AMD Radeon HD 7770M vs AMD Radeon Pro 560X Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data includes a single common benchmark test between these two mobile graphics processors: Geekbench Metal. In that test, the AMD Radeon Pro 560X scored 18,763, while the AMD Radeon HD 7770M scored 13,536. The delta is 38.6% in favor of the Pro 560X, making it the clear winner in the only directly comparable measurement available.

Looking at the broader database averages, the Pro 560X holds an average benchmark score of 15,082 across its test suite, while the HD 7770M averages 13,536. The Pro 560X also has additional recorded tests beyond Metal: it scores 9,663 in Geekbench OpenCL and 16,819 in Geekbench Vulkan. The HD 7770M has no OpenCL or Vulkan entries in the database, so those results cannot be compared directly. The Metal gap of 38.6% is substantial, and it aligns with the raw compute specifications that will be examined later in this analysis.

Context from the nearest rivals helps interpret these scores. The Pro 560X sits at the 57th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (average score 15,063, delta 0.1% relative to the Pro) and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15,171, delta -0.6%). This places the Pro 560X in a tightly contested band; the margin between it and the RX 7600 is less than 1%, meaning the Pro 560X is effectively comparable to much newer desktop parts in aggregate performance. The HD 7770M, by contrast, sits at the 54th percentile, with its closest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (13,543, delta -0.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13,515, delta 0.2%). The HD 7770M is 1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 555 (13,407), which is a notable data point since both are mobile Radeon parts from different eras.

The head-to-head win count is one for the Pro 560X and zero for the HD 7770M. There is no benchmark in the database where the older chip prevails. The Metal test is the only shared measurement, and the Pro 560X leads by a wide margin. The OpenCL result for the Pro 560X (9,663) is far below its Metal score, which is typical for GPUs that are optimized for Apple's Metal API, but that result does not affect the head-to-head comparison because the HD 7770M has no corresponding score.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras of AMD's GCN architecture. The Radeon Pro 560X uses GCN 4.0 on the Polaris 21 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The Radeon HD 7770M uses GCN 1.0 on the Chelsea chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference is significant: 14 nm vs 28 nm, which explains much of the efficiency and density gap between the two.

Transistor counts tell a clear story. The Pro 560X packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The HD 7770M also has a 123 mm² die, but it contains only 1,500 million transistors, for a density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. Both chips have identical die area, but the newer process doubles the transistor count in the same physical footprint. This is a direct architectural consequence of the node shrink.

The compute resources differ sharply. The Pro 560X has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operations units. The HD 7770M has half the shading units at 512, half the TMUs at 32, and the same 16 ROPs. The Pro 560X's pixel rate is 16.06 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s for the HD 7770M, and its texture rate is 64.26 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance follows the same pattern: the Pro 560X delivers 2.056 TFLOPS of FP32, while the HD 7770M delivers 691.2 GFLOPS. The Pro 560X also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (2.056 TFLOPS), whereas the HD 7770M has no recorded FP16 capability.

Memory subsystems also diverge. The Pro 560X comes with 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, running at an effective 5.9 Gbps, for a bandwidth of 94.08 GB/s. The HD 7770M has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus, but the memory clock is 4 Gbps effective, yielding only 64.00 GB/s. The Pro 560X thus has both more capacity and higher bandwidth. The bus interface differs as well: the Pro 560X uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the HD 7770M uses PCIe 2.0 x16. Both are portable-device-dependent for display outputs, and neither requires external power connectors (the Pro 560X is listed as an IGP with a 75 W TDP, while the HD 7770M has a 32 W TDP).

API support is another differentiator. The Pro 560X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The HD 7770M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The newer GPU has a more complete DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan revision. The generation labels confirm the gap: the Pro 560X belongs to the "Radeon Pro Mac (500X Series)" generation, while the HD 7770M is from the "London (HD 7700M)" generation.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows only one benchmark where both GPUs have results, and the Pro 560X wins it decisively. That makes a straightforward case: the Pro 560X is the stronger performer for any workload captured by Geekbench Metal. The 38.6% delta in Metal is large enough to be felt in real-world GPU-accelerated tasks, particularly those that rely on Apple's Metal API, which is the primary test environment for these mobile parts.

The Pro 560X's additional benchmark scores suggest it can handle both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, with OpenCL at 9,663 and Vulkan at 16,819. The HD 7770M has no such scores, so the database cannot confirm or deny its capability in those APIs, but the absence of recorded results means the Pro 560X is the only one of the two with verified multi-API performance. For users targeting OpenCL compute or Vulkan rendering, the Pro 560X has documented numbers to back it up.

The HD 7770M is not without merit, but its wins are not in raw performance. It draws only 32 W compared to the Pro 560X's 75 W, which makes it a far more power-efficient part in absolute terms. The HD 7770M also supports PCIe 2.0 x16, a wider bus interface than the Pro 560X's PCIe 3.0 x8, though the newer chip's higher bandwidth makes this a non-issue in practice. For legacy systems with older PCIe implementations, the HD 7770M's x16 connection might be easier to accommodate, but that is a compatibility consideration rather than a performance advantage.

The Pro 560X's 4 GB memory capacity is a clear advantage for modern workloads. The HD 7770M's 1024 MB is severely limited by today's standards, and the lower bandwidth (64.00 GB/s vs 94.08 GB/s) compounds the issue. In any memory-intensive task, whether texture-heavy gaming or compute workloads, the Pro 560X has a fundamental edge. The HD 7770M's half-sized shading unit count and TMU count also cap its throughput in ways that no driver optimization can overcome.

The Verdict

For anyone choosing between these two GPUs based on database measurements, the verdict is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro 560X is the superior part. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 38.6%, has double the shading units, double the TMUs, more than triple the FP32 throughput, and nearly 50% more memory bandwidth. The transistor density difference (24.4M/mm² vs 12.2M/mm²) reflects a generational leap in manufacturing that directly translates to performance.

The Pro 560X also holds a higher percentile ranking at 57% vs the HD 7770M's 54%, and its average benchmark score (15,082) is 11.4% higher than the HD 7770M's average (13,536). The nearest rival comparisons reinforce this: the Pro 560X trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (delta -0.8%) and the AMD Radeon 680M (delta -1.2%), while the HD 7770M is grouped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (delta 0.2%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 (delta 1%). The older chip is not a bad performer for its era, but it is outclassed by the newer part in every measurable dimension.

The only scenario where the HD 7770M might be preferable is in a power-constrained environment, since it draws 32 W versus the Pro 560X's 75 W. However, the database does not include power efficiency benchmarks, and the performance gap is so large that the power savings would need to be extreme to justify the trade-off. For any workload that benefits from GPU acceleration, the Pro 560X is the recommended choice. The HD 7770M is an end-of-life product, as is the Pro 560X, but the latter is far more capable at the end of its life.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench Metal?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 560X scores 18,763, which is 38.6% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7770M's 13,536.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in terms of shading units?

A: The Pro 560X has 1,024 shading units, while the HD 7770M has 512. The Pro 560X has exactly twice as many.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The Pro 560X has 94.08 GB/s of bandwidth, while the HD 7770M has 64.00 GB/s. The Pro 560X also has 4 GB of memory versus 1 GB on the HD 7770M.

Q: Are both GPUs on the same manufacturing process?

A: No. The Pro 560X is on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the HD 7770M is on a 28 nm process at TSMC.

Q: Does the HD 7770M support Vulkan?

A: Yes, it supports Vulkan 1.2.170, but the Pro 560X supports a newer Vulkan 1.3. The Pro 560X also has recorded Vulkan benchmark scores, while the HD 7770M does not.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Pro 560X has an average score of 15,082, compared to the HD 7770M's 13,536. The Pro 560X also has a higher percentile ranking at 57% versus 54%.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro 560X | AMD Radeon HD 7770M |

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

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | GCN 1.0 |

| Chip | Polaris 21 | Chelsea |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 28 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 1,500 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.4M / mm² | 12.2M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 1024 MB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Clock | 1470 MHz, 5.9 Gbps effective | 1000 MHz, 4 Gbps effective |

| Bandwidth | 94.08 GB/s | 64.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1,024 | 512 |

| TMUs | 64 | 32 |

| ROPs | 16 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 16.06 GPixel/s | 10.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 64.26 GTexel/s | 21.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.056 TFLOPS | 691.2 GFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 2.056 TFLOPS (1:1) | Not available |

| TDP | 75 W | 32 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Not specified |

| Power Connectors | None | Not specified |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |

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

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.2.170 |

| Generation | Radeon Pro Mac (500X Series) | London (HD 7700M) |