AMD Radeon R5 M420 vs NVIDIA GeForce 830M Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce 830M and AMD Radeon R5 M420 are both end-of-life mobile GPUs aimed at entry-level laptops, yet the benchmark data reveals a surprisingly narrow contest. While both cards occupy the same low-performance tier, the GeForce 830M edges ahead in the only available head-to-head test, though the AMD card counters with a larger memory allocation and a more recent release date. The data suggests these are not competitors separated by a wide gulf, but rather two aging solutions that trade blows on different axes—one prioritizing raw compute and the other offering more memory for texture-heavy workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce 830M claims the sole benchmark victory in the dataset, winning the Geekbench OpenCL test. This indicates a clear advantage in general-purpose compute workloads and OpenCL-accelerated applications. Its higher clock speeds—a base of 1082 MHz and boost of 1150 MHz—likely contribute to this win, as does its newer Maxwell architecture. The 830M also posts a higher average benchmark score of 3957 versus the R5 M420's 3956, a razor-thin margin that nonetheless places it ahead in the aggregate.

The AMD Radeon R5 M420 wins on memory capacity, offering 4 GB of DDR3 versus the 830M's 2 GB. For games or applications that are memory-hungry at lower resolutions, this doubling of VRAM could be the deciding factor, allowing the R5 M420 to hold more textures and assets without spilling into system memory. The AMD card also carries a higher memory bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s compared to the 830M's 14.40 GB/s, giving it a small but measurable edge in data throughput to the framebuffer.

In terms of raw shading power, the R5 M420 has more shading units (320 vs. 256) and more texture mapping units (20 vs. 16), though this architectural advantage does not translate into a benchmark win. The data shows that the 830M wins the only direct comparison, suggesting that NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture extracts more real-world performance from fewer resources.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce 830M is built on the Maxwell architecture using the GM108 chip, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,020 million transistors into a 77 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 13.2M / mm². Maxwell was known for its efficiency, and the 830M's modest 33 W TDP reflects that design goal, though the R5 M420 has no listed TDP for comparison.

The AMD Radeon R5 M420 uses the older GCN 1.0 architecture with the Jet chip, also on a 28 nm TSMC process. It contains 690 million transistors on a smaller 56 mm² die, with a lower transistor density of 12.3M / mm². GCN 1.0 was designed for compute-heavy workloads, which explains the higher shading unit count, but it tends to be less efficient per clock than Maxwell.

Memory configurations differ significantly. The 830M uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 14.40 GB/s bandwidth. The R5 M420 doubles capacity to 4 GB of DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus, achieving 16.00 GB/s due to a higher effective memory clock of 2 Gbps versus the 830M's 1800 Mbps. Both cards use a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface and are IGP (integrated graphics processor) solutions with portable-device-dependent outputs.

API support shows a notable split: the 830M supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (11_0), while the R5 M420 offers Vulkan 1.2.170 and DirectX 12 (11_1). The AMD card has a slightly higher DirectX feature level, which could matter for specific games leveraging 11_1 features, while the NVIDIA card's newer Vulkan version may offer better support for recent Vulkan titles.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single available head-to-head test is Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA GeForce 830M scores 4324 against the AMD Radeon R5 M420's 3956. This represents a 9.3% advantage for the 830M, a meaningful margin in a low-power segment where every percentage point counts. The 830M's higher clock speed and Maxwell architecture appear to overcome the R5 M420's greater shading unit count and memory bandwidth.

The R5 M420 has no wins in the head-to-head dataset, losing the only contest. However, the aggregate picture is close: the 830M's average benchmark score is 3957, while the R5 M420 sits at 3956, a difference of just one point. The nearest rivals for both cards include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M (avg score 3953, deltaPct 0.1), the NVIDIA Quadro K2000 (avg score 3964, deltaPct -0.2), and the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 (avg score 3977, deltaPct -0.5). This cluster of scores—all within roughly 0.5% of each other—indicates that both cards perform nearly identically in the broader GPU landscape.

The GeForce 830M's OpenCL score of 4324 is notably higher than its average of 3957, suggesting it performs particularly well in compute tasks. The R5 M420's OpenCL score of 3956 nearly matches its average, indicating more consistent performance across different workloads. This divergence suggests the 830M may have a higher ceiling in compute-heavy scenarios, even if its average performance is comparable.

The Verdict

The data points to a narrow but real advantage for the NVIDIA GeForce 830M in raw compute performance. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 9.3%, posts a higher average score (3957 vs. 3956), and achieves a higher percentile ranking (24 vs. 23). For users running OpenCL-accelerated applications or games that respond well to higher clock speeds, the 830M is the safer choice based on the evidence.

However, the AMD Radeon R5 M420 offers 4 GB of memory—double the 830M's allocation—at a higher bandwidth (16.00 GB/s vs. 14.40 GB/s). For users who play older games with large texture packs or run applications that are memory-constrained, this capacity advantage could prove more valuable than the 830M's compute edge. The R5 M420 also has a newer release date (May 2016 vs. March 2014), which may imply better driver support in its later lifecycle.

The benchmark results indicate these GPUs are effectively peers. The 0% deltaPct between their average scores confirms they sit in the same performance class, with the 830M's victory coming from a single test rather than a broad sweep. Users should weigh the 830M's compute performance against the R5 M420's memory capacity; the data does not provide a clear overall winner, only a trade-off between compute speed and memory resources.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 830M has an average benchmark score of 3957, while the AMD Radeon R5 M420 scores 3956, a difference of just one point.

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce 830M in OpenCL?

A: The 830M scores 4324 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 3956 for the R5 M420, a 9.3% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon R5 M420 have more memory?

A: Yes, the R5 M420 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory, double the 2 GB found on the GeForce 830M.

Q: Which GPU supports a newer version of Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 830M supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD Radeon R5 M420 supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What are the transistor counts for each chip?

A: The GeForce 830M's GM108 chip has 1,020 million transistors, while the R5 M420's Jet chip has 690 million transistors.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 830M has a boost clock of 1150 MHz, compared to 850 MHz for the AMD Radeon R5 M420.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce 830M | AMD Radeon R5 M420 |

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

| Chip | GM108 | Jet |

| Architecture | Maxwell | GCN 1.0 |

| Generation | GeForce 800M | Gem System (R5 M400) |

| Transistors | 1,020 million | 690 million |

| Die Size | 77 mm² | 56 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.2M / mm² | 12.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1082 MHz | 780 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1150 MHz | 850 MHz |

| Memory Clock (Effective) | 1800 Mbps | 2 Gbps |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

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

| Shading Units | 256 | 320 |

| TMUs | 16 | 20 |

| Pixel Rate | 9.200 GPixel/s | 6.800 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 18.40 GTexel/s | 17.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 588.8 GFLOPS | 544.0 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 33 W | Not listed |

| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2014-03-11 | 2016-05-14 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 700M | Solar System |

| Successor | GeForce 900M | Polaris Mobile |

| Percentile (All GPUs) | 24 | 23 |