AMD Radeon R5 M330 vs NVIDIA Quadro 3000M Comparison

# AMD Radeon R5 M330 vs NVIDIA Quadro 3000M

The mobile GPU market is a study in trade-offs. AMD's R5 M330 and NVIDIA's Quadro 3000M target different priorities, and the benchmark data makes the split clear. The R5 M330 is a newer, efficiency-focused design, while the Quadro 3000M is a larger, older workstation part. Let's break down what the recorded scores actually mean for real-world use.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single head-to-head run of Geekbench OpenCL between these two parts. The AMD Radeon R5 M330 scored 4302 against the Quadro 3000M's 3718. That is a 15.7% advantage for the AMD part in this specific workload. This is a decisive win, but it is one test, and the character of each GPU suggests where that margin comes from.

The AMD chip wins because its architecture is more efficient per clock in this compute-heavy API. The Quadro's older Fermi architecture is competitive in its own right, but it trails in raw OpenCL throughput. The Galaxy M330's 15.7% lead in this test is not a small margin, but it is also not a dominant blowout.

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon R5 M330 compare to the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M in raw compute?

A: The database shows the AMD R5 M330 scoring 4302 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 15.7% higher than the Quadro 3000M's 3718. The AMD part has a newer GCN architecture and higher shader clock, which shows in this API-heavy benchmark.

Q: Which GPU has better driver support for modern APIs?

A: The AMD R5 M330 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA Quadro 3000M, being from the Fermi era, supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD part carries the Vulkan API, which is a clear modern advantage.

Q: Is the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M a good fit for a workstation?

A: It was designed for the workstation. It is a 40nm chip with a 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface and 2GB of VRAM, giving it 80 GB/s of memory bandwidth. It has 240 shading units and 32 ROPs. This is a legacy part for OpenGL workloads.

Q: What is the architecture of the AMD Radeon R5 M330?

A: The AMD chip is a GCN 1.0 part built on TSMC's 28nm node with 690 million transistors. It has 320 shaders and 8 ROPs. It uses 2GB DRAM on a 64-bit bus for 14.40 GB/s bandwidth. It is a power-efficient part with a 18W TDP.

Q: Which card is better for battery life?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M330 has a TDP of only 18W vs the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M's 75W. The AMD part is clearly the more efficient part, and it does not need any external power connectors. The NVIDIA needs an MXM module and is a much larger chip.

Architecture Differences

The architectures could not be more different. The AMD Radeon R5 M330 is built on AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture. It is a 28nm chip fabricated at TSMC. The die has 690 million transistors, die size 56 mm². The NVIDIA Quadro 3000M uses the Fermi architecture, a 40nm design from TSMC with 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die.

The different chip design philosophies show the different feature sets. The AMD has 320 shading units, 20 texture units, 8 ROPs, and a pixel rate of 8.240 GPixel/s. The NVIDIA has 240 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, delivering a pixel rate of 4.500 GPixel/s.

The memory subsystem is a major difference. The AMD chip uses a 2GB DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, which gives 14.40 GB/s. The NVIDIA uses 2GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, which gives 80.00 GB/s of bandwidth. That is a fivefold difference in bandwidth, and it matters a lot for certain workloads.

Specification Differences

The database lists the key differences in the specification sheets.

| Feature | AMD Radeon R5 M330 | NVIDIA Quadro 3000M |

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

| Chip | Exo | GF104 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Fermi |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 40 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | TSMC |

| Transistors | 690 million | 1,950 million |

| Die Size | 56 mm² | 332 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 5.9M / mm² |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus | 64-bit | 256-bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 14.40 GB/s | 80.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 320 | 240 |

| Texture Units | 20 | 40 |

| ROPs | 8 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 8.240 GPixel/s | 4.500 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 20.60 GTexel/s | 18.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 659.2 GFLOPS | 432.0 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 18 W | 75 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | MXM Module |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Power Connectors | None | None |

The AMD chip is the leaner part: smaller die, lower power, and significantly higher compute density. The NVIDIA chip is the larger, heavier workstation part with a much deeper memory path.

The Verdict

Pick the AMD Radeon R5 M330 if your workload is OpenCL-heavy or if you want the modern API feature set, and if power draw is a priority. The data shows a 15.7% win in the one recorded head-to-head. It also has a much smaller die, a modern instruction set, and a low 18W power draw. It is the better all-rounder in this match.

Choose the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M if your workload needs the large memory bandwidth. The Fermi part has a 256-bit GDDR5 bus and 80.00 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than 5 times the bandwidth of the AMD chip. It also has more texture units (40 vs. 20), more ROPs (32 vs. 8), and a much higher pixel rate. This is the part for heavy 3D rendering and OpenGL.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon R5 M330 wins:

• Head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL: wins by 15.7%
• Modern API support (Vulkan, DX 12, OpenGL 4.6)
• Power efficiency: 18W TDP versus 75W
• Compute throughput: 659 GFLOPS vs 432 GFLOPS
• Texture rate: 20.60 vs 18.00 GTexel/s
• Shading units: 320 vs 240

NVIDIA Quadro 3000M wins:

• Memory bandwidth: 80.00 GB/s vs 14.40 GB/s
• Memory bus: 256-bit vs 64-bit
• Texture units: 40 vs 20
• ROPs: 32 vs 8
• Pixel rate: 4.500 vs 8.240 GPixel/s
• Die size / transistor density: a much larger die (332 mm² vs 56 mm²)
• Slots: MXM module, workstation mobility

There is no clean winner in every discipline. The AMD is the compute and API king, the NVIDIA is the raw memory bandwidth and texturing king. Choose based on which one of these strengths aligns with your target application.