AMD Radeon Pro 5300M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M vs AMD Radeon Pro 5300M

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M and AMD Radeon Pro 5300M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions, yet they represent two very different eras of GPU design. The GTX 780M hails from NVIDIA’s 2013 Kepler generation, while the Radeon Pro 5300M arrives from AMD’s 2019 RDNA 1.0 architecture. Benchmark data reveals a decisive overall winner, but the story is more nuanced when examining specific workloads and architectural philosophies. The GTX 780M holds an average benchmark score of 11261, placing it at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro 5300M averages 10013, sitting at the 48th percentile. Despite the Radeon’s lower aggregate average, it wins all three head-to-head benchmark comparisons decisively, suggesting that the average score calculation weights different test types unevenly.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M wins every single benchmark comparison. In Geekbench Metal, the Radeon scores 33626 against the GTX 780M’s 8319, a delta of -75.3% from the NVIDIA card’s perspective—meaning the AMD part is roughly four times faster in that test. Geekbench OpenCL shows a similar story: 29252 for AMD versus 12769 for NVIDIA, a 56.3% deficit for the GTX 780M. In Geekbench Vulkan, the Radeon’s 27912 dwarfs the GTX 780M’s 12696, representing a 54.5% gap.

However, the GTX 780M’s territory is narrower. Its average benchmark score of 11261 is actually higher than the Radeon Pro 5300M’s 10013, which indicates the GTX 780M performs relatively better in benchmarks not covered by the head-to-head set. The nearest rivals for the GTX 780M include the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (avg score 11228, delta 0.3%) and AMD FirePro W4300 (11225, delta 0.3%), showing that the NVIDIA card clusters tightly with those professional workstation parts. The Radeon Pro 5300M’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M (10043, -0.3% delta) and AMD Radeon R9 M375 (10070, -0.6% delta), placing it in a slightly lower performance tier by average score.

The data implies that if your workload is dominated by Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan compute tasks, the Radeon Pro 5300M is the clear choice. The GTX 780M, meanwhile, may hold its own in legacy DirectX scenarios or other unspecified tests that contribute to its higher aggregate average.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The GTX 780M uses a 256-bit memory bus with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory running at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), yielding 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 5300M also has 4 GB, but uses GDDR6 at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) on a narrower 128-bit bus, achieving 192.0 GB/s—20% more bandwidth despite half the bus width.

Clock speeds favor AMD substantially. The GTX 780M operates at a base clock of 771 MHz with a boost of 797 MHz. The Radeon Pro 5300M starts at 1000 MHz base and boosts to 1250 MHz. This 253 MHz boost advantage contributes to higher throughput.

Shading unit counts differ: the GTX 780M packs 1536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 raster operations pipelines (ROPs). The Radeon Pro 5300M has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Despite fewer units, the AMD card achieves higher pixel and texture rates: 40.00 GPixel/s versus 25.50 GPixel/s, and 100.0 GTexel/s versus 102.0 GTexel/s respectively. The texture rate is nearly identical, but pixel throughput favors AMD by 57%.

FP32 compute shows AMD’s advantage: 3.200 TFLOPS versus 2.448 TFLOPS. The Radeon also supports FP16 at 6.400 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 780M has no FP16 capability listed. Power consumption flips the expected direction: the Radeon Pro 5300M draws 85 W TDP versus 122 W for the GTX 780M, meaning AMD delivers more performance at lower power.

Bus interface differences are notable: the GTX 780M uses MXM-B (3.0) while the Radeon Pro 5300M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. API support favors AMD with DirectX 12 (12_1) versus NVIDIA’s 12 (11_0), and Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans six years of design evolution. The GTX 780M is built on NVIDIA’s Kepler architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 28 nm process. It uses the GK104 chip, which contains 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.0M per mm². The Radeon Pro 5300M uses AMD’s RDNA 1.0 architecture, built on the Navi 14 chip at TSMC’s 7 nm node. This newer process packs 6,400 million transistors into just 158 mm², achieving 40.5M transistors per mm²—more than triple the density of the Kepler chip.

Kepler was designed for the 2013-era GeForce 700M generation, with the GTX 780M positioned as a high-end mobile part. Its predecessor was the GeForce 600M and its successor the GeForce 800M. The Radeon Pro 5300M belongs to the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Mobile) generation with no listed predecessor or successor, reflecting its role as a specialized Apple-oriented professional GPU.

RDNA 1.0 introduced significant architectural changes for AMD, including a new compute unit design that improved instructions-per-clock efficiency and a tile-based rendering pipeline. The GTX 780M lacks any ray tracing or tensor cores, and the Radeon Pro 5300M likewise has none listed—both are pure rasterization parts. The RDNA architecture’s 128-bit memory bus with faster GDDR6 achieves higher bandwidth than Kepler’s wider 256-bit bus with GDDR5, demonstrating how process node advances can offset bus width penalties.

The 7 nm process allows the Radeon to run at higher clocks (1250 MHz boost versus 797 MHz) while consuming 37 W less power (85 W versus 122 W). This efficiency advantage is directly attributable to the manufacturing node difference. The GTX 780M’s MXM module form factor contrasts with the Radeon’s PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, which affects how each GPU integrates into laptop designs.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5300M delivers 3.200 TFLOPS FP32, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M provides 2.448 TFLOPS—a 31% advantage for AMD.

Q: Do both GPUs support modern graphics APIs?

A: Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the Radeon Pro 5300M supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 780M only reaches DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The Radeon Pro 5300M achieves 192.0 GB/s via 128-bit GDDR6 at 12 Gbps effective, while the GTX 780M attains 160.0 GB/s through 256-bit GDDR5 at 5 Gbps effective.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The Radeon Pro 5300M has a 85 W TDP compared to the GTX 780M’s 122 W, yet it produces higher performance across all head-to-head benchmarks.

Q: Are these GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are listed as end-of-life products. The GTX 780M was released on 2013-05-10, and the Radeon Pro 5300M on 2019-11-12.

Q: What are the closest competitors for each GPU?

A: The GTX 780M’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (avg score 11228, 0.3% delta). The Radeon Pro 5300M’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M (avg score 10043, -0.3% delta).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench Metal test shows the most dramatic disparity. The Radeon Pro 5300M scores 33626 versus the GTX 780M’s 8319, a 75.3% advantage for AMD. This test likely leverages Apple’s Metal API optimizations, which favor the RDNA architecture’s modern design. The GTX 780M’s Kepler architecture predates Metal by several years, explaining its poor showing.

Geekbench OpenCL presents a similar pattern with a smaller gap. AMD’s 29252 beats NVIDIA’s 12769 by 56.3%. OpenCL compute workloads benefit from the Radeon’s higher FP32 throughput (3.200 TFLOPS) and faster memory interface (192.0 GB/s). The GTX 780M’s lower clock speeds (771 MHz base) and older GDDR5 memory hamper its OpenCL performance.

Geekbench Vulkan shows the closest margin of the three tests, yet AMD still wins decisively. The Radeon Pro 5300M’s 27912 exceeds the GTX 780M’s 12696 by 54.5%. Vulkan’s lower-level API design rewards the RDNA architecture’s improved command processing and draw call efficiency. The GTX 780M’s Vulkan support (1.2.175) is functional but clearly not optimized for modern compute workloads.

The GTX 780M’s average benchmark score of 11261 exceeds its head-to-head performance would suggest, implying it performs relatively better in non-Metal/OpenCL/Vulkan tests. Its nearest rival comparisons (0.3% delta from Radeon Pro WX 3200) indicate it sits comfortably in a mid-range tier. The Radeon Pro 5300M’s average of 10013, despite winning all head-to-head tests, suggests the Passmark tests it has data for (DirectX 9/10/11/12, G2D, G3D, compute) pull its average down. Its Passmark G3D score of 5918 and compute score of 2658 are modest, while its DirectX 9 score of 80 shows legacy API performance is weak.

The Verdict

The data clearly favors the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M for modern compute workloads. It wins all three head-to-head benchmarks by margins ranging from 54.5% to 75.3%, offers higher FP32 throughput (3.200 vs 2.448 TFLOPS), more memory bandwidth (192.0 vs 160.0 GB/s), better API support (DirectX 12_1, Vulkan 1.4), and consumes 37 W less power (85 W vs 122 W). The RDNA 1.0 architecture on 7 nm is simply a more capable design than Kepler on 28 nm.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M retains one statistical advantage: its average benchmark score of 11261 versus 10013. This suggests that in test suites not covered by the head-to-head comparisons—possibly legacy DirectX benchmarks or other unspecified workloads—the GTX 780M holds its own. Its 50th percentile ranking versus the Radeon’s 48th percentile reinforces this point. However, the GTX 780M’s nearest rivals (Radeon Pro WX 3200, FirePro W4300) are all similar in performance, while the Radeon Pro 5300M trades blows with Quadro K5100M and R9 M375.

For users running Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan applications, the Radeon Pro 5300M is the obvious choice—it’s over twice as fast in every measured test. For those relying on older DirectX APIs or unspecified legacy workloads where the GTX 780M’s higher average score suggests competence, the NVIDIA part remains viable. The Radeon’s lack of Passmark DirectX 9/10/11/12 scores in the head-to-head comparison means we cannot directly assess its legacy API performance against the GTX 780M. But the available data—three modern API benchmarks with massive AMD leads, plus architectural advantages in process node, clock speed, and power efficiency—points overwhelmingly to the Radeon Pro 5300M as the superior modern GPU.