AMD Radeon HD 8850M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M vs AMD Radeon HD 8850M

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M and AMD Radeon HD 8850M represent two very different approaches to mobile graphics from the same era. The GTX 880M is a large, high-performance Kepler chip designed for flagship gaming laptops, while the HD 8850M is a smaller GCN-based part aimed at thinner, lighter notebooks. The benchmark data shows a clear split: the AMD card wins the only shared test, but the NVIDIA card holds a much higher average benchmark score overall, reflecting its position in the desktop-replacement class.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 8850M takes the sole head-to-head benchmark victory. In Geekbench OpenCL, the HD 8850M scores 7447 against the GTX 880M’s 5622, a delta of -24.5% from the NVIDIA card’s perspective. That means the AMD part is roughly a quarter faster in this compute-oriented workload. This is a meaningful win for the smaller chip, especially considering its lower transistor count and smaller die.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M wins on overall benchmark standing. Its average benchmark score is 8040, compared to the HD 8850M’s 7447. That places the GTX 880M at the 42nd percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 8850M sits at the 40th percentile. The gap is modest in percentile terms, but the raw average score difference is nearly 600 points, which suggests the NVIDIA card is generally the stronger performer across a wider range of workloads.

Looking at nearest rivals reinforces this split. The GTX 880M’s closest competition includes the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (avg score 8039, delta 0%), the GeForce GTX 650 Ti (8053, delta -0.2%), and the GTX 650 Ti Boost (8067, delta -0.3%). These are all desktop-class cards, and the GTX 880M is essentially neck-and-neck with them. The HD 8850M, by contrast, trades blows with integrated graphics like the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441, delta 0.1%) and low-end discrete parts like the Radeon R7 350 (7425, delta 0.3%). The context is clear: the GTX 880M competes in a much higher performance tier.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two is substantial. NVIDIA’s GTX 880M uses the GK104 chip built on the Kepler architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.0 million per square millimeter. The HD 8850M uses AMD’s Venus chip, based on GCN 1.0, also on TSMC’s 28 nm node. However, Venus is far smaller: 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a density of 12.2M per mm². The density is nearly identical, but the GTX 880M has more than double the transistors and more than double the die area.

Clock speeds tell a similar story of different design priorities. The GTX 880M runs at a base clock of 954 MHz with a boost up to 993 MHz. The HD 8850M operates at just 575 MHz base and 625 MHz boost. The NVIDIA chip’s higher clocks help it push far more work through its larger array of execution units.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The GTX 880M comes with 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 8850M offers 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, for 64.00 GB/s. That is a 2.5x bandwidth advantage for the NVIDIA part, which is critical for high-resolution textures and memory-heavy workloads.

The execution resources are also lopsided. The GTX 880M has 1,536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The HD 8850M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Pixel rate for the GTX 880M is 31.78 GPixel/s versus 10.00 GPixel/s for the AMD card. Texture rate is 127.1 GTexel/s versus 25.00 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 3.050 TFLOPS versus 800.0 GFLOPS. Every throughput metric heavily favors the NVIDIA chip.

API support shows minor differences. Both support DirectX 12, but the GTX 880M lists 12 (11_0) while the HD 8850M lists 12 (11_1). OpenGL is 4.6 for both. Vulkan support is 1.2.175 on NVIDIA and 1.2.170 on AMD. These are functionally similar, though the AMD card has a slightly higher DirectX feature level.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear choice for different use cases. If you need maximum compute throughput in OpenCL workloads, the AMD Radeon HD 8850M is the winner based on the head-to-head result. Its 7447 Geekbench OpenCL score beats the GTX 880M’s 5622 by a substantial margin. For users running OpenCL-accelerated applications, the HD 8850M is the better pick despite its smaller footprint.

For everything else, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M is the stronger card. Its average benchmark score of 8040 versus 7447 indicates broader overall capability. The massive advantages in memory bandwidth (160.0 GB/s vs 64.00 GB/s), texture rate (127.1 GTexel/s vs 25.00 GTexel/s), and pixel rate (31.78 GPixel/s vs 10.00 GPixel/s) make it the superior choice for gaming and graphics-intensive tasks, even if the single OpenCL test does not reflect that.

The GTX 880M also sits in a more impressive competitive context. Its nearest rivals include the Quadro P5000 and GTX 650 Ti, both within 0.2-0.3% of its score. The HD 8850M’s rivals are the UHD Graphics 750 and R7 350, which are far less powerful. This placement confirms the GTX 880M belongs to a higher performance class. If you are choosing between these two for a laptop, the GTX 880M is the default recommendation for gaming, while the HD 8850M makes sense only if your priority is OpenCL compute performance and you can accept lower everything else.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M has an average benchmark score of 8040, while the AMD Radeon HD 8850M scores 7447. The GTX 880M also holds the 42nd percentile of all GPUs versus the 40th percentile for the AMD card.

Q: Which GPU wins the Geekbench OpenCL test and by how much?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8850M wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 7447 against the GTX 880M’s 5622. That is a delta of -24.5% from the NVIDIA card’s perspective.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare between the two cards?

A: The GTX 880M has 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The HD 8850M has 64.00 GB/s from 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: What are the transistor counts and die sizes for each GPU?

A: The GTX 880M has 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The HD 8850M has 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. Both are built on TSMC’s 28 nm process.

Q: Which GPU supports a higher DirectX feature level?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8850M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.x.

Q: Who are the nearest rivals for each card in terms of average score?

A: The GTX 880M’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (8039, 0% delta), GTX 650 Ti (8053, -0.2%), and GTX 650 Ti Boost (8067, -0.3%). The HD 8850M’s nearest rivals are the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441, 0.1% delta), Radeon R7 350 (7425, 0.3%), and GeForce GTX 1650 (7472, -0.3%).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it produces a decisive result. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M scores 7447, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M scores 5622. The delta is -24.5% from the GTX 880M’s perspective, meaning the AMD card outperforms the NVIDIA card by nearly a quarter in this specific workload. This is a significant margin and suggests that the HD 8850M’s GCN architecture handles OpenCL compute more efficiently than Kepler, despite having far fewer shading units (640 vs 1536) and a much lower FP32 rating (800.0 GFLOPS vs 3.050 TFLOPS).

How can a card with less than a third of the FP32 throughput win by such a margin? The clock speeds differ dramatically—575 MHz base and 625 MHz boost for AMD versus 954 MHz base and 993 MHz boost for NVIDIA—but the OpenCL test appears to favor the AMD architecture’s compute scheduling. The HD 8850M’s 7447 score places it just above the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441) and just below the GeForce GTX 1650 (7472). The GTX 880M’s 5622 score is actually below all of its nearest rivals; the Quadro P5000, GTX 650 Ti, and GTX 650 Ti Boost all score in the 8039-8067 range. This makes the OpenCL result an outlier compared to the GTX 880M’s overall standing.

In the broader picture, the GTX 880M’s average benchmark score of 8040 versus the HD 8850M’s 7447 indicates that the NVIDIA card wins in aggregate performance. The texture rate advantage (127.1 GTexel/s vs 25.00 GTexel/s) and pixel rate advantage (31.78 GPixel/s vs 10.00 GPixel/s) are enormous, and the memory bandwidth gap (160.0 GB/s vs 64.00 GB/s) is equally pronounced. The OpenCL result is a notable exception, but it does not overturn the overall performance hierarchy established by the average scores and the competitive positioning against rival GPUs.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification that matters. The GTX 880M uses the GK104 chip (Kepler architecture), while the HD 8850M uses Venus (GCN 1.0). The GTX 880M is built on a 294 mm² die with 3,540 million transistors; the HD 8850M uses a 123 mm² die with 1,500 million transistors. Transistor density is nearly identical at 12.0M/mm² versus 12.2M/mm², but the physical scale is very different.

Clock speeds favor NVIDIA: 954 MHz base and 993 MHz boost versus 575 MHz base and 625 MHz boost for AMD. Memory also favors NVIDIA: 8 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus versus 2 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. Bandwidth is 160.0 GB/s versus 64.00 GB/s. The GTX 880M has 1536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the HD 8850M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Pixel rate is 31.78 GPixel/s versus 10.00 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 127.1 GTexel/s versus 25.00 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 3.050 TFLOPS versus 800.0 GFLOPS.

The GTX 880M has a TDP of 122 W and uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface with no power connectors; it is a portable device-dependent display output. The HD 8850M has no listed TDP, uses PCIe 3.0 x16, and has no display output data. API support differs slightly: DirectX 12 (11_0) for NVIDIA versus 12 (11_1) for AMD, with identical OpenGL 4.6 and near-identical Vulkan versions. Release dates are 2014-03-11 for the GTX 880M and 2013-03-31 for the HD 8850M. Both are end-of-life products, with the GTX 880M succeeding the GeForce 700M and preceding the GeForce 900M, while the HD 8850M succeeds London and precedes Gem System.