the better compute performer, winning the only head-to-head benchmark with a 3% margin. This is a decisive result for a mobile chip against a desktop card, especially considering the AMD part does so with 83% less TDP (25 W versus 150 W). The HD 7730M's victory in Geekbench OpenCL, despite having lower FP32 peak (691.2 GFLOPS versus 748.8 GFLOPS) and a fraction of the memory bandwidth (28.80 GB/s versus 108.8 GB/s), points to superior architectural efficiency in the GCN 1.0 design.

However, the GTX 460 SE should not be dismissed entirely. Its higher texture rate (31.20 GTexel/s), larger ROP count (32), and massive memory bandwidth (108.8 GB/s) are not reflected in the OpenCL test, but these specifications historically favor traditional rasterization workloads. The NVIDIA card also matches the performance of the GTX 580M exactly (6,389 score, 0% delta) and comes within 0.3% of the RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell, suggesting its compute capabilities remain relevant for its age.

For a user prioritizing compute performance per watt, the AMD Radeon HD 7730M is the clear choice. For a user needing maximum memory bandwidth and texture throughput in a desktop context, the GTX 460 SE's specifications offer advantages that the benchmark does not capture. The percentile rankings (38th for AMD, 37th for NVIDIA) confirm they are peers in overall performance, but the AMD card achieves this in a much smaller, lower-power package.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins in the compute benchmark, scoring 3% higher than the GTX 460 SE in Geekbench OpenCL. This makes it the superior choice for OpenCL-based workloads such as general-purpose GPU computing, video encoding, and physics simulations. Its 25 W TDP makes it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where thermal constraints are severe, and its 2 GB memory capacity allows it to handle larger data sets in memory than the NVIDIA card's 1 GB. The HD 7730M also supports Vulkan 1.2.170, which the GTX 460 SE does not list, giving it an edge in modern cross-platform graphics APIs.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE wins in raw specification categories that matter for traditional gaming. Its 108.8 GB/s memory bandwidth is 3.8 times higher than the AMD card's, which is critical for high-resolution textures and anti-aliasing. Its 48 TMUs and 32 ROPs provide a texture fill rate of 31.20 GTexel/s and a pixel fill rate of 7.800 GPixel/s, though the AMD card actually has a higher pixel rate at 10.80 GPixel/s. The GTX 460 SE also has higher peak FP32 performance at 748.8 GFLOPS versus 691.2 GFLOPS, indicating it can sustain more raw floating-point operations per second when not limited by other factors. For desktop users with a 450 W power supply and room for a dual-slot, 210 mm card, the GTX 460 SE offers a more traditional desktop experience with its 2x DVI and mini-HDMI outputs.