AMD Radeon HD 8750M vs NVIDIA Quadro M500M Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 8750M and NVIDIA Quadro M500M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions aimed at different segments of the laptop market, yet their benchmark results position them as surprisingly close competitors. The single head-to-head data point available shows the Quadro M500M edging out the Radeon HD 8750M by a razor-thin margin in OpenCL compute, a result that masks significant architectural and specification differences between the two parts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the NVIDIA Quadro M500M scores 5986 against the AMD Radeon HD 8750M's 5970. This translates to a delta of -0.3% from the perspective of the AMD part, meaning the NVIDIA card is nominally faster by just 16 points. In practical terms, this is a statistical tie. The data shows the Quadro M500M winning the single head-to-head benchmark, but the margin is so small that it falls well within normal run-to-run variance for synthetic compute workloads.

Looking at broader positioning, the Radeon HD 8750M's average benchmark score of 5970 places it at the 34th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro M500M's average score of 5604 (which includes a second, lower Vulkan result of 5222 alongside the 5986 OpenCL score) puts it at the 32nd percentile. The AMD chip's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982, -0.2%), the NVIDIA Quadro K620M (5957, +0.2%), and the AMD Radeon HD 8730M (5955, +0.3%). The Quadro M500M's nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro M4000 (5537, +1.2%), the AMD Radeon HD 8790M (5691, -1.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (5508, +1.7%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (5501, +1.9%).

Interpreting these numbers, the Radeon HD 8750M is clustered tightly with a group of professional and mobile GPUs all scoring within roughly 30 points of each other, indicating that its compute performance is highly typical for its class. The Quadro M500M, by contrast, shows more variance in its own results, with a strong OpenCL showing but a weaker Vulkan score that drags its average down. Against its rivals, the Quadro M500M leads the FirePro M4000 by 1.2% and the GeForce MX130 by 1.7%, but trails the Radeon HD 8790M by 1.5%. The data suggests that the Quadro M500M is not universally faster than its peers; its performance depends heavily on the specific API and workload being tested.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro M500M scores 5986 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 5970 for the AMD Radeon HD 8750M. The delta of -0.3% indicates the NVIDIA part is marginally ahead, but the difference is negligible in real-world terms.

Q: Why does the AMD Radeon HD 8750M have a higher percentile rank than the NVIDIA Quadro M500M?

A: The Radeon HD 8750M sits at the 34th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro M500M sits at the 32nd percentile. This is because the Radeon's average score of 5970 is based solely on its strong OpenCL result, whereas the Quadro's average of 5604 is pulled down by its additional Geekbench Vulkan score of 5222, which is significantly lower than its OpenCL score.

Q: How does the Radeon HD 8750M compare to its closest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro K4000?

A: The data shows the Radeon HD 8750M is essentially neck-and-neck with the Quadro K4000. The K4000 has an average score of 5982, and the delta between the two is -0.2%, meaning the AMD card trails by less than a third of a percent.

Q: Is the Quadro M500M consistently faster than its nearest rivals?

A: No. The data shows mixed results. It leads the AMD FirePro M4000 by 1.2% and the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 by 1.7%, but it trails the AMD Radeon HD 8790M by 1.5%. Its performance advantage is not uniform across all competitors.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8750M has 1024 MB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA Quadro M500M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus, yielding only 14.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card has double the memory bus width and double the bandwidth, despite having half the total memory capacity.

Q: What are the shading unit counts for each GPU?

A: Both GPUs have exactly 384 shading units. However, the Radeon HD 8750M has 24 texture mapping units (TMUs), while the Quadro M500M has 16 TMUs. Both have 8 render output units (ROPs).

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture for specific use cases. If the priority is raw compute performance in OpenCL, the NVIDIA Quadro M500M is the nominal winner, but the 0.3% margin is so small that it should not be a deciding factor. The AMD Radeon HD 8750M offers a more consistent performance profile, with a higher overall percentile rank (34 vs. 32) and an average benchmark score (5970) that is significantly higher than the Quadro M500M's average (5604). This suggests that for general-purpose compute tasks beyond OpenCL, the AMD part may deliver more stable results.

However, the specification sheet tells a different story. The Quadro M500M has double the memory capacity (2 GB vs. 1 GB), a much higher base clock (1029 MHz vs. 775 MHz) and boost clock (1124 MHz vs. 825 MHz), and significantly higher FP32 throughput (863.2 GFLOPS vs. 633.6 GFLOPS). It also has a defined TDP of 30 W, whereas the Radeon HD 8750M's TDP is not listed. For users who need to run larger datasets in memory or who prioritize peak compute throughput, the Quadro M500M's architecture is clearly more capable. The Radeon HD 8750M counters with double the memory bandwidth (28.80 GB/s vs. 14.40 GB/s) and a higher texture fill rate (19.80 GTexel/s vs. 17.98 GTexel/s), which could benefit certain texture-heavy workloads.

The choice ultimately depends on the workload. Pick the Quadro M500M for higher compute throughput, more VRAM, and a defined power envelope. Pick the Radeon HD 8750M for superior memory bandwidth, better OpenCL stability relative to its average, and a higher overall percentile ranking. Given that the head-to-head result is a tie, the decision should be driven by the specific application requirements rather than raw benchmark scores.

Specification Differences

The core specifications differ substantially between the two cards. The AMD Radeon HD 8750M has a base clock of 775 MHz and a boost clock of 825 MHz, while the NVIDIA Quadro M500M operates at a base clock of 1029 MHz and a boost clock of 1124 MHz. The memory systems are also divergent: AMD uses 1024 MB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, while NVIDIA uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus. This results in a significant bandwidth advantage for AMD (28.80 GB/s vs. 14.40 GB/s). The Radeon HD 8750M has 24 TMUs and 8 ROPs, while the Quadro M500M has 16 TMUs and 8 ROPs. Pixel rates are 6.600 GPixel/s for AMD and 8.992 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. Texture rates are 19.80 GTexel/s and 17.98 GTexel/s, respectively. FP32 performance is 633.6 GFLOPS for AMD and 863.2 GFLOPS for NVIDIA. The bus interface differs as well: the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the NVIDIA card is on an MXM-A (3.0) interface. The NVIDIA part has a documented TDP of 30 W and is an MXM Module form factor with no power connectors, while the AMD card's TDP and power connectors are not specified.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different architectural generations. The AMD Radeon HD 8750M is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture using the Mars chip, part of the Solar System generation (HD 8700M). The NVIDIA Quadro M500M uses the Maxwell architecture with the GM108S chip, belonging to the Quadro Maxwell-M generation (Mx000M). Both are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the transistor counts differ: AMD integrates 950 million transistors, while NVIDIA integrates 1,020 million. Both have the same die size of 77 mm², leading to a slightly higher transistor density for NVIDIA (13.2M / mm² vs. 12.3M / mm²). The Radeon HD 8750M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Quadro M500M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card has a higher Vulkan API version, while the AMD card has a higher DirectX feature level. The AMD part's predecessor is London and its successor is Gem System, while the Quadro M500M's predecessor is Quadro Kepler-M and its successor is Quadro Pascal-M. The Radeon HD 8750M was released earlier (2013-02-25) than the Quadro M500M (2016-04-26), and the NVIDIA card's display outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent," while no display outputs are listed for the AMD card.