AMD Radeon R5 M230 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Comparison

The AMD Radeon R5 M230 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti represent two very different eras and purposes in the mobile GPU landscape. The R5 M230 is an entry-level, integrated-class part from 2014 built for basic multimedia, while the GTX 1050 Ti is a dedicated, dual-slot discrete card from 2016 designed for serious 1080p gaming. Benchmark data starkly illustrates this gap: in the shared Geekbench OpenCL test, the GTX 1050 Ti scores 18,129 against the R5 M230’s 4,577, a 74.8% deficit for the older AMD chip. While both are end-of-life products, their architectures, memory subsystems, and performance ceilings place them in entirely different tiers.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti dominates the comparison. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, it scores 18,129, which is 13,552 points higher than the AMD Radeon R5 M230’s 4,577. The delta percentage shows the GTX 1050 Ti leading by 74.8%.

Q: How do their overall performance percentiles compare?

A: Despite the massive performance gap, the percentile rankings are surprisingly close. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 sits at the 27th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is at the 25th percentile. This indicates that the GTX 1050 Ti’s average benchmark score (4,193) is pulled down by its diverse test suite, which includes lower DirectX 9 and 2D scores.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card according to the data?

A: The R5 M230’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 560, which scores 4,569 (just 0.2% lower). The GTX 1050 Ti’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon R5 M330, which scores 4,170 (0.6% lower). Interestingly, the GTX 1050 Ti’s rival list includes weaker cards like the R5 M330, suggesting its average is skewed by non-gaming workloads.

Q: What memory configurations do these cards use?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M230 uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus, yielding 16.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.1 GB/s—exactly seven times more bandwidth.

Q: Are there differences in their API support?

A: Yes. The R5 M230 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the GTX 1050 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. Both offer OpenGL 4.6. The GTX 1050 Ti’s higher DirectX feature level and newer Vulkan version reflect its more modern Pascal architecture.

Q: What are their physical form factors?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M230 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no dedicated slot width, making it suitable for thin laptops. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a dual-slot card measuring 145 mm (5.7 inches) in length and 111 mm (4.4 inches) in height, requiring a 250 W suggested PSU.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is generational and foundational. The AMD Radeon R5 M230 is built on GCN 1.0 architecture, using the Jet chip manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 690 million transistors into a 56 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti uses the Pascal architecture with the GP107 chip, fabricated on Samsung’s 14 nm process. This newer node allows 3,300 million transistors on a 132 mm² die, achieving a density of 25.0M per mm²—more than double the R5 M230’s density.

The compute resources differ starkly. The R5 M230 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 8 raster output units (ROPs). The GTX 1050 Ti more than doubles these counts with 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Clock speeds tell a similar story: the R5 M230 lists no base or boost clocks, while the GTX 1050 Ti runs at a 1291 MHz base and 1392 MHz boost. The memory architecture is also generations apart. The R5 M230 is limited to 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, while the GTX 1050 Ti features 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. These structural differences directly explain the compute throughput gap: the R5 M230 delivers 390.4 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, whereas the GTX 1050 Ti delivers 2.138 TFLOPS.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R5 M230 finds its niche in legacy and low-power scenarios. Its IGP form factor means it can be integrated directly into portable devices, with display outputs described as "Portable Device Dependent." Its PCIe 3.0 x8 interface is sufficient for its bandwidth needs. The data shows it has no benchmark wins over the GTX 1050 Ti, but its 27th percentile ranking suggests it handles basic 2D tasks and older DirectX workloads adequately. For a 2014-era ultraportable, the R5 M230’s 16.00 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 4.880 GPixel/s pixel rate are adequate for video playback and light productivity.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti wins across every measurable category. Its peak advantage is in compute-heavy workloads like Geekbench OpenCL, where its 18,129 score is 296% higher than the R5 M230’s. The GTX 1050 Ti’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305 and Passmark G3D score of 6,340 further cement its gaming credentials. It also supports modern display outputs including 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, enabling multi-monitor setups. Its 75 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a drop-in upgrade for desktop systems with a 250 W PSU. For users targeting 1080p gaming, the GTX 1050 Ti’s 44.54 GPixel/s pixel rate and 66.82 GTexel/s texture rate provide the necessary fill rates.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet reveals a comprehensive generational leap. The R5 M230 has no listed series or base clock, while the GTX 1050 Ti belongs to the GeForce 10-series with a 1291 MHz base and 1392 MHz boost. Memory capacity doubles from 2 GB to 4 GB, and the bus width doubles from 64-bit to 128-bit. Bandwidth jumps from 16.00 GB/s to 112.1 GB/s. The R5 M230’s memory clock is 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the GTX 1050 Ti runs at 1752 MHz (7 Gbps effective).

Shader resources differ by 2.4x in shading units (320 vs 768), 2.4x in TMUs (20 vs 48), and 4x in ROPs (8 vs 32). The pixel rate increases from 4.880 GPixel/s to 44.54 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 12.20 GTexel/s to 66.82 GTexel/s. FP32 performance grows from 390.4 GFLOPS to 2.138 TFLOPS. The GTX 1050 Ti also lists an FP16 rate of 33.41 GFLOPS (1:64), which the R5 M230 does not specify.

Physical and power characteristics diverge sharply. The R5 M230 is an IGP with no TDP listed, while the GTX 1050 Ti is a dual-slot card with a 75 W TDP and no power connectors, requiring a 250 W suggested PSU. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x8 for the R5 M230 versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the GTX 1050 Ti. Release dates are nearly three years apart—January 6, 2014 for the R5 M230 and October 24, 2016 for the GTX 1050 Ti. The GTX 1050 Ti carries a launch MSRP of 139 USD, while the R5 M230 has no listed MSRP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark available is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a decisive victory for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. The GTX 1050 Ti scores 18,129, while the AMD Radeon R5 M230 scores 4,577. The delta percentage of -74.8% indicates the R5 M230 trails by nearly three-quarters. This represents a 3.96x performance multiplier for the GTX 1050 Ti, aligning with its vastly superior memory bandwidth (112.1 GB/s vs 16.00 GB/s) and shader count (768 vs 320). OpenCL is a compute-heavy workload, so the GTX 1050 Ti’s 2.138 TFLOPS FP32 throughput directly translates to its lead.

While no other shared tests exist, the GTX 1050 Ti’s other benchmarks provide context for its OpenCL result. Its Passmark G3D score of 6,340 and compute score of 2,652 indicate strong rasterization and compute performance. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 10,001 further validates its modern API support. In contrast, the R5 M230’s single benchmark score of 4,577 is its only data point, and it places the card at the 27th percentile, just above the GTX 1050 Ti’s 25th percentile. This anomaly occurs because the GTX 1050 Ti’s average (4,193) is dragged down by low scores in Passmark DirectX 9 (104), DirectX 10 (31), and DirectX 11 (45). The R5 M230’s single high OpenCL score inflates its average relative to the GTX 1050 Ti’s diversified test suite. In real-world gaming, the GTX 1050 Ti’s dedicated 4 GB GDDR5 buffer and 32 ROPs would provide a far smoother experience than the R5 M230’s 2 GB DDR3 and 8 ROPs. The head-to-head data confirms that the GTX 1050 Ti is in a completely different performance class, making the R5 M230 suitable only for basic, non-demanding tasks.