AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split between these two mobile GPUs is one-sided. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M records no wins in the head-to-head comparison, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M takes the single available test. That test, Geekbench OpenCL, favors the GTX 765M by 8.3%, a meaningful margin for compute workloads.

Looking beyond the direct comparison, the AMD card sits in a different performance neighborhood entirely. Its average benchmark score of 6581 places it ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 by 0.4%, ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M by 1%, and ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M by 1.4%. It trails the AMD Radeon R7 M460 by just 0.5%. This is a tightly packed cluster, meaning the HD 7730M trades blows with older mainstream parts rather than pulling decisively ahead of any of them.

The NVIDIA card, despite winning the head-to-head, posts a lower average score of 5501 across all its recorded benchmarks. That average includes results from Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests, with the OpenCL score of 7176 being its strongest. Its nearest rivals are similarly matched: it sits 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX130, 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 M440, 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000, and 0.7% behind the AMD FirePro M4000. The GTX 765M is essentially at parity with those parts in overall average, even though it clearly beats the HD 7730M in the direct OpenCL test.

So where does each one win? The GTX 765M wins in raw compute throughput, as shown by the 8.3% OpenCL advantage. The HD 7730M wins on efficiency of positioning: it achieves its scores with a 25 W TDP versus 75 W for the GTX 765M, and it carries a higher percentile ranking of 38 versus 32. If the task is strictly OpenCL compute, the NVIDIA part is the pick. If the task is fitting into a lower-power mobile chassis, the AMD part has the argument.

Architecture Differences

These two GPUs come from different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M uses the Chelsea chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the London generation (HD 7700M series). The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M uses the GK106 chip with Kepler architecture, part of the GeForce 700M generation. Both are manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process, but the similarities end there.

The transistor counts differ substantially. The AMD chip packs 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The NVIDIA chip carries 2,540 million transistors on a 221 mm² die, with a slightly lower density of 11.5M per mm². The NVIDIA die is nearly twice the physical size, and that extra silicon translates into more execution resources.

Core counts reinforce the gap. The HD 7730M has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 765M has 768 shading units, 64 TMUs, and the same 16 ROPs. The NVIDIA part doubles the texture throughput capability, and its pixel rate of 13.81 GPixel/s exceeds the AMD part's 10.80 GPixel/s. Texture rate tells a similar story: 55.23 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s, a 2.5x advantage for NVIDIA.

Clock speeds also favor NVIDIA. The GTX 765M runs at a base of 797 MHz with a boost of 863 MHz, while the HD 7730M sits at 575 MHz base and 675 MHz boost. Memory is another clear split. The AMD card uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus, but delivers 64.13 GB/s, more than double the bandwidth. Effective memory speeds are 1800 Mbps for AMD and 4 Gbps for NVIDIA.

API support shows minor differences. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD part lists DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA part lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The NVIDIA part has a slightly newer Vulkan version, but the AMD part supports a newer DirectX feature level. Neither has ray tracing or tensor cores, as those fields are null for both.

Interface and power delivery differ as well. The AMD card uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the NVIDIA card uses MXM-B (3.0). The AMD part has a 25 W TDP with no power connectors listed. The NVIDIA part has a 75 W TDP, no power connectors, and is listed as an MXM Module. The release dates also differ, with the AMD part launching in April 2012 and the NVIDIA part arriving in May 2013, more than a year later.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M scores 7176. That is a delta of 8.3% in favor of NVIDIA. In practical terms, the GTX 765M completes OpenCL workloads roughly 8% faster, which is noticeable in compute-heavy tasks but not a generational gap.

The GTX 765M also records additional benchmark results beyond OpenCL. Its Metal score is 2612, and its Vulkan score is 6714. Those figures give it a broader test profile, but they cannot be directly compared to the AMD part because the HD 7730M has no Metal or Vulkan scores recorded in the database. The AMD part's only recorded benchmark is that single OpenCL run.

Context from the nearest rivals helps interpret the head-to-head. The HD 7730M's OpenCL score of 6581 is only 0.4% above the Intel UHD Graphics P750 and 1% above the GTX 670M. That means the AMD part is not far off from what NVIDIA offered in the previous mobile generation. The GTX 765M, meanwhile, posts an OpenCL score that is 8.3% higher than the HD 7730M, but its average across all tests drops to 5501 because the Metal score of 2612 pulls the mean down significantly.

The percentile rankings add another layer. The HD 7730M sits at the 38th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 765M sits at the 32nd percentile. Despite losing the direct head-to-head, the AMD part ranks higher overall, likely because the NVIDIA part's weaker Metal result drags its average down. This is a useful reminder that a single benchmark does not tell the whole story, even when that benchmark is the only direct comparison available.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M scores 7176 versus 6581 for the AMD Radeon HD 7730M, a lead of 8.3%.

Q: Does the AMD card have any advantage over the NVIDIA card?

A: The AMD part has a lower TDP of 25 W versus 75 W, and it ranks higher in the database at the 38th percentile versus 32nd for the NVIDIA part.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare?

A: The GTX 765M delivers 64.13 GB/s with GDDR5, while the HD 7730M delivers 28.80 GB/s with DDR3. Both use a 128-bit bus.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The GTX 765M has 768 shading units, while the HD 7730M has 512.

Q: Are these GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are listed as end-of-life products.

Q: Do they support the same API versions?

A: Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD part lists DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA part lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear choice for compute performance: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark, and it does so by a solid 8.3% margin. Its larger die, double the transistor count, more shading units, faster clocks, and GDDR5 memory all support that result. If the workload is OpenCL-heavy, the GTX 765M is the better part.

However, the AMD Radeon HD 7730M is not without its own case. It consumes one-third the power of the NVIDIA part, 25 W versus 75 W, which matters in thin-and-light laptops where thermals and battery life are constraints. It also ranks higher in the overall percentile distribution, at 38 versus 32, and its average benchmark score of 6581 is actually higher than the GTX 765M's average of 5501, due to the NVIDIA part's weak Metal result.

For a builder choosing between these two in a used or legacy laptop, the decision comes down to priorities. If you need maximum compute throughput and have the power budget to feed a 75 W GPU, the GTX 765M is the obvious pick. If you are constrained by a 25 W power envelope or you care about overall percentile standing, the HD 7730M is the safer choice. The GTX 765M wins the performance crown, but the HD 7730M wins the efficiency argument.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7730M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M |

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

| Chip | Chelsea | GK106 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Kepler |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 2,540 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 221 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.2M / mm² | 11.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 575 MHz | 797 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 675 MHz | 863 MHz |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 28.80 GB/s | 64.13 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 768 |

| TMUs | 32 | 64 |

| ROPs | 16 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 10.80 GPixel/s | 13.81 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 21.60 GTexel/s | 55.23 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 691.2 GFLOPS | 1,325.6 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 25 W | 75 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

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

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.2.175 |

| Release Date | 2012-04-23 | 2013-05-29 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |