AMD Radeon R5 M430 vs NVIDIA GeForce 940M Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce 940M and AMD Radeon R5 M430 are two entry-level mobile graphics solutions from the same era, but the benchmark data reveals they have distinctly different strengths. The NVIDIA GeForce 940M wins the OpenCL compute test decisively, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 takes the Vulkan graphics test. With average benchmark scores of 5284 for the NVIDIA and 5018 for the AMD, the overall performance gap is modest, but the specific workload differences matter more than the aggregate. This analysis breaks down the numbers, architecture, and use cases to help you decide which one fits your needs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results in the data show a clear split between the two GPUs. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce 940M scores 6018, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 scores 5152. That is a 16.8% advantage for NVIDIA, a significant margin in a compute-heavy workload. This suggests the 940M is substantially better at general-purpose GPU compute tasks, which can matter for applications like video encoding, physics simulations, or certain productivity software that offloads work to the GPU.

The situation flips in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the AMD Radeon R5 M430 scores 4884, beating the NVIDIA GeForce 940M's 4549. The delta is -6.9% from NVIDIA's perspective, meaning AMD is ahead by roughly 7%. Vulkan is a low-level graphics API used by many modern games, so this result indicates the R5 M430 has an edge in gaming scenarios that leverage Vulkan. For a mobile GPU meant for light gaming, this is a meaningful advantage.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the NVIDIA GeForce 940M sits at the 31st percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 sits at the 30th percentile. The average benchmark score for the NVIDIA is 5284, and for the AMD it is 5018, a difference of about 5.3%. The nearest rivals for the NVIDIA include the GeForce GTX 980M (5308, -0.4%), GeForce 930A (5317, -0.6%), and GeForce 840M (5322, -0.7%), all of which are within 1% of the 940M's score. For the AMD, the nearest rivals are the FirePro W4170M (5034, -0.3%), Radeon R7 Graphics (4998, 0.4%), and Quadro 4000 (4979, 0.8%), again showing a tight cluster around the R5 M430's performance. In practical terms, both GPUs are in the same performance tier, but their individual benchmark wins show they are not interchangeable.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural families, and the data shows this clearly. The NVIDIA GeForce 940M uses the GM107 chip based on the Maxwell architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 12.6M per mm². The AMD Radeon R5 M430 uses the Jet chip based on GCN 1.0, also on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but with only 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, resulting in a density of 12.3M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is more than twice the size of the AMD chip, which explains its higher transistor count and potentially more complex compute capabilities.

The core configurations differ significantly. The NVIDIA GeForce 940M has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 render output units (ROPs). The AMD Radeon R5 M430 has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. This means the NVIDIA GPU has 60% more shading units, 60% more TMUs, and double the ROPs of the AMD. The clock speeds tell a different story: the 940M runs at a base of 1020 MHz with a boost of 1098 MHz, while the R5 M430 runs at a base of 780 MHz with a boost of 855 MHz. The NVIDIA has a higher clock speed on top of more cores, which explains its dominance in raw compute throughput.

Memory is another point of divergence. The NVIDIA GeForce 940M comes with 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering 14.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 doubles the capacity to 4 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, but with a higher effective memory clock of 2 Gbps, yielding 16.00 GB/s of bandwidth. While the AMD has more memory capacity, the NVIDIA has a slight edge in compute throughput. The pixel rate for the 940M is 17.57 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 35.14 GTexel/s, versus 6.840 GPixel/s and 17.10 GTexel/s for the R5 M430. The NVIDIA GPU is roughly 2.6x faster in pixel fill and 2.1x faster in texture fill, which are key metrics for rasterization-heavy workloads.

API support also differs. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the NVIDIA lists Vulkan 1.4 while the AMD lists Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 (11_0) feature level, while the AMD supports DirectX 12 (11_1). The NVIDIA uses an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, while the AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x8. The NVIDIA is a 75 W MXM module, while the AMD is an IGP (integrated GPU) with no TDP listed, suggesting it is designed for lower-power, integrated scenarios.

The Verdict

The data points to a simple conclusion: pick the NVIDIA GeForce 940M if you prioritize compute performance and raw fill rates, and pick the AMD Radeon R5 M430 if you want better Vulkan gaming performance and more memory capacity. The NVIDIA wins the OpenCL test by 16.8%, has a higher average benchmark score (5284 vs 5018), and sits at a slightly higher percentile rank (31st vs 30th). It also has more shading units, TMUs, and ROPs, which gives it a structural advantage in most GPU workloads. The AMD wins the Vulkan test by 6.9%, which is a direct indicator of gaming performance under a modern API. It also offers 4 GB of memory versus 2 GB, which can help with texture-heavy games that exceed 2 GB of VRAM.

For general productivity or compute tasks, the NVIDIA GeForce 940M is the stronger choice. The 16.8% OpenCL lead means applications that use OpenCL for acceleration will run noticeably better. For gaming, the choice depends on the API. If you play Vulkan-based titles, the AMD Radeon R5 M430 has the edge. However, the NVIDIA GPU's higher texture and pixel rates suggest it may perform better in older DirectX titles that rely on fill rate. The NVIDIA also has a higher boost clock and more raw compute power, which could translate to better performance in games that do not use Vulkan.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940M has an average benchmark score of 5284, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 scores 5018.

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce 940M in OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940M scores 6018 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 16.8% higher than the AMD Radeon R5 M430's 5152.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon R5 M430 win any benchmark tests?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon R5 M430 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 4884, beating the NVIDIA GeForce 940M's 4549 by 6.9%.

Q: How much memory does each GPU have?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory.

Q: What are the transistor counts for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940M has 1,870 million transistors, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 has 690 million transistors.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940M has a memory bandwidth of 14.40 GB/s, and the AMD Radeon R5 M430 has a memory bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce 940M wins in compute-heavy workloads, as shown by its 16.8% lead in the OpenCL benchmark. It also has a higher pixel rate (17.57 GPixel/s vs 6.840 GPixel/s) and texture rate (35.14 GTexel/s vs 17.10 GTexel/s), which makes it better suited for tasks that depend on fill rates, such as high-resolution rendering or certain legacy game engines. The 940M's 512 shading units and 32 TMUs give it more parallel processing capacity, and its higher boost clock of 1098 MHz (vs 855 MHz) reinforces its advantage in sustained compute. For users running OpenCL-based applications like video editors or scientific software, the 940M is the clear pick.

The AMD Radeon R5 M430 wins in Vulkan-based gaming scenarios, as evidenced by its 6.9% lead in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Its 4 GB of memory is double the NVIDIA's 2 GB, which can be a decisive factor in modern games that use more than 2 GB of VRAM at medium settings. The AMD GPU also has a higher memory bandwidth (16.00 GB/s vs 14.40 GB/s), which helps in memory-intensive workloads. For users who play Vulkan titles or need extra memory for large textures, the R5 M430 has a practical advantage, even if its overall compute performance is lower.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every key specification. The NVIDIA GeForce 940M uses the GM107 chip (Maxwell architecture) with 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 uses the Jet chip (GCN 1.0) with 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die. The NVIDIA has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, versus 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs for the AMD. Clock speeds are 1020 MHz base / 1098 MHz boost for NVIDIA and 780 MHz base / 855 MHz boost for AMD. Memory capacity is 2 GB for NVIDIA and 4 GB for AMD, both DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, but with bandwidth of 14.40 GB/s and 16.00 GB/s respectively. The NVIDIA has a TDP of 75 W and uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface, while the AMD lists no TDP and uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface. Pixel rate is 17.57 GPixel/s for NVIDIA and 6.840 GPixel/s for AMD, with texture rates of 35.14 GTexel/s and 17.10 GTexel/s, respectively. The NVIDIA supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (11_0), while the AMD supports Vulkan 1.2.170 and DirectX 12 (11_1). Both are end-of-life products, with the NVIDIA released on 2015-03-12 and the AMD having no listed release date.