AMD Radeon R5 M240 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M Comparison

The AMD Radeon R5 M240 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M represent two distinct generations of mobile graphics, separated by roughly three years of architectural evolution. Based on the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, the AMD part holds a decisive performance lead, scoring 6975 points against the NVIDIA’s 6493 points. This 7.4% delta places the R5 M240 in a higher performance tier, as reflected in its 39th percentile ranking versus the GT 555M’s 37th percentile. The data indicates a clear, if not overwhelming, victory for the newer AMD silicon in raw compute throughput.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single available head-to-head comparison, Geekbench OpenCL, shows a consistent win for the AMD Radeon R5 M240. The score of 6975 versus 6493 yields a 7.4% advantage, which is a meaningful gap in mobile graphics where thermal and power constraints often limit performance. This margin puts the R5 M240 in the company of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M, which scores 6946, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M at 7023. The R5 M240 is only 0.7% behind the GTX 680M and 0.4% ahead of the GTX 675M, suggesting that despite its entry-level positioning, it delivers compute performance comparable to older high-end parts.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, by contrast, sits in a lower performance bracket. Its 6493 score places it alongside the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M (6481), AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile (6476), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513). The GT 555M is 0.2% ahead of the Quadro M5000M and 0.3% ahead of the Vega 10 Mobile, but 0.3% behind the GTX 670M and 0.9% behind the Intel UHD Graphics P750. These narrow deltas indicate that the GT 555M is squarely in the mid-range of its era, but that era has clearly passed, as the R5 M240’s 7.4% lead demonstrates.

Looking at the underlying compute metrics reinforces this picture. The R5 M240 delivers 659.2 GFLOPS of FP32 throughput, while the GT 555M manages only 339.8 GFLOPS. This 94% difference in raw floating-point capability is the primary driver of the Geekbench score discrepancy. The R5 M240 also excels in texture and pixel fill rates: 20.60 GTexel/s versus 14.16 GTexel/s, and 8.240 GPixel/s versus 3.540 GPixel/s, respectively. The AMD part’s 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs outnumber the NVIDIA’s 144 shaders, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs in every category except texture units, where the GT 555M’s 24 TMUs edge out the R5 M240’s 20.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R5 M240 wins on every measured benchmark metric in the data, but its strengths are particularly pronounced in compute-heavy workloads. The 659.2 GFLOPS FP32 figure suggests that general-purpose GPU computing tasks, such as OpenCL acceleration for video encoding or scientific calculations, will run substantially faster on the R5 M240. The higher pixel rate of 8.240 GPixel/s also indicates better performance in fill-rate-bound scenarios, such as high-resolution texture rendering or anti-aliasing. The 20.60 GTexel/s texture rate further cements its advantage in texture-heavy applications.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M’s wins are more qualitative than quantitative. With a 128-bit memory bus and 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth, it offers double the memory bandwidth of the R5 M240’s 64-bit bus and 14.40 GB/s. While this does not translate into a benchmark win in the available data, it suggests that the GT 555M may be less bottlenecked in memory-intensive operations that exceed the R5 M240’s narrow bus capacity. Additionally, the GT 555M’s 24 TMUs and 16 ROPs, while lower in aggregate throughput, provide a different balance that could favor certain legacy workloads optimized for NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture. However, the benchmark data shows no scenario where the GT 555M emerges victorious.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is significant. The AMD Radeon R5 M240 is built on TSMC’s 28 nm process node, packing 690 million transistors into a 56 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 12.3M per mm², a figure that reflects the efficiency gains of GCN 1.0 architecture. The chip, codenamed Jet, is part of the Gem System generation within the R5 M200 series. It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, making it compatible with modern graphics APIs.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, in contrast, uses the older GF106 chip based on Fermi architecture, fabricated on a 40 nm process. It contains 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die, resulting in a much lower transistor density of 4.9M per mm². This larger, less dense design is a hallmark of older process technology. The GT 555M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but lacks Vulkan support entirely, a notable omission for modern cross-platform titles. Its GeForce 500M generation dates from mid-2011, while the R5 M240 arrived in late 2014.

Memory configurations differ in bus width but not capacity. Both have 1024 MB of DDR3 memory, but the GT 555M uses a 128-bit interface to achieve 28.80 GB/s bandwidth, while the R5 M240 uses a 64-bit bus for 14.40 GB/s. Clock speeds are comparable, with both running memory at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). The R5 M240 has a base GPU clock of 1000 MHz and a boost of 1030 MHz, while the GT 555M’s clock speeds are not specified in the data. The R5 M240 also uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface versus the GT 555M’s PCIe 2.0 x16, though the x8 lane count may limit bandwidth in some scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M240 scores 6975, which is 7.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M’s 6493.

Q: How does the R5 M240 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The R5 M240 is 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M (6946), 2.1% ahead of the AMD FirePro M5100 (6830), and 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M (7023).

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of each card?

A: The R5 M240 has 14.40 GB/s over a 64-bit bus, while the GT 555M has 28.80 GB/s over a 128-bit bus.

Q: Does the GT 555M support Vulkan?

A: No, the GT 555M’s API support includes DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but Vulkan is not listed. The R5 M240 supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What are the transistor counts for each chip?

A: The R5 M240’s Jet chip has 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, while the GT 555M’s GF106 chip has 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The R5 M240 has 320 shading units, compared to the GT 555M’s 144 shading units.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the AMD Radeon R5 M240 is the superior GPU for compute performance. Its 7.4% Geekbench OpenCL lead, combined with nearly double the FP32 throughput (659.2 GFLOPS versus 339.8 GFLOPS), higher pixel rate (8.240 GPixel/s versus 3.540 GPixel/s), and better texture rate (20.60 GTexel/s versus 14.16 GTexel/s), makes it the clear choice for anyone prioritizing raw processing power. The R5 M240 also benefits from modern API support, including Vulkan, which the GT 555M lacks.

However, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M is not without its merits. Its 128-bit memory bus provides twice the bandwidth of the R5 M240, which could be advantageous in specific bandwidth-sensitive scenarios, and its higher TMU and ROP counts (24 and 16 versus 20 and 8) offer a different compute balance. The GT 555M’s 35 W TDP is also specified, whereas the R5 M240’s power draw is unknown, suggesting the NVIDIA part may have a more predictable thermal profile.

For users seeking maximum OpenCL compute in legacy applications, the R5 M240 is the definitive winner. For those who require broader memory bandwidth or have software optimized for Fermi’s architecture, the GT 555M remains a functional, if dated, option. The benchmark results, however, leave no ambiguity: the AMD Radeon R5 M240 outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M by a meaningful margin, and its 39th percentile ranking versus the GT 555M’s 37th confirms its higher standing in the overall GPU hierarchy. Choose the R5 M240 for performance, and the GT 555M only if specific memory-bandwidth or architectural compatibility needs dictate otherwise.