AMD Radeon HD 8850M vs AMD Radeon R7 M370 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are close. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M scores 7447, while the AMD Radeon R7 M370 scores 7063. That gives the older card a 5.4% lead, a modest but consistent advantage.

Looking at the broader Geekbench OpenCL picture, the HD 8850M sits in the 40th percentile of all GPUs, just ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441, a 0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425, a 0.3% delta). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 by a slim 0.3% (7472) and the Intel Arc A310 by 1.4% (7550). The R7 M370, by contrast, ranks at the 38th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 6764 across its two recorded tests (OpenCL and Vulkan). Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro M5100 (6830, a 1% deficit), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (6698, a 1% lead), the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612, a 2.3% lead), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M (6946, a 2.6% deficit).

The R7 M370 has no head-to-head win in the data. The HD 8850M takes the single recorded benchmark, 1 to 0. That 5.4% delta is meaningful in context: it is larger than the gap between the HD 8850M and any of its nearest OpenCL rivals, all of which sit within 1.4% of its score. In other words, the difference between these two AMD parts is roughly comparable to the difference between the HD 8850M and a GTX 1650, but in the opposite direction.

The R7 M370 does have a Geekbench Vulkan score of 6465, which the HD 8850M lacks entirely. However, without a Vulkan result for the older card, no direct comparison can be drawn. The OpenCL test remains the only apples-to-apples metric, and it favors the HD 8850M.

It is importantly the R7 M370's average benchmark score (6764) is dragged down by its Vulkan result, which is lower than its OpenCL score by roughly 8.5%. Even if you were to consider only the R7 M370's best result (OpenCL at 7063), it still trails the HD 8850M's 7447. The gap narrows but does not disappear.

The percentile standings reinforce this. The HD 8850M's 40th percentile is two points higher than the R7 M370's 38th percentile. That is not a dramatic separation, but it aligns with the benchmark delta: the HD 8850M is the faster card in compute workloads, and the margin is real.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the AMD Radeon HD 8850M is the stronger compute performer of the two. Its 5.4% OpenCL lead over the R7 M370 is consistent, and it sits in a higher percentile of the GPU population. If your priority is raw OpenCL throughput, the HD 8850M is the pick.

That said, the R7 M370 is not without merit. It offers a Vulkan benchmark score (6465), which the HD 8850M cannot match simply because no equivalent result exists in the data. For users targeting Vulkan-based workloads, the R7 M370 has a documented capability that the HD 8850M lacks in the record.

The R7 M370 also has a higher boost clock (960 MHz vs. 625 MHz) and a newer release date (May 2015 vs. March 2013). If you weight architectural age or clock speed over raw compute, the R7 M370 becomes more attractive. But the benchmark numbers do not favor it. The HD 8850M achieves its lead despite running at substantially lower clocks, which points to a wider memory bus or more execution resources doing the heavy lifting.

For a database-driven recommendation: choose the HD 8850M for OpenCL compute tasks where the 5.4% delta matters. Choose the R7 M370 if you specifically need Vulkan support or if the higher boost clock is a deciding factor in your use case. Neither card is a dominant winner; the HD 8850M simply has the stronger benchmark evidence.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8850M wins, scoring 7447 against the R7 M370's 7063, a 5.4% advantage.

Q: Does the R7 M370 have any benchmark where it wins?

A: No. In the head-to-head data, the HD 8850M records 1 win and the R7 M370 records 0 wins. The R7 M370 does have a Vulkan score (6465) with no equivalent HD 8850M result, but that is not a head-to-head victory.

Q: How does the HD 8850M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: It is 0.1% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441), 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425), 0.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (7472), and 1.4% behind the Intel Arc A310 (7550).

Q: What is the R7 M370's closest competitor in the data?

A: The AMD FirePro M5100 (6830) is 1% behind the R7 M370, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (6698) is 1% ahead. The GeForce GTX 675M (6946) is 2.6% ahead.

Q: Which card has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The HD 8850M, at 64.00 GB/s, versus the R7 M370's 57.60 GB/s. Both use 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Are both cards the same architecture?

A: Yes, both use GCN 1.0 and are built on a 28 nm TSMC process, but they use different chips (Venus for the HD 8850M, Litho for the R7 M370).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several measurable specifications, aside from their benchmark scores.

Clock speeds: The R7 M370 runs a base clock of 875 MHz and a boost clock of 960 MHz. The HD 8850M is far lower, at 575 MHz base and 625 MHz boost. That is a 310 MHz base gap and a 335 MHz boost gap in favor of the newer card.

Memory clock: The HD 8850M uses 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) memory, while the R7 M370 uses 900 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective). The HD 8850M's higher memory clock translates directly to higher bandwidth: 64.00 GB/s versus 57.60 GB/s.

Execution resources: The HD 8850M has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The R7 M370 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The HD 8850M therefore has roughly 67% more shading units, 67% more TMUs, and double the ROPs.

Pixel and texture rates: The HD 8850M outputs 10.00 GPixel/s and 25.00 GTexel/s. The R7 M370 outputs 7.680 GPixel/s and 23.04 GTexel/s. The HD 8850M leads in both, though the texture rate gap is smaller (8.5%) than the pixel rate gap (30%).

FP32 throughput: The HD 8850M delivers 800.0 GFLOPS, versus 737.3 GFLOPS for the R7 M370. That is an 8.5% lead for the older card, closely matching the texture rate delta.

Bus interface: The HD 8850M uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the R7 M370 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. This halves the available bus bandwidth for the newer card.

Transistors and die size: The HD 8850M has 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The R7 M370 has 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical: 12.2M per mm² for the HD 8850M, 12.3M per mm² for the R7 M370.

Release date: The HD 8850M launched in March 2013; the R7 M370 in May 2015. Both are end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the GCN 1.0 architecture and are fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The core difference lies in the physical chip and the resources allocated to it.

The HD 8850M uses the Venus chip, which is the larger implementation. It carries 1,500 million transistors across 123 mm², giving it substantially more silicon to work with. The R7 M370 uses the Litho chip, a smaller design at 950 million transistors and 77 mm². The transistor density is nearly identical (12.2M vs. 12.3M per mm²), which indicates the same manufacturing process and design rules, but the HD 8850M simply packs more logic into its larger die.

The shading unit count is the most significant architectural divergence. The HD 8850M has 640 shading units, while the R7 M370 has 384. This is a 67% difference in raw compute lane count. The TMU count scales similarly (40 vs. 24), and the ROP count doubles from 8 to 16. These are not minor tweaks; they represent a fundamentally different class of chip within the same architecture generation.

Memory architecture is identical in width (128-bit bus, GDDR5 type, 2 GB capacity), but the HD 8850M runs its memory at a higher effective speed (4 Gbps vs. 3.6 Gbps), yielding higher bandwidth. The R7 M370 compensates with a much higher core clock, but the data shows that this does not fully offset the resource deficit.

The R7 M370 belongs to the Gem System generation (R7 M300 series), while the HD 8850M is from the Solar System generation (HD 8800M series). The former's predecessor is listed as "Solar System," which suggests it is the direct successor to the HD 8800M line. Both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, so API support is identical in the record.

The bus interface differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the HD 8850M versus PCIe 3.0 x8 for the R7 M370. On paper, this halves the link bandwidth, though for a GPU of this class, the practical impact on compute benchmarks is often minimal.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 8850M wins in compute throughput metrics. It leads in OpenCL benchmark score (7447 vs. 7063), FP32 performance (800.0 vs. 737.3 GFLOPS), pixel rate (10.00 vs. 7.680 GPixel/s), and texture rate (25.00 vs. 23.04 GTexel/s). It also has the higher memory bandwidth (64.00 vs. 57.60 GB/s) and double the ROP count. For OpenCL-based workloads, such as general-purpose GPU compute or certain rendering tasks, the HD 8850M is the stronger choice based on the data.

The AMD Radeon R7 M370 wins in clock speed and longevity. Its base clock (875 MHz) exceeds the HD 8850M's boost clock (625 MHz) by 250 MHz, and its boost clock (960 MHz) is more than 50% higher. This means that for workloads that are clock-bound rather than resource-bound, the R7 M370 may perform competitively, though no benchmark in the data confirms this. It also has a Vulkan benchmark score (6465), which the HD 8850M lacks, making it the only one of the two with documented Vulkan capability. Its smaller die (77 mm² vs. 123 mm²) and lower transistor count (950 million vs. 1,500 million) suggest lower power draw, though no TDP figures are available to confirm.

In practical terms: choose the HD 8850M for raw compute density, higher bandwidth, and the proven OpenCL edge. Choose the R7 M370 for its higher clocks, Vulkan support, and more recent release date. The benchmark data favors the HD 8850M by a 1-to-0 margin in head-to-head tests, but the R7 M370 offers a different feature set that may suit specific applications better.