AMD Radeon R5 M320 vs NVIDIA GeForce 930M Comparison

The AMD Radeon R5 M320 and NVIDIA GeForce 930M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from 2015, aimed at entry-level laptops. Despite their age, the benchmark data reveals a clear, if narrow, performance hierarchy. Across the two head-to-head benchmark tests, the AMD Radeon R5 M320 secures victory in both, establishing itself as the marginally faster option in this specific comparison, though both cards sit in the bottom quartile of all GPUs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive separation between these two chips occurs in the Vulkan graphics API test. Here, the AMD Radeon R5 M320 scores 4262 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930M manages only 3729 points. This translates to a substantial 14.3% advantage for the AMD part, a significant margin in a segment where these chips are typically separated by single-digit percentages. This result suggests the GCN 1.0 architecture in the R5 M320 handles the lower-level Vulkan API more efficiently than NVIDIA’s Maxwell-based 930M, which may translate to better performance in modern titles that leverage this API.

The story is much closer in the Geekbench OpenCL test, which is often more representative of general compute workloads. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 edges out the NVIDIA GeForce 930M by a razor-thin margin, scoring 5051 versus 5046. The delta here is a negligible 0.1%, placing the two chips in a statistical dead heat for this workload. This near-identical performance is striking given the architectural differences between the two, suggesting that for OpenCL tasks, the higher raw compute throughput of one chip is effectively cancelled out by the other’s efficiency. The data shows that the average benchmark score for the AMD part is 4657, which sits 0.6% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M and 0.8% above the NVIDIA Quadro M3000M, placing it in a competitive cluster. The NVIDIA GeForce 930M’s average score of 4388 is 0.7% higher than the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 and 1.2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6, an interesting data point that shows how the 930M’s score aligns with a much more modern card in this specific synthetic metric.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the benchmark wins, the AMD Radeon R5 M320 is the outright winner, taking both the OpenCL and Vulkan tests. Its advantage is most pronounced in Vulkan, where the 14.3% lead indicates a clear architectural edge for applications that utilize this API. This suggests the R5 M320 is the better choice for users who prioritize Vulkan-based gaming or compute workloads, as the performance gap is large enough to be perceptible in real-world scenarios. The chip’s 27th percentile ranking versus all GPUs, while low in absolute terms, is still one point higher than the NVIDIA part’s 26th percentile, reinforcing its position as the better performer in this pairing.

The NVIDIA GeForce 930M, despite losing both head-to-head matchups, is not without its own merits. Its performance in the OpenCL test is essentially identical to the AMD part, meaning it offers the same level of compute capability for applications that rely on this API. The 930M’s advantage lies not in raw speed, but in its feature set and efficiency profile. It is the only one of the two with a listed TDP of 33 W, indicating a defined power envelope. Furthermore, its Vulkan support for version 1.4 is more modern than the AMD’s 1.2.170, potentially offering better compatibility with future software developments. For users whose applications are heavily dependent on OpenCL, the 930M would perform on par with the R5 M320, making the decision between them a matter of other factors like power draw or driver preferences.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally points to the AMD Radeon R5 M320 as the faster GPU. It wins both benchmark tests, with a substantial lead in Vulkan and a marginal one in OpenCL. Its average benchmark score of 4657 is also higher than the NVIDIA’s 4388, and its nearest rivals include the more powerful NVIDIA Quadro M3000M and GeForce GTX 970M, from which it is separated by less than 1%. For any user seeking maximum performance from this class of mobile GPU, the AMD Radeon R5 M320 is the clear choice based on these numbers.

The NVIDIA GeForce 930M, however, is the more balanced option for a different set of priorities. While it loses on raw performance, its defined 33 W TDP suggests it could be a more power-efficient solution in a laptop, potentially leading to better battery life. Its support for Vulkan 1.4 is a generational leap over the AMD’s 1.2.170, and its OpenCL performance is so close to the R5 M320 that it would be indistinguishable in practice. Therefore, the 930M is the pick for users who value efficiency, modern API support, and comparable OpenCL performance over the AMD part’s decisive Vulkan advantage. The choice is between the AMD’s raw speed and the NVIDIA’s efficiency and feature set.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M320 is faster, scoring 4262 compared to the NVIDIA GeForce 930M’s 3729, a 14.3% difference.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: They are virtually tied. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 scores 5051, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930M scores 5046, a difference of just 0.1%.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce 930M have a lower power draw than the AMD Radeon R5 M320?

A: The data shows the NVIDIA GeForce 930M has a TDP of 33 W, while no TDP figure is listed for the AMD Radeon R5 M320.

Q: Which GPU supports a more recent version of the Vulkan API?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930M supports Vulkan 1.4, which is a newer version than the Vulkan 1.2.170 supported by the AMD Radeon R5 M320.

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

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M320 has an average benchmark score of 4657, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930M has an average score of 4388.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking compared to all other GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M320 has a percentile rank of 27, which is one point higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 930M’s rank of 26.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures from their respective manufacturers. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 is based on the GCN 1.0 architecture, utilizing the "Jet" chip, and belongs to the "Gem System (R5 M300)" generation. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce 930M uses the Maxwell architecture with the "GM108S" chip, belonging to the "GeForce 900M" generation. This fundamental design split explains the divergent performance characteristics seen in the benchmarks, particularly the AMD's significant lead in Vulkan. The AMD chip integrates 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is physically larger, with 1,020 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, leading to a higher density of 13.2M per mm². Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process node.

The compute resources also differ considerably. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 is equipped with 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 8 render output units (ROPs). The NVIDIA GeForce 930M, on the other hand, has a higher count of 384 shading units and 24 TMUs, but matches the AMD part with 8 ROPs. Despite having fewer shading units, the AMD chip achieves higher pixel and texture fill rates, with 6.840 GPixel/s and 17.10 GTexel/s respectively, compared to the NVIDIA's 4.392 GPixel/s and 13.18 GTexel/s. This is a direct result of the AMD chip's higher clock speeds, which allow it to push more data through its pipeline despite having less parallel hardware. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 also holds a significant advantage in raw FP32 compute, delivering 547.2 GFLOPS versus the NVIDIA's 421.6 GFLOPS. In terms of API support, the AMD card lists DirectX 12 (11_1) and OpenGL 4.6, while the NVIDIA card lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD part also has a Vulkan version of 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA part lists Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

The most apparent differences between the two cards lie in their memory configurations and clock speeds. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 comes with 4 GB of DDR3 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory. Both use a 64-bit memory bus, but the AMD card operates its memory at 1000 MHz with 2 Gbps effective speed, resulting in a bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA card’s memory runs at 800 MHz with 1600 Mbps effective speed, yielding a lower bandwidth of 12.80 GB/s. This gives the AMD part a 25% advantage in memory bandwidth, which can be critical for texture-heavy workloads.

Clock speeds also differ significantly. The AMD Radeon R5 M320 has a base clock of 780 MHz and a boost clock of 855 MHz. The NVIDIA GeForce 930M has a much lower base and boost clock, both locked at 549 MHz. This 306 MHz difference in boost clock is a primary reason for the AMD's superior fill rates and FP32 performance. While the NVIDIA chip has more shading units and TMUs, its lower clocks severely limit its throughput. The TDP is another key differentiator, with the NVIDIA GeForce 930M listed at 33 W, while no TDP is specified for the AMD part. The power connector situation also differs, with the NVIDIA card listing "None" while the AMD card has no entry. Both cards use a PCIe 3.0 x8 bus interface and are designated as "IGP" for slot width, meaning they are intended for integration into laptops. Their display outputs are also both described as "Portable Device Dependent".