AMD Radeon HD 8730M vs AMD Radeon R7 M370 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single recorded head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, shows a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon R7 M370. It scores 7063 points against the AMD Radeon HD 8730M's 5955 points, an 18.6% advantage. This is not a marginal win; it is a substantial margin that places the R7 M370 in a clearly higher performance tier.

The R7 M370 also holds a second benchmark result in the database, Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 6465 points. The HD 8730M has no Vulkan result recorded, so a direct comparison in that API cannot be made. However, the OpenCL result alone establishes the hierarchy between these two mobile GPUs.

Context from the database's nearest rival comparisons reinforces the R7 M370's standing. The R7 M370 averages 6764 points across its benchmark results, placing it at the 38th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rivals in the database include the AMD FirePro M5100 at 6830 points (1% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M at 6946 points (2.6% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 at 6698 points (1% behind), and the AMD Radeon R7 M460 at 6612 points (2.3% behind). The R7 M370 sits comfortably in that cluster, trading blows with desktop-class parts from a previous generation.

The HD 8730M, by contrast, averages 5955 points and lands at the 34th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are tightly grouped around it: the NVIDIA Quadro K620M at 5957 points (0% delta), the AMD Radeon HD 8750M at 5970 points (0.3% ahead), the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 at 5982 points (0.5% ahead), and the Intel UHD Graphics 730 at 5929 points (0.4% behind). The HD 8730M is essentially at parity with these parts, with deltas of less than one percent in either direction. This tight clustering indicates that the HD 8730M sits at a performance level where small architectural or clock differences between products produce negligible real-world separation.

The delta between the two cards in this head-to-head is 18.6%, which is more than six times larger than any delta the HD 8730M experiences against its own nearest rivals. In practical terms, the R7 M370 is not just faster; it is faster by a margin that puts it into a different competitive bracket. The HD 8730M's best rival comparison, 0.5% behind the Quadro K4000, is almost meaningless next to the 18.6% gap it faces against the R7 M370.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental architecture: GCN 1.0, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. Both use a chip with 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The chip names differ, with the R7 M370 using the Litho chip and the HD 8730M using the Mars chip, but the underlying silicon metrics are identical.

The core configurations are also identical in count. Both GPUs have 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation units. The R7 M370 and the HD 8730M therefore have the same theoretical compute width: the same number of shaders, the same texture fetch capacity, and the same pixel throughput ceiling per clock.

The differences emerge in clock speeds. The R7 M370 runs at a base clock of 875 MHz with a boost clock of 960 MHz. The HD 8730M runs at a base clock of 650 MHz with a boost clock of 700 MHz. This clock advantage translates directly into higher fill rates and compute throughput. The R7 M370 achieves a pixel rate of 7.680 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 23.04 GTexel/s. The HD 8730M manages 5.600 GPixel/s and 16.80 GTexel/s respectively. The R7 M370 is therefore 37% faster in pixel throughput and 37% faster in texture throughput, purely from clock speed, since the core counts are the same.

The FP32 compute figures follow the same pattern. The R7 M370 delivers 737.3 GFLOPS, while the HD 8730M delivers 537.6 GFLOPS. That is a 37% advantage for the R7 M370, again driven entirely by the higher clocks on identical hardware resources.

Memory is where the two cards diverge most sharply. The R7 M370 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, running at 900 MHz with 3.6 Gbps effective data rate, producing 57.60 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 8730M uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on the same 128-bit bus, running at 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective data rate, producing only 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 M370 has exactly double the memory bandwidth of the HD 8730M. This is a critical differentiator because memory bandwidth often becomes the limiting factor for GPUs with 384 shaders, especially in texture-heavy or high-resolution workloads.

The interface and API support are identical. Both use PCIe 3.0 x8. Both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. There are no differences in driver-level feature support between the two in the database records.

The production status is the same: both are end-of-life products. The release dates differ, with the HD 8730M released on 2013-03-31 and the R7 M370 released on 2015-05-04. The generations reflect this timeline, with the HD 8730M belonging to the Solar System (HD 8700M) generation and the R7 M370 belonging to the Gem System (R7 M300) generation. The HD 8730M's successor is the Gem System, which is the R7 M370's generation, and the R7 M370's predecessor is the Solar System, which is the HD 8730M's generation. The two cards are direct generational neighbors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M370 scores 7063 points in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon HD 8730M scores 5955 points. The R7 M370 wins by 18.6%.

Q: Do the two GPUs have the same number of shaders?

A: Yes, both have 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation units. The performance difference comes from clock speed and memory type, not core count.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare?

A: The R7 M370 uses GDDR5 memory and delivers 57.60 GB/s, while the HD 8730M uses DDR3 memory and delivers 28.80 GB/s. The R7 M370 has exactly double the bandwidth.

Q: What is the clock speed difference?

A: The R7 M370 has a base clock of 875 MHz and a boost clock of 960 MHz. The HD 8730M has a base clock of 650 MHz and a boost clock of 700 MHz.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both also use a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking?

A: The R7 M370 ranks at the 38th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 6764. The HD 8730M ranks at the 34th percentile with an average score of 5955.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon R7 M370 outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 8730M across every measurable dimension in the database. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 18.6%, has a higher average benchmark score (6764 vs 5955), a higher percentile ranking (38 vs 34), higher clock speeds, and double the memory bandwidth.

The architectural similarity between the two cards makes the comparison clean. Both use GCN 1.0, both have 384 shading units, both have 24 TMUs and 8 ROPs, both are built on the same 28 nm TSMC process with 950 million transistors. The R7 M370's advantage comes entirely from two sources: higher clocks (875/960 MHz vs 650/700 MHz) and faster memory (GDDR5 at 57.60 GB/s vs DDR3 at 28.80 GB/s).

The HD 8730M's nearest rival data shows it is competitive with the NVIDIA Quadro K620M, the AMD Radeon HD 8750M, the NVIDIA Quadro K4000, and the Intel UHD Graphics 730, all within 0.5% of its score. The R7 M370, by contrast, is competitive with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M, the AMD FirePro M5100, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010, and the AMD Radeon R7 M460. These are meaningfully faster peers. The R7 M370 sits in a higher performance bracket entirely.

For any workload where GPU performance matters, from OpenCL compute to graphics rendering, the R7 M370 is the better choice. The HD 8730M is not a bad GPU for its era, but the R7 M370 represents a clear generational step forward in both clock speed and memory technology.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon R7 M370 | AMD Radeon HD 8730M |

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

| Chip | Litho | Mars |

| Generation | Gem System (R7 M300) | Solar System (HD 8700M) |

| Base Clock | 875 MHz | 650 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 960 MHz | 700 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory Clock | 3.6 Gbps effective | 1800 Mbps effective |

| Memory Bandwidth | 57.60 GB/s | 28.80 GB/s |

| Pixel Rate | 7.680 GPixel/s | 5.600 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 23.04 GTexel/s | 16.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 737.3 GFLOPS | 537.6 GFLOPS |

| Release Date | 2015-05-04 | 2013-03-31 |

| Predecessor | Solar System | London |

| Successor | Polaris Mobile | Gem System |

| Average Benchmark Score | 6764 | 5955 |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 38 | 34 |

The two cards share identical values for process node (28 nm), foundry (TSMC), transistors (950 million), die size (77 mm²), transistor density (12.3M / mm²), shading units (384), TMUs (24), ROPs (8), memory size (2 GB), memory bus width (128 bit), bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x8), DirectX support (12 (11_1)), OpenGL support (4.6), Vulkan support (1.2.170), and production status (end-of-life).

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R7 M370 wins in every recorded benchmark category. It wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with 7063 points against 5955, and it has an additional Geekbench Vulkan score of 6465 that the HD 8730M cannot match, as no Vulkan result exists for the older card. The R7 M370 also wins on every derived performance metric: pixel rate, texture rate, FP32 compute, and memory bandwidth.

The R7 M370 is the pick for any application that stresses raw compute throughput. The FP32 figure of 737.3 GFLOPS versus 537.6 GFLOPS means OpenCL workloads, physics simulations, and compute shaders will all run faster. The double memory bandwidth, 57.60 GB/s versus 28.80 GB/s, gives the R7 M370 a decisive edge in bandwidth-sensitive tasks such as large texture streaming, high-resolution framebuffer operations, and anti-aliasing. The higher pixel rate of 7.680 GPixel/s versus 5.600 GPixel/s also makes it the better choice for fill-rate-bound rendering.

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M does not win any benchmark category in the database. Its strengths are relative to its own generation, not against the R7 M370. It matches the NVIDIA Quadro K620M within 0%, the AMD Radeon HD 8750M within 0.3%, the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 within 0.5%, and the Intel UHD Graphics 730 within 0.4%. For users constrained to a system with the HD 8730M, the data shows it is a serviceable GPU that performs on par with those contemporaries. But against the R7 M370, there is no workload where the HD 8730M comes out ahead.

The only scenario where the HD 8730M might be preferable is one where the user has no choice, such as a laptop that ships with the older GPU. But if the decision is between these two cards, the data supports the R7 M370 without qualification. It is faster in every recorded test, has a higher average score, a higher percentile ranking, and superior memory technology. The HD 8730M is the predecessor in a direct generational line, and the R7 M370 is the clear successor in performance.