AMD Radeon HD 8730M vs NVIDIA Quadro K3100M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database contains one direct benchmark comparison between these two mobile workstation GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M scores 6,154 points, while the AMD Radeon HD 8730M scores 5,955 points. The delta is 3.2% in favor of the NVIDIA part, which is a modest but measurable advantage. The AMD card trails by roughly 199 points in raw compute throughput as measured by OpenCL.

Looking at the broader context, the AMD Radeon HD 8730M's average benchmark score sits at 5,955, which places it in the 34th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K620M at 5,957 (a 0% delta), the AMD Radeon HD 8750M at 5,970 (0.3% faster), the Intel UHD Graphics 730 at 5,929 (0.4% slower), and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 at 5,982 (0.5% faster). These deltas are all within a single percentage point, indicating that the HD 8730M sits in an extremely tight performance cluster.

The NVIDIA Quadro K3100M, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 5,154 across all recorded tests, which includes three separate benchmarks: Geekbench OpenCL at 6,154, Geekbench Vulkan at 5,484, and Geekbench Metal at 3,823. Its percentile ranking is 30th overall. The nearest rivals for the K3100M are the AMD Radeon R7 M260X at 5,161 (0.1% faster), the NVIDIA Quadro 4000M at 5,211 (1.1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M at 5,236 (1.6% faster), and the AMD Radeon R7 240 at 5,063 (1.8% slower). The average score is dragged down significantly by the Metal result, which is substantially lower than the OpenCL and Vulkan scores.

It is important to note that the two GPUs have different benchmark portfolios in the database. The AMD card only has an OpenCL result, while the NVIDIA card has three results. When comparing solely on the shared OpenCL test, the K3100M wins by 3.2%. However, the NVIDIA card's average across all its tests is actually lower than its OpenCL score alone, which means the AMD card's single-score average of 5,955 exceeds the NVIDIA card's multi-test average of 5,154 by roughly 15.5%. This discrepancy highlights the importance of test-specific comparisons over aggregate scores when the test sets differ.

The head-to-head table in the database records one win for NVIDIA and zero wins for AMD. That win is the OpenCL test, which is the only test both cards took. The delta of 3.2% is consistent with the difference in raw compute specifications, as detailed in later sections.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro K3100M wins the only directly comparable benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, by 3.2%. This is a clear, if narrow, victory in a compute-oriented workload. The K3100M also shows strong performance in Vulkan, scoring 5,484, which is only 10.9% below its OpenCL score. That suggests the Kepler architecture handles modern API workloads reasonably well for its era. The Metal score of 3,823 is notably lower, sitting 37.9% below the OpenCL result, which indicates that Apple's Metal API is not a strength for this GPU.

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M has no recorded Vulkan or Metal scores, so its performance in those APIs cannot be assessed from the database. Its only data point is OpenCL at 5,955. In that test, it falls short of the NVIDIA part, but the gap is small enough that real-world applications with different optimization levels could shift the outcome. The AMD card's nearest rivals all score within 0.5% of it, which means it is essentially tied with a cluster of mid-range mobile and desktop GPUs from both vendors.

For users prioritizing OpenCL compute, the NVIDIA card has the edge. For users working in ecosystems that rely on Vulkan or Metal, the NVIDIA card has recorded data showing functional support, while the AMD card has none in this database. Neither card shows a decisive victory in any category; the K3100M wins the only head-to-head test, but the margin is slim. The AMD card's single score is competitive with the K3100M's OpenCL result, and its percentile rank of 34 is actually higher than the K3100M's 30, despite the lower raw score on the shared test.

In terms of use cases, the K3100M appears better suited for compute-heavy tasks that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan, given its higher scores in both. The AMD card, lacking Vulkan and Metal data, is a less versatile choice for modern multi-API workloads, but its OpenCL performance is not far off. The database does not include gaming benchmarks, so no conclusions can be drawn about driver-level game performance for either card.

The Verdict

The data indicates that the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M is the stronger GPU in the only directly comparable benchmark. Its OpenCL score of 6,154 beats the AMD Radeon HD 8730M's 5,955 by 3.2%. The K3100M also has recorded Vulkan and Metal scores, which provides a broader performance profile. Its average score across all tests is 5,154, which is lower than its OpenCL score due to the weak Metal result, but the OpenCL and Vulkan numbers are both respectable for a mobile workstation GPU.

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M, despite losing the head-to-head, holds a higher overall percentile rank (34 versus 30). This is because its only recorded score is relatively close to the K3100M's OpenCL result, and it does not have a low Metal score dragging down its average. The AMD card's nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of its score, which suggests it is a solid mid-pack performer in the database's broader GPU landscape.

Picking between the two depends on the workload. If the primary task is OpenCL compute, the K3100M has a measurable advantage, though not a large one. If the user needs Vulkan support, the K3100M is the only option with recorded data. If the user relies on Metal, the K3100M has a score, but it is weak. The AMD card has no data for either Vulkan or Metal, so it cannot be recommended for those APIs based on the database.

The K3100M also has twice the memory (4 GB versus 2 GB), a wider memory bus (256-bit versus 128-bit), and significantly higher memory bandwidth (102.4 GB/s versus 28.8 GB/s). These specification advantages likely explain its higher OpenCL score. The AMD card has more shading units per transistor (384 versus 768, but on a much smaller chip) and a slightly higher transistor density (12.3M per mm² versus 12.0M per mm²), but those differences do not translate into a benchmark win.

For users who prioritize compute performance across multiple APIs, the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M is the better choice. For users who only need OpenCL and value the higher percentile ranking, the AMD Radeon HD 8730M is not far behind, but it loses the only direct comparison. The database clearly favors the NVIDIA card in head-to-head performance, with a 1-0 win record.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only shared benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K3100M wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 6,154 versus the AMD Radeon HD 8730M's 5,955, a 3.2% margin.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8730M has an average score of 5,955 from a single OpenCL test. The NVIDIA Quadro K3100M has an average score of 5,154 across three tests: OpenCL (6,154), Vulkan (5,484), and Metal (3,823).

Q: How do the cards rank against all GPUs in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8730M sits in the 34th percentile, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M sits in the 30th percentile.

Q: What is the closest rival to the AMD card?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K620M scores 5,957, which is a 0% delta from the AMD card's 5,955. The AMD Radeon HD 8750M is also close at 5,970, 0.3% faster.

Q: What is the closest rival to the NVIDIA card?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M260X scores 5,161, which is 0.1% faster than the K3100M's average of 5,154. The NVIDIA Quadro 4000M is 1.1% faster at 5,211.

Q: Does the AMD card have any Vulkan or Metal scores?

A: No, the database only records a Geekbench OpenCL score for the AMD Radeon HD 8730M. The NVIDIA Quadro K3100M has recorded scores for OpenCL, Vulkan, and Metal.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon HD 8730M uses the Mars chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It contains 950 million transistors on a die size of 77 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro K3100M uses the GK104 chip based on Kepler architecture, also fabricated by TSMC on 28 nm, but with 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, giving a density of 12.0M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is substantially larger and more complex, with nearly four times the transistor count.

The AMD card has 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 raster output units. The NVIDIA card has 768 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Both cards lack dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores. The pixel rate for the AMD card is 5.600 GPixel/s, while the NVIDIA card achieves 11.30 GPixel/s. Texture rates are 16.80 GTexel/s for AMD and 45.18 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. FP32 compute is 537.6 GFLOPS for AMD and 1,084.4 GFLOPS for NVIDIA. Neither card has recorded FP16 performance.

The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 75 W, while the AMD card has no TDP listed. The NVIDIA card uses an MXM Module slot width with no power connectors and has a bus interface of MXM-B (3.0). The AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs for the NVIDIA card are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," while the AMD card has no display output data.

In terms of API support, both cards support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The NVIDIA card also has a Metal score in the database, though Metal API support is not explicitly listed in the API fields for either card.

The AMD card belongs to the Solar System (HD 8700M) generation and has a predecessor named London and a successor named Gem System. The NVIDIA card belongs to the Quadro Kepler-M (Kx100M) generation with a predecessor of Quadro Fermi-M and a successor of Quadro Maxwell-M. Both are end-of-life products, with the AMD card released in March 2013 and the NVIDIA card released in July 2013.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in several key specification fields. Memory size: the AMD Radeon HD 8730M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus. Memory bandwidth is 28.80 GB/s for AMD and 102.4 GB/s for NVIDIA, a 3.6x difference. Memory clock speeds are 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) for AMD and 800 MHz (3.2 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.

Core clocks: the AMD card runs at a base of 650 MHz with a boost of 700 MHz, while the NVIDIA card has a fixed clock of 706 MHz for both base and boost. The AMD card has no game clock listed, and neither card has a listed game clock.

Shading units, TMUs, and ROPs differ as noted: 384/24/8 for AMD versus 768/64/32 for NVIDIA. Pixel rate is 5.600 GPixel/s for AMD and 11.30 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. Texture rate is 16.80 GTexel/s for AMD and 45.18 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. FP32 compute is 537.6 GFLOPS for AMD and 1,084.4 GFLOPS for NVIDIA.

Process node and foundry are identical (28 nm, TSMC), but transistor count and die size differ significantly: 950 million transistors on 77 mm² for AMD versus 3,540 million on 294 mm² for NVIDIA. Transistor density is nearly identical at 12.3M per mm² for AMD and 12.0M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Bus interface: the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the NVIDIA card uses MXM-B (3.0). The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 75 W, a slot width of MXM Module, and no power connectors. The AMD card has no TDP, slot width, or power connector data. Display outputs are listed for NVIDIA as "Portable Device Dependent" and are absent for AMD.

The NVIDIA card has three recorded benchmarks (OpenCL, Vulkan, Metal), while the AMD card has one (OpenCL). The NVIDIA card's average score is 5,154, and its percentile is 30. The AMD card's average is 5,955, and its percentile is 34. The head-to-head OpenCL test shows NVIDIA winning with 6,154 versus 5,955, a 3.2% delta.