AMD Radeon HD 7770M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 7770M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M are two mobile GPUs from the same 28 nm era that took very different approaches to the notebook graphics problem. The database records only one direct head-to-head result between them, and it is a striking one: in Geekbench Metal, the HD 7770M scores 13536 against the GTX 780M's 8319, a 62.7 percent advantage for the AMD part. That result sits in tension with the raw hardware specifications, where the GTX 780M is overwhelmingly larger and nominally faster on paper. Understanding that tension is the key to interpreting this comparison correctly, and the sections below work through it in detail using only the recorded data.

The Verdict

The recorded benchmark data points toward the HD 7770M for anyone whose workload resembles the Geekbench Metal test, which is the sole common measurement in the database. There, the HD 7770M's 13536 score leaves the GTX 780M's 8319 well behind, a delta of 62.7 percent. The HD 7770M also sits at the 54th percentile versus all GPUs in the database, slightly above the median, while the GTX 780M sits at the 50th percentile.

However, the verdict is not one-sided. The GTX 780M carries a substantially larger silicon budget, more memory, and far higher theoretical throughput figures, and its additional Geekbench OpenCL (12769) and Vulkan (12696) results show it being measured across more APIs than the AMD part. Buyers comparing these two today should weigh what the single common test actually measures against the GTX 780M's clearly superior raw specifications for workloads that scale with shading units, texture throughput, and memory bandwidth. The data shows a split decision: the HD 7770M wins the one measured contest, the GTX 780M wins the specification sheet.

Both parts are end-of-life, so this comparison is primarily of historical and diagnostic interest rather than a purchase decision between new products.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs were fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process, but they represent entirely different architectural philosophies and dramatically different scales of silicon.

The HD 7770M is based on the Chelsea chip and AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the London generation (HD 7700M). It contains 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². Its predecessor was Vancouver and its successor line was Solar System. It shipped with 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128 bit bus, running at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) for 64.00 GB/s of bandwidth. Compute resources consist of 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 10.80 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 21.60 GTexel/s, and FP32 output of 691.2 GFLOPS. It connects over PCIe 2.0 x16 and carries a 32 W TDP. On the API side it supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The GTX 780M uses NVIDIA's GK104 chip, the Kepler architecture, and belongs to the GeForce 700M generation. It is a far bigger piece of silicon: 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, with a slightly lower density of 12.0M per mm². Where the HD 7770M is a small mainstream mobile die, the GK104 part is a flagship-class design adapted for notebooks. It carries 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), yielding 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, two and a half times the AMD part's figure. Its compute resources dwarf the Chelsea chip: 1536 shading units (triple the HD 7770M's count), 128 TMUs (four times as many), and 32 ROPs (double). Theoretical rates follow suit: 25.50 GPixel/s pixel rate, 102.0 GTexel/s texture rate, and 2.448 TFLOPS FP32, more than triple the AMD figure. Clocks are recorded at 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost. The card is an MXM Module with MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, no power connectors, and a 122 W TDP, nearly four times the HD 7770M's 32 W. It supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Its predecessor was the GeForce 600M generation and its successor the GeForce 800M.

One notable API difference: the HD 7770M reports DirectX 12 with feature level 11_1 while the GTX 780M reports feature level 11_0, a marginal edge for the AMD part in feature-level terms. Neither GPU has RT cores or tensor cores, as expected for parts of this vintage.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 7770M wins where the recorded data actually measures performance. Its sole database benchmark, Geekbench Metal at 13536, beats the GTX 780M's 8319 by 62.7 percent, and its average benchmark score of 13536 places it at the 54th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals cluster tightly around it: the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT averages 13543 (a delta of just -0.1 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 averages 13515 (0.2 percent), the NVIDIA P106-090 averages 13470 (0.5 percent), and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 averages 13407 (1 percent). In other words, in the database's scoring the HD 7770M performs essentially on par with that rival set, edging three of the four.

The GTX 780M wins on capacity and theoretical throughput. Four gigabytes of memory versus one, 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 64.00 GB/s, triple the shading units, quadruple the TMUs, and double the ROPs all favor it for any workload limited by those resources. It also has recorded results in three APIs rather than one, with Geekbench OpenCL at 12769 and Geekbench Vulkan at 12696 supplementing its Metal score. Its average benchmark score of 11261 places it at the 50th percentile, and its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (11228, 0.3 percent), AMD FirePro W4300 (11225, 0.3 percent), NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q (11088, 1.6 percent), and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q (11088, 1.6 percent). It outperforms all four of those rivals in the database's scoring, if only narrowly.

The practical split, strictly from the data: for workloads that resemble the Metal compute test, the HD 7770M is the stronger recorded performer. For workloads that demand large framebuffers, wide memory bandwidth, or heavy shader throughput, and where the 122 W thermal envelope is available, the GTX 780M's specifications are decisively stronger.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only direct benchmark comparison in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7770M. In Geekbench Metal it scores 13536 versus 8319 for the GTX 780M, a 62.7 percent advantage.

Q: How do the two compare in power consumption?

A: The HD 7770M has a 32 W TDP while the GTX 780M has a 122 W TDP, so the AMD part draws far less power under load by the recorded figures.

Q: How much more memory does the GTX 780M have?

A: The GTX 780M has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus with 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the HD 7770M has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128 bit bus with 64.00 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Where does each GPU rank against all GPUs in the database?

A: The HD 7770M sits at the 54th percentile with an average benchmark score of 13536; the GTX 780M sits at the 50th percentile with an average benchmark score of 11261.

Q: Do these GPUs support ray tracing or AI acceleration hardware?

A: No. Neither has RT cores or tensor cores according to the recorded specifications.

Q: Which GPUs are the closest rivals to each of these two?

A: The HD 7770M's nearest rivals are the Radeon RX 9070 XT, GeForce GTX 570, P106-090, and Radeon Pro 555, all within about 1 percent of its score. The GTX 780M's nearest rivals are the Radeon Pro WX 3200, FirePro W4300, RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q, and RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q, all within 1.6 percent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly one head-to-head test between these two GPUs, and it produces the most surprising result on the page.

In Geekbench Metal, the AMD Radeon HD 7770M scored 13536 while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M scored 8319. The AMD part wins by 62.7 percent. That margin is large by any standard, and it comes despite the GTX 780M holding a specification advantage in nearly every hardware dimension recorded: triple the shading units, four times the TMUs, double the ROPs, four times the memory capacity, and two and a half times the memory bandwidth. A 62.7 percent win for the smaller chip against that specification gap strongly suggests the Metal test favors the GCN 1.0 architecture's compute characteristics, or that Kepler's performance in this specific API scenario is structurally limited. The database cannot adjudicate the mechanism, only the result.

Context from each part's rival set sharpens the picture. The HD 7770M's 13536 Metal score lands it essentially even with the Radeon RX 9070 XT (13543, a delta of -0.1 percent) and slightly ahead of the GeForce GTX 570 (13515, 0.2 percent), the P106-090 (13470, 0.5 percent), and the Radeon Pro 555 (13407, 1 percent). For the GTX 780M, the 8319 Metal score is the weakest of its three recorded results, well below its OpenCL score of 12769 and Vulkan score of 12696. The spread between its Metal and OpenCL results indicates that its performance is highly API-dependent, whereas the HD 7770M has only the single Metal data point, leaving its behavior in other APIs unrecorded.

The aggregate figures follow from that single test. The HD 7770M's average benchmark score of 13536 equals its Metal result, placing it at the 54th percentile. The GTX 780M's average of 11261, pulled down by the Metal score relative to its other two results, places it at the 50th percentile. In the recorded win tally the HD 7770M takes one win and the GTX 780M takes none, because Metal is the only test both parts have in common.

The final read is straightforward: in the one measurement the database shares between them, the HD 7770M dominates by 62.7 percent, but the GTX 780M's hardware specifications, its much larger GK104 die, its 4 GB framebuffer, and its 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth remain superior on paper, and its OpenCL and Vulkan results show it performing far closer to expectations outside of Metal. Users weighing the two should treat the Metal result as the decisive recorded data point while recognizing the GTX 780M's clear specification advantages in memory capacity, bandwidth, and theoretical compute throughput, purchased at the cost of a 122 W TDP against the HD 7770M's 32 W.