AMD Radeon HD 7770M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 7770M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions aimed at portable devices, yet they represent distinct architectural eras and performance tiers. The recorded data shows the AMD part scoring 13,536 in the Geekbench Metal test, while the NVIDIA part scores 11,998 in the Geekbench OpenCL test. These are different benchmark APIs, so direct cross-comparison is not possible without careful interpretation. Instead, the analysis must focus on what each score means within its own context, how each chip is built, and what the specifications indicate about their respective strengths.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7770M, built on GCN 1.0 architecture, delivers its strongest showing in the Geekbench Metal benchmark. A score of 13,536 places it at the 54th percentile among all GPUs in the database. This is a competitive position for a mobile chip from the London generation. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT with an average score of 13,543, which is only 0.1% ahead, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 with 13,515, which is 0.2% behind. The AMD part also edges out the NVIDIA P106-090 by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 by 1%. The tight clustering of these scores indicates that the HD 7770M performs at a level comparable to much newer and more powerful desktop parts, at least in this specific test. This suggests that in scenarios where the Metal API is used, the HD 7770M remains surprisingly relevant, offering performance that sits in the upper half of all recorded GPUs.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A, running on the Maxwell architecture, records a Geekbench OpenCL score of 11,998, placing it at the 51st percentile. While its percentile is slightly lower than the AMD part, the OpenCL test is a different workload. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with an average score of 11,960, which is 0.3% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT with 11,842, which is 1.3% behind. The GTX 960A also leads the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 by 2.7% and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT by 3.2%. This is a remarkable result for a mobile MXM module, as it outperforms several modern desktop graphics cards in the database. The data shows that the GTX 960A wins in the OpenCL compute space, leveraging its higher shading unit count and clock speeds to produce a strong result.

The head-to-head benchmark list between these two specific cards is empty, and the win counts are zero for both. This means the database contains no direct comparative test between the HD 7770M and the GTX 960A. Therefore, the analysis of where each one wins must be derived from their individual benchmark scores, their API support, and their architectural specifications. The AMD card wins in the Metal API, the NVIDIA card wins in the OpenCL API, and each has a distinct set of hardware resources that favor different types of workloads.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon HD 7770M is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, using the Chelsea chip. It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 1,500 million transistors packed into a die size of 123 mm². This results in a transistor density of 12.2 million transistors per square millimeter. The chip is part of the London generation, specifically the HD 7700M series, and its predecessor is Vancouver, with a successor named Solar System. The GPU has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. Its memory configuration includes 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s at a memory clock of 1000 MHz, or 4 Gbps effective. The pixel rate is 10.80 GPixel/s, the texture rate is 21.60 GTexel/s, and the FP32 compute throughput is 691.2 GFLOPS. The power envelope is very low at 32 W, and the card interfaces via PCIe 2.0 x16. It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A uses the GM107 chip based on the Maxwell architecture. It is also fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but with a higher transistor count of 1,870 million and a larger die size of 148 mm², resulting in a transistor density of 12.6 million transistors per square millimeter. The GeForce 900A generation is its family, and its predecessor is the GeForce 800A. The GTX 960A has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. Memory capacity is double that of the AMD part, at 2 GB of GDDR5, also on a 128-bit bus, but with a higher bandwidth of 80.19 GB/s due to a memory clock of 1253 MHz, or 5 Gbps effective. The base clock is 1097 MHz, with a boost clock of 1176 MHz. The pixel rate is 18.82 GPixel/s, the texture rate is 47.04 GTexel/s, and the FP32 performance is 1.505 TFLOPS. The TDP is higher at 75 W, and the bus interface is MXM-B (3.0), reflecting its mobile module form factor. It supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

These architectural differences are significant. The NVIDIA part has more shading units, more texture units, higher clock speeds, more memory, and higher memory bandwidth. The AMD part compensates with a much lower power draw and a different API feature set, notably supporting DirectX 12 (11_1) compared to the NVIDIA card's DirectX 12 (11_0). The transistor density is similar between the two, but the NVIDIA chip uses its larger transistor budget for more compute resources. The AMD card's advantage lies in efficiency and its specific support for the Metal API, which is reflected in its higher Metal benchmark score. The NVIDIA card's advantage lies in raw throughput and memory capacity, which shows in its OpenCL score.

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a clear split. For users operating in a Metal-based environment, the AMD Radeon HD 7770M is the stronger choice. Its benchmark score of 13,536 is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, placing it in the 54th percentile of all GPUs. This indicates that despite its age and low power envelope, it can hold its own against far more recent hardware in Metal workloads.

For users in an OpenCL environment, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A is the superior option. Its score of 11,998 places it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, landing in the 51st percentile. The fact that it outperforms the GeForce GTX 1080 and the Radeon RX 7800 XT, both modern desktop parts, is a notable data point. The GTX 960A also offers double the memory capacity and higher memory bandwidth, which can be beneficial for larger datasets.

The choice between these two depends entirely on the software stack. The AMD card wins in Metal, the NVIDIA card wins in OpenCL. The NVIDIA card has higher raw compute specifications, including 1.505 TFLOPS FP32 versus 691.2 GFLOPS, and a higher texture rate of 47.04 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s. However, the AMD card operates at 32 W compared to 75 W, making it significantly more power-efficient. The data does not support a universal winner; it supports a workload-dependent decision.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7770M scores 13,536 in Geekbench Metal, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A scores 11,998 in Geekbench OpenCL. These are different tests, so the scores are not directly comparable.

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

A: The AMD card is 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570. The NVIDIA card is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: The AMD card has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 80.19 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which architecture does each card use?

A: The AMD card uses GCN 1.0 with the Chelsea chip, and the NVIDIA card uses Maxwell with the GM107 chip. Both are fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC.

Q: What are the power consumption figures for these GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7770M has a TDP of 32 W, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A has a TDP of 75 W. The AMD card is more efficient, but the NVIDIA card offers higher performance metrics.

Q: What is the DirectX support in each card?

A: The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark results between the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A. The wins counter for both is zero, and the head-to-head list is empty. This prevents a direct comparison on identical workloads. However, the individual benchmark scores provide a basis for interpretation.

In the Geekbench Metal test, the AMD Radeon HD 7770M achieves 13,536 points. This score puts it in a tight cluster with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 13,543, a difference of just 0.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at 13,515, a difference of 0.2%. The AMD card also leads the NVIDIA P106-090 by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 by 1%. This indicates that in Metal workloads, the HD 7770M is competitive with GPUs that are several generations newer and much larger in terms of die size and power draw. The 54th percentile ranking confirms that this mobile chip sits above the median of all GPUs in the database.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A scores 11,998 points. This result is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, which scores 11,960, and 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT at 11,842. The GTX 960A also outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 by 2.7% and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT by 3.2%. These are substantial leads over modern desktop graphics cards, which is unexpected for a mobile MXM module. The 51st percentile ranking places it just above the median.

The largest wins for the NVIDIA card come from its raw specifications. Its FP32 throughput of 1.505 TFLOPS is more than double the 691.2 GFLOPS of the AMD card. Its texture rate of 47.04 GTexel/s is more than double the 21.60 GTexel/s of the AMD card. Its pixel rate of 18.82 GPixel/s is significantly higher than the 10.80 GPixel/s of the AMD card. These metrics suggest that the GTX 960A is the faster card for compute-heavy and texture-heavy workloads, provided the software uses the OpenCL API it supports well.

The largest win for the AMD card is its efficiency. The 32 W TDP is less than half the 75 W TDP of the NVIDIA card. This means the AMD card can deliver a competitive Metal score while drawing far less power. The memory bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s is lower than the 80.19 GB/s of the NVIDIA card, but the AMD card still achieves a higher benchmark score in its tested API. The data shows that the AMD card wins in Metal, and the NVIDIA card wins in OpenCL, with no direct test to determine a single overall winner.