AMD Radeon HD 8730M vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single head-to-head benchmark comparison between the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 and the AMD Radeon HD 8730M: the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this measurement, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 scored 6698 points, while the AMD Radeon HD 8730M scored 5955 points. This gives the NVIDIA part a decisive 12.5% performance advantage. The database records one win for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 and zero wins for the AMD Radeon HD 8730M in this direct comparison.

The 12.5% lead is substantial in the context of these two mobile and desktop-class parts. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 also sits at the 38th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the AMD Radeon HD 8730M sits at the 34th percentile. That four-point percentile gap reflects the real-world separation between these two products. The NVIDIA part is not just faster in raw OpenCL compute; it also places higher in the overall distribution of recorded GPU performance.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides additional context. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon R7 M370, which scores 6764, a mere 1% higher. The AMD Radeon R7 M460 trails the GT 1010 by 1.3%, and the AMD Radeon HD 7730M trails by 1.8%. The AMD FirePro M5100 sits 1.9% ahead. This clustering shows the GT 1010 is placed in a tightly contested performance band, where even a single percentage point separates several competing products.

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M's nearest rivals tell a similar story but at a lower performance level. The NVIDIA Quadro K620M scores 5957, effectively matching the 8730M with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon HD 8750M scores 5970, just 0.3% higher. The Intel UHD Graphics 730 trails by 0.4%, and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 sits 0.5% ahead. The 8730M is thus locked into a very tight group of GPUs that all perform within roughly half a percent of each other.

The gap between the two cards in the head-to-head test is far larger than the gaps within each card's own rival cluster. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010's 12.5% advantage over the AMD Radeon HD 8730M is roughly equivalent to the entire spread of the GT 1010's four nearest rivals combined. In other words, the performance difference between these two specific cards is more significant than the performance differences among each card's closest competitors.

The benchmark data also shows that the GT 1010's score of 6698 is 743 points higher than the 8730M's 5955. That raw point difference translates directly to the 12.5% delta. For compute workloads that scale with OpenCL performance, the NVIDIA part finishes tasks noticeably faster. The 8730M would need roughly a 12.5% increase in its raw score to match the GT 1010, which is a substantial improvement to demand from a single architectural generation.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages entirely. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 uses the Pascal architecture, built on the GP108 chip. The AMD Radeon HD 8730M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture, built on the Mars chip. These are fundamentally different designs from different eras and different manufacturers.

The manufacturing process highlights the generational gap. The NVIDIA part is fabricated on a 14 nm process at Samsung, while the AMD part uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. The smaller process node gives the GT 1010 a significant density advantage. The GT 1010 packs 1,800 million transistors into a 74 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.3 million per square millimeter. The 8730M contains 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, which works out to 12.3 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA chip has nearly twice the transistor density of the AMD chip.

Despite the density difference, the raw transistor count tells a different story. The GT 1010 has 1,800 million transistors versus 950 million for the 8730M, so the NVIDIA chip has roughly 89% more transistors. Yet the die sizes are nearly identical: 74 mm² for the GT 1010 and 77 mm² for the 8730M. The process node advantage allows NVIDIA to fit far more logic into essentially the same physical footprint.

The compute resources are distributed differently between the two architectures. The AMD Radeon HD 8730M has 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. While the AMD part has more shading units and TMUs, the NVIDIA part achieves higher performance per unit due to its higher clock speeds and architectural efficiency.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The GT 1010 runs at a base clock of 1228 MHz and a boost clock of 1468 MHz. The 8730M runs at a base clock of 650 MHz and a boost clock of 700 MHz. The NVIDIA card's base clock is nearly double the AMD card's base clock. This clock advantage is a major contributor to the GT 1010's performance lead, even with fewer shading units.

Memory configurations also diverge. The GT 1010 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering 48.06 GB/s of bandwidth. The 8730M uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 28.80 GB/s. The NVIDIA card achieves 67% more memory bandwidth despite having half the bus width, because GDDR5 operates at much higher effective speeds. The GT 1010's memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the 8730M's memory runs at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective).

The resulting fill rates reflect these differences. The GT 1010 achieves a pixel rate of 11.74 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 23.49 GTexel/s. The 8730M manages 5.600 GPixel/s and 16.80 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA part is more than twice as fast in pixel fill rate and about 40% faster in texture fill rate. Floating-point performance follows a similar pattern: the GT 1010 delivers 751.6 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the 8730M delivers 537.6 GFLOPS.

API support shows a minor advantage for the NVIDIA part. The GT 1010 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 8730M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support the same OpenGL version, but the NVIDIA card has a higher DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the recorded benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 scores 6698 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 12.5% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 8730M's score of 5955.

Q: How do the architectures differ?

A: The GT 1010 uses the Pascal architecture on a 14 nm Samsung process, while the 8730M uses GCN 1.0 on a 28 nm TSMC process. The GT 1010 has a transistor density of 24.3M per mm², versus 12.3M per mm² for the 8730M.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The GT 1010 delivers 48.06 GB/s of bandwidth with GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus. The 8730M delivers 28.80 GB/s with DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus. The GT 1010 has 67% more bandwidth despite half the bus width.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8730M has 384 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 has 256. However, the GT 1010's higher clock speeds and architecture efficiency give it the performance advantage.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card?

A: The GT 1010's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon R7 M370 at 6764, just 1% higher. The 8730M's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro K620M at 5957, which is effectively a 0% delta.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking?

A: The GT 1010 ranks in the 38th percentile of all GPUs, while the 8730M ranks in the 34th percentile.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 | AMD Radeon HD 8730M |

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

| Architecture | Pascal | GCN 1.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 28 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Transistors | 1,800 million | 950 million |

| Die Size | 74 mm² | 77 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.3M / mm² | 12.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1228 MHz | 650 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1468 MHz | 700 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 48.06 GB/s | 28.80 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 256 | 384 |

| TMUs | 16 | 24 |

| ROPs | 8 | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 11.74 GPixel/s | 5.600 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 23.49 GTexel/s | 16.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 751.6 GFLOPS | 537.6 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 30 W | Not specified |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Not specified |

| Power Connectors | None | Not specified |

| Suggested PSU | 200 W | Not specified |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x4 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 2.0 | Not specified |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2021-01-12 | 2013-03-31 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 900 | London |

| Successor | GeForce 20 | Gem System |

The Verdict

The data clearly favors the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 in raw performance. The 12.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is the only direct head-to-head measurement recorded, and it is unambiguous. The GT 1010 also holds advantages in nearly every architectural specification that matters for compute throughput: clock speed, memory bandwidth, pixel rate, texture rate, and FP32 performance.

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M does have more shading units and TMUs, but the recorded data shows those extra resources do not translate into a performance win. The GT 1010's clock advantage and newer architecture more than compensate for the lower unit counts. The 8730M also uses DDR3 memory, which bottlenecks its 128-bit bus, whereas the GT 1010's GDDR5 memory on a narrower bus delivers superior bandwidth.

For users prioritizing compute performance in OpenCL workloads, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 is the clear choice based on the recorded benchmark. Its 38th percentile ranking versus the 34th percentile for the 8730M reinforces this conclusion. The GT 1010 also benefits from a newer release date, a smaller process node, higher transistor density, and better API support.

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M might appeal to those who need a broader memory bus or more shading units, but the data does not show any performance benefit from those features. Its rival cluster is tightly packed around the 5955 score, with the nearest competitor matching it exactly, which suggests the 8730M is a firmly mid-pack performer. The GT 1010, by contrast, sits in a slightly higher performance tier.

The verdict is straightforward: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 8730M by a meaningful margin in the only recorded benchmark. Anyone choosing between these two should select the GT 1010 if the goal is maximum compute performance. The 8730M is a legacy part from an older generation, and the data shows the GT 1010's architectural advantages produce a decisive win.