AMD Radeon R5 M240 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is decisive. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M scores 8552 points, while the AMD Radeon R5 M240 scores 6975 points. That puts the GTX 770M ahead by 18.4%, a substantial margin for a single compute benchmark.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the R5 M240's average score of 6975 places it near a cluster of older NVIDIA parts. It sits 0.4% above the GeForce GTX 675M (6946) and 2.1% above the AMD FirePro M5100 (6830). The R5 M240 is essentially neck-and-neck with those GPUs, meaning its OpenCL showing is competitive with the previous generation of mobile graphics. It trails the GeForce GTX 680M (7023) by 0.7% and the NVIDIA T600 (7035) by 0.8%, which are negligible differences in real-world terms.

The GTX 770M's average score of 6000, however, tells a different story than its single OpenCL result. That average is dragged down by its additional Geekbench Metal score of 3448, which is significantly lower than its OpenCL score. The database's averaging methodology pulls the GTX 770M's overall figure down to 6000, placing it in a tie with the AMD Radeon RX 6400 (6001) and within 0.2% of the AMD FirePro W4100 (5987) and NVIDIA Quadro K4000M (5986). This creates an interesting split: in raw OpenCL compute, the GTX 770M is clearly superior to the R5 M240, but its average across different API tests makes it look like a mid-pack performer.

For the specific head-to-head match, the data is unambiguous. The GTX 770M wins the only shared test, and the 18.4% delta is large enough to matter for any compute workload. The R5 M240 has no benchmark win in this pairing, which means every measurable metric in the database favors the NVIDIA part.

The Verdict

The database shows a clear winner here. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M outperforms the AMD Radeon R5 M240 by 18.4% in OpenCL compute, and that gap is consistent with the underlying hardware differences. If the choice is between these two for any task that uses GPU compute, the GTX 770M is the correct pick.

The R5 M240 does have a niche. Its percentile rank of 39 versus the GTX 770M's 35 means it sits slightly higher relative to all GPUs in the database, but that is an artifact of the GTX 770M's Metal score dragging down its average. For OpenCL specifically, the GTX 770M is the stronger part by a wide margin.

Buyers who only need light compute acceleration and prefer AMD's feature set might consider the R5 M240, but the performance gap is too large to ignore. The GTX 770M offers nearly 2.3 times the shading units, 4 times the texture units, and 3 times the ROPs, which translates directly into the benchmark advantage. The verdict is straightforward: the GTX 770M is the superior GPU in this comparison.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon R5 M240 uses the GCN 1.0 architecture on the Jet chip, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M uses Kepler on the GK106 chip. Both are built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but that is where the similarity ends.

The R5 M240 is a small, efficiency-focused part. Its Jet chip contains 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The GTX 770M's GK106 is a much larger chip, packing 2,540 million transistors onto a 221 mm² die, with a slightly lower transistor density of 11.5 million per square millimeter. The size difference is dramatic: the GK106 has nearly 3.7 times the transistor count and roughly 4 times the die area.

The execution resources reflect this gap. The R5 M240 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The GTX 770M has 960 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. That is a 3x advantage in shading units, a 4x advantage in texture units, and a 3x advantage in ROPs. These are not marginal differences; they fundamentally change what each GPU can do per clock cycle.

The memory subsystems also differ architecturally. The R5 M240 uses 1024 MB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 14.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 770M uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 96.19 GB/s. That is a 6.7x bandwidth advantage for the NVIDIA part, which matters heavily for texture-heavy workloads and higher resolutions.

API support shows a split as well. The R5 M240 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the GTX 770M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. OpenGL support is identical at 4.6. The AMD part has a slightly newer DirectX feature level, but the NVIDIA part has a marginally newer Vulkan version.

Specification Differences

The clock speeds differ significantly. The R5 M240 runs at a 1000 MHz base clock and 1030 MHz boost, while the GTX 770M runs at a 706 MHz base and 797 MHz boost. Despite the lower clocks, the GTX 770M's massive resource advantage more than compensates: its pixel rate is 15.94 GPixel/s versus 8.240 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 63.76 GTexel/s versus 20.60 GTexel/s.

The FP32 compute figures illustrate the performance ceiling. The R5 M240 delivers 659.2 GFLOPS, while the GTX 770M delivers 1.530 TFLOPS. That is a 2.3x advantage for the NVIDIA part, which aligns closely with the 18.4% OpenCL score gap when accounting for driver and workload efficiency differences.

Memory clocks and effective speeds differ as well. The R5 M240's memory runs at 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective, while the GTX 770M's memory runs at 1002 MHz with 4 Gbps effective. The GTX 770M's GDDR5 type and wider bus make the bandwidth comparison lopsided.

Power and physical characteristics also differ. The GTX 770M has a TDP of 75 W and uses an MXM Module slot width with no power connectors, while the R5 M240 has no TDP listed in the database. The GTX 770M uses an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, while the R5 M240 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs for the GTX 770M are listed as portable device dependent, while the R5 M240 has no display output data.

Release timing differs by about four months. The R5 M240 launched on September 17, 2014, while the GTX 770M launched on May 29, 2013. Both are end-of-life products, with the R5 M240's predecessor being Solar System and successor being Polaris Mobile, while the GTX 770M's predecessor is GeForce 600M and successor is GeForce 800M.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M scores 8552 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R5 M240 scores 6975. The GTX 770M leads by 18.4%.

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

A: The R5 M240 sits 0.4% above the GeForce GTX 675M and 2.1% above the AMD FirePro M5100. It trails the GeForce GTX 680M by 0.7% and the NVIDIA T600 by 0.8%.

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

A: The GTX 770M has 96.19 GB/s of bandwidth from 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus. The R5 M240 has 14.40 GB/s from 1024 MB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The GTX 770M has 960 shading units, while the R5 M240 has 320. The NVIDIA part has three times the shading resources.

Q: Are both GPUs built on the same process node?

A: Yes, both use a 28 nm process at TSMC. However, the GTX 770M's GK106 chip has 2,540 million transistors on a 221 mm² die, while the R5 M240's Jet chip has 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The R5 M240 has an average benchmark score of 6975, while the GTX 770M has an average of 6000. The GTX 770M's average is lowered by its Geekbench Metal score of 3448.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M wins in every measurable compute metric in this comparison. Its OpenCL score of 8552 versus 6975 represents an 18.4% advantage, and its hardware resources are overwhelmingly larger: 960 shading units versus 320, 80 TMUs versus 20, 24 ROPs versus 8, and 96.19 GB/s bandwidth versus 14.40 GB/s. For any workload that stresses compute, texture filtering, or memory throughput, the GTX 770M is the only rational choice.

The R5 M240's case rests on secondary factors. It has a higher base clock (1000 MHz versus 706 MHz) and boost clock (1030 MHz versus 797 MHz), which helps narrow the gap in lightly threaded or latency-sensitive tasks. It also supports DirectX 12 (11_1) versus the GTX 770M's 11_0, which could matter for specific feature-level compatibility. Its smaller die size and lower transistor count suggest it runs cooler and draws less power, though the database does not list a TDP for the R5 M240 to confirm this.

For gaming, the GTX 770M's 3 GB of VRAM and 192-bit bus make it far better suited for modern textures and higher resolutions. The R5 M240's 1024 MB DDR3 configuration is a limiting factor even for older titles. For compute tasks, the FP32 throughput of 1.530 TFLOPS versus 659.2 GFLOPS gives the GTX 770M a decisive edge.

The percentile rankings are the only statistic where the R5 M240 appears stronger: it sits at the 39th percentile versus the GTX 770M's 35th. But that ranking is skewed by the GTX 770M's Metal score of 3448, which pulls its average down. In the actual shared benchmark, the GTX 770M is clearly ahead.

The practical takeaway is simple. The GTX 770M is the performance pick for any application that uses GPU acceleration. The R5 M240 is a lighter, lower-power part that trades performance for efficiency, but the database does not provide enough power or thermal data to quantify that trade. What the data does show is a 18.4% compute gap in the GTX 770M's favor, and that is the number that matters.