AMD Radeon HD 7770M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 vs AMD Radeon HD 7770M

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 and AMD Radeon HD 7770M occupy different tiers of the GPU landscape, yet their benchmark scores tell a nuanced story. The GTX 770, a desktop part from the GeForce 700 series built on the GK104 chip, delivers an average benchmark score of 14,747, placing it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs. The HD 7770M, a mobile-focused GCN 1.0 part from the London (HD 7700M) generation, scores 13,536 on average, landing in the 54th percentile. Despite the GTX 770's higher raw throughput and desktop pedigree, the only direct head-to-head benchmark available shows the AMD part winning decisively, which complicates any simple hierarchy.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 scores 14,747 on average, which is 1,211 points higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7770M's 13,536. This places the GTX 770 in the 57th percentile versus the HD 7770M's 54th percentile.

Q: In the direct head-to-head benchmark, which GPU wins?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7770M wins the only direct comparison, the geekbench_metal test, with a score of 13,536 versus the GTX 770's 9,369. This represents a 30.8% advantage for the AMD part.

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

A: The GTX 770 sits within 2.2% of several peers: it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 560X by 2.2% and the GTX 660 Ti by 2.1%, while leading the Quadro M2000 by 1.5% and the RX 5500 XT by 0.4%. The HD 7770M is nearly tied with the RX 9070 XT (0.1% behind), leads the GTX 570 by 0.2%, the P106-090 by 0.5%, and the Radeon Pro 555 by 1%.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The GTX 770 features 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.4 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 7770M has 1,024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The GTX 770 has a TDP of 230 W and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with dual-slot cooling and both a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector. The HD 7770M has a TDP of just 32 W and lists no power connectors or suggested PSU, consistent with its mobile orientation.

Q: Which GPU supports newer PCIe and API standards?

A: The GTX 770 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The HD 7770M uses PCIe 2.0 x16 and supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures, though both use a 28 nm process from TSMC. The GTX 770 employs NVIDIA's Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip, containing 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.0M per mm². The HD 7770M uses AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture with the Chelsea chip, packing 1,500 million transistors onto a much smaller 123 mm² die, achieving a slightly higher density of 12.2M per mm².

Compute resources diverge sharply. The GTX 770 fields 1,536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The HD 7770M is far leaner with 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This 3x difference in shading units and 4x difference in TMUs directly explains the GTX 770's higher theoretical throughput: 3.333 TFLOPS of FP32 versus 691.2 GFLOPS for the AMD part.

Clock behavior also differs. The GTX 770 has explicit base and boost clocks of 1,046 MHz and 1,085 MHz, respectively. The HD 7770M lists no base or boost clock in the data, only its memory clock of 1,000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). Memory configuration further separates them: the GTX 770 runs GDDR5 at 1,753 MHz (7 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, while the HD 7770M uses slower 1,000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. The resulting bandwidth gap is enormous — 224.4 GB/s versus 64.00 GB/s.

The GTX 770 is a desktop card with a dual-slot cooler, dimensions of 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width, and outputs including 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. The HD 7770M is portable-device-dependent with no listed dimensions or slot width, and its display outputs are described solely as "Portable Device Dependent." The GTX 770 interfaces via PCIe 3.0 x16, while the HD 7770M uses the older PCIe 2.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Only one benchmark directly compares these two GPUs: geekbench_metal. The results are striking. The AMD Radeon HD 7770M scores 13,536, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 manages only 9,369. That is a 30.8% delta in favor of the AMD part. This is an unexpected outcome given the GTX 770's vastly superior compute resources and memory bandwidth. The data suggests that the Metal API test may favor the GCN architecture's characteristics, or that the mobile HD 7770M's driver optimizations are particularly well-tuned for this workload.

Context from each card's overall benchmark profile is essential. The GTX 770's average score of 14,747 is derived from three tests: geekbench_metal at 9,369, geekbench_opencl at 15,707, and geekbench_vulkan at 19,166. The HD 7770M's average of 13,536 comes from a single geekbench_metal result. This means the HD 7770M's only data point is its Metal score, whereas the GTX 770's Metal score is its weakest result by far. If the GDDR5 bandwidth or the Kepler architecture's OpenCL/Vulkan performance were tested on the HD 7770M, the relative standing could shift considerably. However, based strictly on the available data, the HD 7770M holds the only direct win.

Looking at the GTX 770's nearest rivals provides additional perspective. Its 14,747 average places it within 0.4% of the RX 5500 XT (14,692), 1.5% ahead of the Quadro M2000 (14,532), and 2.1-2.2% behind the GTX 660 Ti (15,063) and Radeon Pro 560X (15,082). The HD 7770M's 13,536 average sits within 0.1% of the RX 9070 XT (13,543), 0.2% ahead of the GTX 570 (13,515), 0.5% ahead of the P106-090 (13,470), and 1% ahead of the Radeon Pro 555 (13,407). These tight margins indicate that both cards are well-positioned within their respective performance strata.

The GTX 770's wins are theoretical rather than measured in the head-to-head. Its pixel rate of 34.72 GPixel/s is over three times the HD 7770M's 10.80 GPixel/s. Its texture rate of 138.9 GTexel/s dwarfs the AMD part's 21.60 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 4.8x higher. Memory bandwidth is 3.5x higher. Yet the single benchmark result contradicts these specifications, serving as a reminder that real-world API performance does not always scale with raw hardware throughput.

The Verdict

The data presents a split decision. For users prioritizing the single available direct benchmark, the AMD Radeon HD 7770M is the clear winner, taking the geekbench_metal test by 30.8%. That is a substantial margin, and it is the only measured head-to-head result in the database. Anyone working primarily with Metal-based workloads on portable hardware would find the HD 7770M to be the better choice based on this evidence.

However, the broader specification sheet favors the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 in nearly every other measurable category. It offers more memory (2 GB versus 1,024 MB), wider bus (256-bit versus 128-bit), higher bandwidth (224.4 GB/s versus 64.00 GB/s), more shading units (1,536 versus 512), more TMUs (128 versus 32), more ROPs (32 versus 16), and significantly higher pixel, texture, and FP32 rates. Its average benchmark score across all tests is 14,747 versus 13,536, an 8.9% advantage. The GTX 770 also supports a newer PCIe interface (3.0 vs 2.0) and slightly newer Vulkan version (1.2.175 vs 1.2.170).

The HD 7770M counters with dramatically lower power consumption: 32 W TDP versus 230 W. It is a mobile part by design, requiring no external power connectors and fitting into portable devices. The GTX 770 demands a 550 W PSU, dual-slot spacing, and a 267 mm chassis. For a desktop system with adequate power and cooling, the GTX 770 is the more capable part on paper and in aggregate benchmarks. For a laptop or compact portable system, the HD 7770M is the only viable option given its power envelope and form factor.

The production status for both is end-of-life, so neither represents a future-proof investment. The GTX 770 launched on 2013-05-29 with a launch MSRP of 399 USD, while the HD 7770M launched earlier on 2012-04-23 with no listed MSRP. Buyers today should weigh the GTX 770's superior specifications and aggregate score against the HD 7770M's single-benchmark victory and far lower power draw.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 | AMD Radeon HD 7770M |

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

| Architecture | Kepler | GCN 1.0 |

| Chip | GK104 | Chelsea |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 3,540 million | 1,500 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.0M / mm² | 12.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1046 MHz | null |

| Boost Clock | 1085 MHz | null |

| Memory Clock | 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective) | 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 1024 MB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.4 GB/s | 64.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 512 |

| TMUs | 128 | 32 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 34.72 GPixel/s | 10.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 138.9 GTexel/s | 21.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.333 TFLOPS | 691.2 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 230 W | 32 W |

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

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

| Vulkan | 1.2.175 | 1.2.170 |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | null |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | null |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | null |

| Display Outputs | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 | Portable Device Dependent |

| Dimensions | 267 mm x 111 mm x 38 mm | null |

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

| Launch MSRP | 399 USD | null |