AMD Radeon HD 8730M vs AMD Radeon R7 M365X Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data separates these two mobile GPUs by a razor-thin margin, but the choice depends entirely on which workload takes priority. The AMD Radeon HD 8730M wins the only shared OpenCL benchmark, scoring 5955 against 5939 for the AMD Radeon R7 M365X, a 0.3% advantage. That is essentially a statistical tie, and the R7 M365X counters with a Geekbench Vulkan score of 4893, a test the HD 8730M did not participate in. For users running general-purpose compute through OpenCL, the HD 8730M is the marginally faster part. For those targeting Vulkan-based applications, the R7 M365X offers measurable capability that the older card simply does not provide.

The HD 8730M sits at the 34th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the R7 M365X sits at the 32nd. Both are low-end mobile parts, and their rival sets confirm the performance tier. The HD 8730M trades blows with the NVIDIA Quadro K620M (5957, 0% delta), the AMD Radeon HD 8750M (5970, -0.3%), the Intel UHD Graphics 730 (5929, 0.4%), and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982, -0.5%). The R7 M365X lands near the AMD Radeon 610M (5444, -0.5%), Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370, 0.9%), NVIDIA Quadro M4000 (5467, -0.9%), and AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5358, 1.1%). Neither card escapes the entry-level bracket, so expectations should remain modest.

The verdict is straightforward: pick the HD 8730M for pure OpenCL throughput and slightly better overall average score, or pick the R7 M365X if Vulkan support matters. The R7 M365X also brings a substantially faster memory subsystem, which the raw benchmark scores do not fully capture. For legacy compute tasks and compatibility with older driver stacks, the HD 8730M is the safer bet. For modern graphics APIs and higher memory bandwidth, the R7 M365X is the more future-proof option.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental design. The AMD Radeon HD 8730M uses the Mars chip, while the AMD Radeon R7 M365X uses the Litho chip. Both are built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The transistor count is identical at 950 million, and the die size matches at 77 mm², yielding the same transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The shading unit count is identical at 384, with 24 texture mapping units and 8 ROPs on both cards.

The critical divergence lies in memory configuration. The HD 8730M ships with 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, running at 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective data rate. This produces a bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. The R7 M365X ships with 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on the same 128-bit bus, but at 1000 MHz with 4 Gbps effective data rate. This more than doubles the bandwidth to 64.00 GB/s. The R7 M365X also carries higher clock-derived throughput: its pixel rate is 6.600 GPixel/s versus 5.600 GPixel/s for the HD 8730M, its texture rate is 19.80 GTexel/s versus 16.80 GTexel/s, and its FP32 compute is 633.6 GFLOPS versus 537.6 GFLOPS. The HD 8730M lists a base clock of 650 MHz and a boost clock of 700 MHz, while the R7 M365X does not report base or boost clocks in the database.

Both cards support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x8 on both. The HD 8730M belongs to the Solar System generation (HD 8700M) and was released on 2013-03-31, with the London chip as its predecessor and the Gem System as its successor. The R7 M365X belongs to the Gem System generation (R7 M300) and was released on 2015-05-04, with the Solar System as its predecessor and Polaris Mobile as its successor. Both are marked end-of-life. The R7 M365X effectively replaces the HD 8730M in AMD's mobile lineup, but the older card retains a larger memory capacity.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 8730M wins in OpenCL compute. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 5955 edges out the R7 M365X's 5939 by 0.3%. That margin is within noise, but the direction is consistent with the HD 8730M's rival positioning: it sits slightly above the Intel UHD Graphics 730 (5929) and within 0.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982). The HD 8730M also offers twice the memory capacity at 2 GB versus 1 GB, which matters for workloads that exceed the smaller frame buffer. For OpenCL-based rendering, physics simulation, or data-parallel tasks, the HD 8730M is the better choice.

The R7 M365X wins in memory bandwidth and Vulkan performance. Its 64.00 GB/s bandwidth is more than double the HD 8730M's 28.80 GB/s, a difference that directly benefits texture-heavy workloads and higher-resolution rendering. Its Vulkan score of 4893 demonstrates functional capability in a modern graphics API, while the HD 8730M has no recorded Vulkan benchmark. The R7 M365X also posts higher pixel rate (6.600 GPixel/s), texture rate (19.80 GTexel/s), and FP32 throughput (633.6 GFLOPS) than the HD 8730M. For gaming, especially with modern titles that lean on Vulkan or DirectX 12, the R7 M365X has the architectural edge.

The average benchmark score tells a different story. The HD 8730M averages 5955 across its single OpenCL test, while the R7 M365X averages 5416 across its OpenCL and Vulkan tests. The Vulkan score drags down the R7 M365X average because Vulkan workloads typically score lower than OpenCL on the same hardware. The HD 8730M has no Vulkan score, so its average is purely OpenCL. This makes the average comparison misleading for cross-API evaluation. The head-to-head data shows only the OpenCL test, which the HD 8730M wins 1-0.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8730M scores 5955 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R7 M365X scores 5939. The HD 8730M leads by 0.3%.

Q: Does the R7 M365X support Vulkan?

A: Yes. The R7 M365X has a recorded Geekbench Vulkan score of 4893. The HD 8730M has no Vulkan benchmark in the database.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The HD 8730M uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The R7 M365X uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The R7 M365X leads with 633.6 GFLOPS FP32, 6.600 GPixel/s pixel rate, and 19.80 GTexel/s texture rate. The HD 8730M posts 537.6 GFLOPS, 5.600 GPixel/s, and 16.80 GTexel/s.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card?

A: The HD 8730M sits within 0.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982) and within 0.4% of the Intel UHD Graphics 730 (5929). The R7 M365X sits within 0.9% of the Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370) and within 1.1% of the AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5358).

Q: Are both cards the same architecture?

A: Yes. Both use GCN 1.0 on TSMC's 28 nm process, with 950 million transistors, a 77 mm² die, 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon HD 8730M scores 5955, and the AMD Radeon R7 M365X scores 5939. The HD 8730M wins by 0.3%, a margin so small it falls within typical run-to-run variance. Both cards land in the same performance envelope, and the rival sets confirm this. The HD 8730M's nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro K620M, scores 5957 with a 0% delta, meaning the HD 8730M is effectively tied with that professional mobile GPU. The AMD Radeon HD 8750M scores 5970, putting it 0.3% ahead of the HD 8730M, while the Intel UHD Graphics 730 trails at 5929, 0.4% behind. The NVIDIA Quadro K4000 leads the HD 8730M's group at 5982, 0.5% higher.

The R7 M365X's OpenCL score of 5939 places it in a similar tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 610M, scores 5444, which is 0.5% lower. The Intel UHD Graphics P630 scores 5370, 0.9% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000 scores 5467, 0.9% higher. The AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5358, 1.1% lower. The average benchmark score for the R7 M365X is 5416, pulled down by its Vulkan result of 4893. This Vulkan score is not directly comparable to OpenCL scores, but it does represent a separate workload where the R7 M365X has a measurable presence.

The HD 8730M wins the head-to-head counter at 1 win, 0 losses, solely on the OpenCL test. The R7 M365X does not win any shared benchmark, but its Vulkan score of 4893 is a distinct data point that the HD 8730M cannot match. The practical takeaway is that these two GPUs are close enough in raw compute that memory bandwidth becomes the deciding factor. The R7 M365X's 64.00 GB/s bandwidth is 2.2 times the HD 8730M's 28.80 GB/s, which explains why the newer card posts higher pixel, texture, and FP32 rates despite sharing the same core configuration. The HD 8730M compensates with double the memory capacity, making it the better fit for large datasets that exceed 1 GB.

The architecture data shows no difference in core counts: 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, 8 ROPs on both. The process node, transistor count, die size, and transistor density are all identical. The API support is identical as well, with DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170 on both cards. The only meaningful architectural differences are memory type, memory speed, and memory capacity. The R7 M365X uses GDDR5 at 4 Gbps effective, the HD 8730M uses DDR3 at 1800 Mbps effective. The R7 M365X has 1 GB, the HD 8730M has 2 GB. These differences produce the bandwidth gap and the throughput gap, while the OpenCL scores stay nearly equal because the core compute units are identical.

For users deciding between these two, the data points to a split decision. OpenCL-heavy workflows see a 0.3% advantage on the HD 8730M. Vulkan-capable workflows see a functional advantage on the R7 M365X. Memory-heavy workloads at resolutions or texture sizes above 1 GB favor the HD 8730M. Bandwidth-sensitive workloads favor the R7 M365X. The R7 M365X is the later release, dated 2015-05-04 against 2013-03-31 for the HD 8730M, and it belongs to the Gem System generation that succeeded the Solar System. Both are end-of-life, so availability and driver maturity are the remaining practical considerations. The benchmark numbers alone do not deliver a clear winner, only a clear split by workload.