AMD Radeon R5 M240 vs AMD Radeon R7 M460 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only benchmark data available for both parts is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results show a narrow but clear victory for the older AMD Radeon R5 M240. The R5 M240 scores 6975, while the Radeon R7 M460 scores 6612, a difference of 5.5%. In a market segment where these parts are often treated as interchangeable entry-level options, a 5.5% gap is meaningful enough to matter for compute tasks.

Looking at the field around these two GPUs, the data places the R5 M240 in the 39th percentile of all GPUs, while the R7 M460 sits at the 38th percentile. That one-percentile difference is consistent with the raw score gap. The R5 M240's closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M, which scores 6946 — just 0.4% behind the R5 M240. Meanwhile, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M (7023) and NVIDIA T600 (7035) sit slightly ahead, trailing the R5 M240 by 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. The AMD FirePro M5100 (6830) is the next closest competitor, coming in 2.1% behind the R5 M240.

The R7 M460's rival landscape tells a similar story of tight margins. Its nearest competitor is the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (6581), which is 0.5% behind the R7 M460. The Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6554) is 0.9% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513) is 1.5% behind. The only rival ahead of the R7 M460 is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (6698), which leads by 1.3%. These numbers suggest that both AMD parts are clustered in a dense performance band where small architectural and clock differences translate into modest score swings.

Architecture Differences

The R5 M240 and R7 M460 belong to the same "Gem System" generation but represent different architectural generations within AMD's GCN family. The R5 M240 uses the Jet chip based on GCN 1.0, while the R7 M460 uses the Meso chip based on GCN 3.0. This generational leap explains several specification differences, even though both are built on the same 28 nm TSMC process.

The transistor counts diverge substantially. The R5 M240 packs 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The R7 M460 more than doubles that, with 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, at 12.4 million per square millimeter. The density is nearly identical, which makes sense given the shared process node — the R7 M460 simply uses a physically larger chip to accommodate more compute resources.

The R7 M460 has 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The R5 M240 has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The R7 M460 thus offers 20% more shader throughput resources and 20% more texture units, though the ROP count is identical. The FP32 compute rating reflects this: the R7 M460 delivers 786.4 GFLOPS versus the R5 M240's 659.2 GFLOPS, a 19.3% advantage. The R7 M460 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (786.4 GFLOPS), whereas the R5 M240 has no listed FP16 capability.

Clock behavior is a notable differentiator. The R5 M240 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1030 MHz. The R7 M460 starts lower at 730 MHz base but boosts to 1024 MHz, nearly matching the R5 M240's boost. This means the R7 M460 relies on boost behavior to approach the R5 M240's sustained clocks, and at base clock the R5 M240 runs 37% higher. The memory subsystems are also very different. The R5 M240 uses 1024 MB of DDR3 at 900 MHz with a 64-bit bus, producing 14.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 M460 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 at 1125 MHz on the same 64-bit bus, delivering 36.00 GB/s — exactly 2.5 times the bandwidth.

Both GPUs support PCIe 3.0 x8, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The DirectX support differs: the R5 M240 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the R7 M460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). Both are end-of-life products, and both have the same predecessor (Solar System) and successor (Polaris Mobile). The R5 M240 was released on September 17, 2014; the R7 M460 came later, on May 14, 2016.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M240 scores 6975 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 5.5% higher than the AMD Radeon R7 M460's score of 6612.

Q: How does the R7 M460's memory bandwidth compare to the R5 M240's?

A: The R7 M460 provides 36.00 GB/s of bandwidth using 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus. The R5 M240 provides 14.40 GB/s using 1 GB of DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus. This makes the R7 M460's bandwidth 2.5 times higher.

Q: Does the R5 M240 have more shader cores than the R7 M460?

A: No, the opposite is true. The R7 M460 has 384 shading units, while the R5 M240 has 320. The R7 M460 also has 24 TMUs versus 20 on the R5 M240, though both have 8 ROPs.

Q: What is the architectural generation difference between these two GPUs?

A: The R5 M240 is based on GCN 1.0 with the Jet chip, while the R7 M460 uses GCN 3.0 with the Meso chip. Both are manufactured on the same 28 nm TSMC process.

Q: Which GPU supports a newer DirectX version?

A: The R7 M460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the R5 M240 supports DirectX 12 (11_1). Both GPUs support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: How does the R5 M240's score compare to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M?

A: The R5 M240 scores 6975, which is 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M's score of 6946. The R5 M240 also leads the AMD FirePro M5100 (6830) by 2.1%.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon R5 M240 | AMD Radeon R7 M460 |

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

| Chip | Jet | Meso |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | GCN 3.0 |

| Generation | Gem System (R5 M200) | Gem System (R7 M400) |

| Transistors | 690 million | 1,550 million |

| Die Size | 56 mm² | 125 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 12.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 730 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1030 MHz | 1024 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) | 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 1024 MB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 14.40 GB/s | 36.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 320 | 384 |

| TMUs | 20 | 24 |

| ROPs | 8 | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 8.240 GPixel/s | 8.192 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 20.60 GTexel/s | 24.58 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 659.2 GFLOPS | 786.4 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not listed | 786.4 GFLOPS (1:1) |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 (12_0) |

| Release Date | September 17, 2014 | May 14, 2016 |

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R5 M240 wins in raw OpenCL compute performance, as measured by Geekbench. Its score of 6975 is 5.5% higher than the R7 M460's 6612, and it holds a higher percentile ranking at 39 versus 38. The R5 M240 also has a significant clock advantage, both at base (1000 MHz vs 730 MHz) and at boost (1030 MHz vs 1024 MHz). For workloads that are sensitive to clock speed and that fit within the R5 M240's smaller memory footprint, this GPU is the better choice. Its pixel rate is also marginally higher at 8.240 GPixel/s versus 8.192 GPixel/s.

The AMD Radeon R7 M460 wins on nearly every architectural specification that matters for modern workloads. It offers 20% more shading units, 20% more TMUs, and a 19.3% higher FP32 compute rating. Its memory subsystem is dramatically superior: 2.5 times the bandwidth, twice the capacity, and the faster GDDR5 memory type. The R7 M460 also supports DirectX 12 (12_0), a newer feature level than the R5 M240's 11_1, and includes FP16 support at a 1:1 ratio. For texture-heavy rendering, larger datasets, or any workload that stresses memory bandwidth, the R7 M460 should pull ahead in practice — even though the single available benchmark shows the R5 M240 with a slight lead.

The texture rate difference is also notable: the R7 M460 achieves 24.58 GTexel/s versus 20.60 GTexel/s on the R5 M240, a 19.3% advantage. The R7 M460's boost clock of 1024 MHz is close to the R5 M240's 1030 MHz, so in boost scenarios the compute advantage of the R7 M460's wider architecture is not offset by a large clock deficit. The R5 M240's higher base clock of 1000 MHz means it delivers near-peak performance without relying on boost behavior, whereas the R7 M460's 730 MHz base clock could cause performance drops under sustained load if boost is not maintained.

In terms of release timing, the R7 M460 is a newer product by nearly two years, but both are end-of-life. Both use the same PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, and both support the same OpenGL and Vulkan versions. The R7 M460's larger die (125 mm² vs 56 mm²) and higher transistor count (1,550 million vs 690 million) reflect the architectural advancement, but the benchmark data shows that in this specific OpenCL test, the older, smaller chip still edges ahead. That is an unusual outcome and suggests the R5 M240's high clocks and efficient GCN 1.0 implementation are well-suited to the Geekbench OpenCL workload.

For users who prioritize compute benchmarks, the R5 M240 is the pick. For users who need more memory, faster memory, and a more modern feature set, the R7 M460 is the rational choice, even if its measured benchmark score is lower. The data presents a classic trade-off: the R5 M240 wins the only direct comparison available, but the R7 M460 has a substantially stronger specification sheet that could translate to wins in workloads not captured by this single test.