AMD Radeon R5 M230 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M Comparison

# AMD Radeon R5 M230 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M

The mobile GPU landscape holds two very different philosophies. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 is a lean, power-conscious part designed for broad system integration. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M is a higher-tier performer, carrying more shading power and memory bandwidth. Benchmark data from the database reveals a clear split: the NVIDIA part wins in raw compute, while the AMD part holds its own in specific workloads. This analysis breaks down where each part excels, their architectural differences, and the exact numbers behind their head-to-head results.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark suite shows a one-sided contest. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M claims victory in the single head-to-head benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test. Its score of 4934 edges out the AMD Radeon R5 M230's 4577, a 7.2% margin. This is a significant lead, indicating the NVIDIA part executes the OpenCL workload with greater efficiency.

The AMD Radeon R5 M230 holds its own in the broader percentile ranking. It sits at the 27th percentile among all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M places at the 24th percentile. In terms of average benchmark score, the AMD part records 4577, while the NVIDIA part records 4033. The NVIDIA GPU is closer to the top of the database, and it has a higher average score.

For users, the message is simple: if the workload is OpenCL-heavy and responsive, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M is the stronger choice. If the task is the more common Geekbench test, the AMD Radeon R5 M230, with its lower average score, still has its place. The data shows the AMD card is a more balanced part for the price point it occupies.

Architecture Differences

The two parts come from different architectural schools. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 uses the GCN 1.0 architecture, built on the 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 690 million transistors onto a 56 mm² die, for a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M, in contrast, uses the Kepler architecture, also on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but with a much higher transistor count of 1,270 million on a 118 mm² die, giving a lower density of 10.8 million per mm².

The AMD Radeon R5 M230 is a "Gem System" generation part (R5 M200 series), while the NVIDIA part comes from the GeForce 700M generation. The AMD part is an End-of-Life product, with a release date of January 6, 2014. The NVIDIA part is also End-of-Life, released on June 24, 2013. The AMD part succeeds the Solar System and is followed by the Polaris Mobile. The NVIDIA part succeeds the GeForce 600M and is succeeded by the GeForce 800M.

Clock speeds show a different strategy. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 has a base clock of 1000 MHz, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has a base clock of 980 MHz and a boost clock of 1020 MHz. The AMD part does not have a listed boost clock. The memory clocks are 1000 MHz for the AMD part, which translates to 2 Gbps effective. The NVIDIA runs its memory at 1350 MHz, for 5.4 Gbps effective. This is a notable difference in memory subsystem speed.

The AMD part has a 64-bit memory bus with 2 GB of DDR3, for a bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA part uses a 128-bit bus and 2 GB of GDDR5, for a bandwidth of 86.40 GB/s. This is a major difference in available memory bandwidth.

The shading hardware differs. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has 384 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The AMD part has a pixel rate of 4.880 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 12.20 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA part records 8.160 GPixel/s and 32.64 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA part has higher fill rates.

FP32 performance also favors the NVIDIA part. The AMD part registers 390.4 GFLOPS, the NVIDIA part 783.4 GFLOPS. The AMD part has a TDP of 50 W, while the NVIDIA part is listed at 50 W as well.

The AMD part does not list a DirectX 12 (11_0) API, but it does support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA part supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. This gives the NVIDIA GPU broader API support.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database's head-to-head results are decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon R5 M230 scored 4577, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M scored 4934. The winner is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M, with a delta of -7.2% from the AMD part.

This 7.2% deficit in score shows that the NVIDIA part is executing the OpenCL workload more efficiently. The AMD part, despite having a higher average score spread over a different set of tests, is 7.2% behind in this specific test. The data indicates that this is not a close contest in the head-to-head, but the AMD card is not far off.

Specification Differences

The following table highlights the key differences between the two parts:

| Field | AMD Radeon R5 M230 | NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M |

|--------|--------|--------|

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Kepler |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 690 million | 1,270 million |

| Die Size | 56 mm² | 118 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 10.8M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 980 MHz |

| Boost Clock | None | 1020 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) | 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus | 64 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 16.00 GB/s | 86.40 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 320 | 384 |

| TMUs | 20 | 32 |

| ROPs | 8 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 4.880 GPixel/s | 8.160 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 12.20 GTexel/s | 32.64 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 390.4 GFLOPS | 783.4 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 50 W | 50 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| API Support | DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.2.170 | DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.2.175 |

| Release | 2014-01-06 | 2013-06-24 |

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster, the AMD Radeon R5 M230 or the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M scored 5034, which is 7.2% higher than the AMD Radeon R5 M230's score of 4577. The NVIDIA part is the faster one in this workload.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two parts?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M230 has a memory bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has a memory bandwidth of 86.40 GB/s. The NVIDIA part has a much higher memory bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has 384 shading units. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 has 320 shading units. The NVIDIA part has more shading units.

Q: Are there architectural differences between the AMD Radeon M5 M2300 and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M?

A: Yes, they use different architectures. The AMD Radeon M5 M2300 is based on GCN 1.0, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M is based on Kepler.

Q: What is the difference in memory type?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M230 uses DDR3 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M uses GDDR5 memory. GDDR5 is generally faster. The AMD part has 2 GB of memory on a 64-bit bus, while the NVIDIA part has 2 GB on a 128-bit bus.