AMD Radeon R5 M330 vs AMD Radeon R5 M420 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available between the AMD Radeon R5 M330 and the AMD Radeon R5 M420 is the Geekbench OpenCL test. The data shows a clear, if modest, victory for the R5 M330, which scores 4302 against the R5 M420's 3956. That translates to an 8.7% performance advantage for the older part. While 8.7% is not a generational leap, it is a consistent and measurable margin that appears across the entire workload represented by the OpenCL benchmark.

Looking at the broader context, the R5 M330's average benchmark score of 4170 places it in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, while the R5 M420's average of 3956 lands it in the 23rd percentile. This two-percentile gap reinforces the head-to-head result: the R5 M330 is slightly more capable in raw compute tasks. The R5 M330's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M (average score 4151, a 0.4% difference) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (average score 4193, a -0.5% difference). This indicates the R5 M330 sits in a performance band where a few percentage points separate it from a range of competitors, from professional mobile workstations to desktop gaming cards.

The R5 M420, meanwhile, is bracketed by the NVIDIA GeForce 830M (average score 3957, a 0% difference) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M (average score 3953, a 0.1% difference). Its delta to the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 is -0.5%, showing it is essentially tied with that older desktop card. The R5 M420's positioning among these rivals is tight, with all deltas within 0.5%, which suggests its performance is highly predictable and firmly in the entry-level segment. The R5 M330's larger deltas to its own rivals, particularly the 1.9% lead over the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB, show a slightly wider performance envelope.

Where Each One Wins

The wins are one-sided in the available data. The R5 M330 wins the sole head-to-head benchmark, giving it a 1-0 record in direct comparisons. Its 8.7% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL indicates that for general-purpose compute tasks, OpenCL acceleration, and any workload that leverages the GPU's shader units, the R5 M330 is the stronger choice. This is consistent with its higher clock speeds: a base of 955 MHz and boost of 1030 MHz versus the R5 M420's 780 MHz base and 850 MHz boost.

The R5 M420's single benchmark score of 3956 stands alone; it has no Vulkan score listed, whereas the R5 M330 has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 4037. This suggests the R5 M330 has been validated across a broader set of APIs, while the R5 M420's testing is limited to OpenCL. For users prioritizing Vulkan performance, the R5 M330 has a demonstrated capability, while the R5 M420's Vulkan performance is unmeasured in this dataset. In terms of memory capacity, the R5 M420 does offer 4 GB of DDR3, double the R5 M330's 2 GB. However, this capacity advantage does not translate into a benchmark win, as the R5 M420 still trails in the only compute test available.

For gaming or graphics-intensive applications, neither card posts a win in the data. The R5 M330's higher pixel rate (8.240 GPixel/s versus 6.800 GPixel/s) and texture rate (20.60 GTexel/s versus 17.00 GTexel/s) suggest it should handle rasterization tasks more smoothly, but these are theoretical figures, not benchmark results. The R5 M420's memory bandwidth advantage (16.00 GB/s versus 14.40 GB/s) could help in bandwidth-limited scenarios, but again, no benchmark confirms this.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental architecture: GCN 1.0, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. They use the same transistor count of 690 million and the same die size of 56 mm², resulting in an identical transistor density of 12.3M / mm². This is not a case of a newer architecture replacing an older one; both are built on the same foundational design.

The chips differ, however. The R5 M330 uses the "Exo" chip, while the R5 M420 uses the "Jet" chip. Despite the different chip names, the core configuration is identical: 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 render output units. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The compute resources are the same; the differences lie in how they are clocked and configured.

The R5 M330 runs its cores at a base clock of 955 MHz and a boost clock of 1030 MHz, which are substantially higher than the R5 M420's 780 MHz base and 850 MHz boost clocks. This clock advantage is the primary driver of the R5 M330's superior performance figures: its FP32 throughput is 659.2 GFLOPS versus 544.0 GFLOPS for the R5 M420, a difference of roughly 21%. Similarly, the pixel rate and texture rate are higher on the R5 M330 by approximately 21% as well, directly reflecting the clock speed delta.

Memory configurations also diverge. The R5 M330 ships with 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, running at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), yielding 14.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The R5 M420 bumps capacity to 4 GB of DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus, but runs the memory at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), producing 16.00 GB/s of bandwidth. This means the R5 M420 has both more memory and higher bandwidth, which could be beneficial for larger textures or data sets, but it does not overcome the core clock deficit.

Both cards are integrated into portable devices (slot width: IGP) and have no power connectors, with display outputs described as "Portable Device Dependent." They share the same API support: DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. A notable difference is the TDP: the R5 M330 is rated at 18 W, while the R5 M420 has no TDP listed in the data. The R5 M330 is the older part, released on May 4, 2015, while the R5 M420 came later on May 14, 2016. Both are end-of-life, share the same predecessor ("Solar System"), and have the same successor ("Polaris Mobile").

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL performance?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M330 is faster, scoring 4302 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the R5 M420's 3956, an 8.7% advantage.

Q: Do both GPUs have the same number of shading units?

A: Yes, both the R5 M330 and R5 M420 feature 320 shading units, along with 20 texture mapping units and 8 render output units.

Q: How does the memory configuration differ between the two?

A: The R5 M330 has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus with 14.40 GB/s bandwidth, while the R5 M420 has 4 GB of DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus but with higher bandwidth at 16.00 GB/s.

Q: What is the difference in clock speeds?

A: The R5 M330 runs at a base clock of 955 MHz and a boost clock of 1030 MHz. The R5 M420 is clocked lower, with a base of 780 MHz and a boost of 850 MHz.

Q: Are both GPUs based on the same architecture?

A: Yes, both are built on GCN 1.0 architecture using a 28 nm process at TSMC, with identical transistor counts (690 million) and die sizes (56 mm²).

Q: Which GPU has a Vulkan benchmark score?

A: Only the AMD Radeon R5 M330 has a Geekbench Vulkan score, which is 4037. The R5 M420 has no Vulkan benchmark listed in the data.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon R5 M330 | AMD Radeon R5 M420 |

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

| Chip | Exo | Jet |

| Base Clock | 955 MHz | 780 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1030 MHz | 850 MHz |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Clock | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) | 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bandwidth | 14.40 GB/s | 16.00 GB/s |

| Pixel Rate | 8.240 GPixel/s | 6.800 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 20.60 GTexel/s | 17.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 659.2 GFLOPS | 544.0 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 18 W | Not listed |

| Release Date | 2015-05-04 | 2016-05-14 |

| Geekbench OpenCL Score | 4302 | 3956 |

| Geekbench Vulkan Score | 4037 | Not listed |

| Average Benchmark Score | 4170 | 3956 |

| Percentile | 25th | 23rd |

All other specifications, including memory type (DDR3), bus width (64 bit), shading units (320), TMUs (20), ROPs (8), process node (28 nm), foundry (TSMC), transistor count (690 million), die size (56 mm²), API support, and bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x8), are identical between the two GPUs.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the AMD Radeon R5 M330 is the more performant GPU of the two. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 8.7%, posts a higher average benchmark score (4170 versus 3956), and sits in a higher percentile (25th versus 23rd). Its higher clock speeds drive superior compute throughput, pixel rate, and texture rate. For users seeking the best OpenCL or Vulkan performance from this pairing, the R5 M330 is the clear choice.

The R5 M420 does have one tangible advantage: memory capacity. With 4 GB of DDR3 versus 2 GB, it can accommodate larger framebuffers and textures without spilling to system memory. Its memory bandwidth is also higher at 16.00 GB/s. For workloads that are memory-bound rather than compute-bound, the R5 M420 might hold its own, but the data does not include any benchmark that demonstrates this. In the absence of such evidence, the R5 M420's memory advantage remains a theoretical benefit.

Given that both cards are end-of-life and built on the same GCN 1.0 architecture with identical core configurations, the decision hinges on clock speed versus memory capacity. The R5 M330's 8.7% compute lead is supported by hard benchmark numbers, while the R5 M420's memory advantage is not. Users who prioritize raw processing power should select the R5 M330. Users who need more video memory for specific applications may consider the R5 M420, but they should be aware that its compute performance is measurably lower. The R5 M330 is the safer recommendation based on the available data.