AMD Radeon R5 M430 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits cleanly between these two mobile graphics solutions. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 wins the only direct head-to-head comparison available, taking the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 5152 against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M's 4282, a 20.3% advantage. That single victory gives AMD a 1-0 win record in this matchup.

The AMD part also shows broader API support in the database. It records both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan scores, with the Vulkan result at 4884 slightly below its OpenCL number. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M has no Vulkan score recorded at all, only the OpenCL result. This suggests the AMD chip can handle modern compute workloads across multiple interfaces, while the older NVIDIA part is limited to what OpenCL can extract from it.

Looking at average benchmark scores, the AMD Radeon R5 M430 sits at 5018, which places it in the 30th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M averages 4282, landing in the 25th percentile. The gap between them, about 17% in favor of AMD on average scores, mirrors the head-to-head result and indicates a consistent performance edge rather than a workload-specific quirk.

The nearest rival data reinforces this positioning. The AMD Radeon R5 M430's closest competitors include the AMD FirePro W4170M (average 5034, only 0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon R7 Graphics (4998, 0.4% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro 4000 (4979, 0.8% behind), and the AMD Radeon R7 M340 (5063, 0.9% ahead). These are all within a single percentage point, meaning the R5 M430 sits in a tightly packed cluster of similar performers. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M, by contrast, has neighbors like the AMD FirePro W2100 (4295, 0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon Vega 3 (4268, 0.3% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (4241, 1% behind), and surprisingly the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 (4335, 1.2% ahead). The RTX 4070 GDDR6 appearing in that list is curious, it suggests the database's average score for that modern card is anomalously low in this particular metric, but the data is the data.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different design philosophies and generations. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 uses the "Jet" chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M uses the GF106 chip based on the Fermi architecture, also from TSMC but on an older 40 nm node. The process shrink is significant, 28 nm versus 40 nm, and it shows in the physical characteristics.

Transistor counts tell a stark story. The AMD chip packs 690 million transistors into a 56 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA chip has 1,170 million transistors spread across a much larger 238 mm² die, resulting in just 4.9 million per square millimeter. The AMD design is nearly two and a half times denser, a direct consequence of the newer manufacturing process. Despite having fewer total transistors, the AMD part achieves higher raw throughput in several metrics.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 runs at a base clock of 780 MHz with a boost up to 855 MHz. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M has no base or boost clock listed in the database, only a memory clock of 625 MHz, which translates to 2.5 Gbps effective. The AMD memory clock is 1000 MHz, or 2 Gbps effective. Memory architecture is where the NVIDIA part fights back: it uses 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 60.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD uses 4 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, managing only 16.00 GB/s. That is a 3.75x bandwidth advantage for NVIDIA, a massive gap that likely matters in bandwidth-sensitive scenes.

Compute resources are distributed differently. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation units. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M has fewer shading units at 192, but more TMUs at 32 and more ROPs at 24. The AMD's higher shader count drives its FP32 throughput to 547.2 GFLOPS, while the NVIDIA chip reaches 518.4 GFLOPS. Pixel rates favor AMD at 6.840 GPixel/s versus 5.400 GPixel/s, but texture rates favor NVIDIA at 21.60 GTexel/s versus 17.10 GTexel/s.

The AMD part is an integrated graphics processor with an IGP slot width, while the NVIDIA chip is a discrete MXM module. The NVIDIA part carries a 50 W TDP rating and has no power connectors listed, meaning it draws entirely from the MXM slot. The AMD has no TDP listed at all, typical for an integrated solution. Bus interfaces differ too: AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x8, NVIDIA uses PCIe 2.0 x16.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD Radeon R5 M430 as the stronger performer in raw compute benchmarks. Its 20.3% lead in the head-to-head OpenCL test and its higher average score (5018 versus 4282) are clear indicators. The percentile rankings confirm this, 30th versus 25th for all GPUs. For users prioritizing OpenCL compute workloads, the AMD part is the straightforward choice.

However, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M holds advantages that the benchmark scores do not capture. Its memory bandwidth of 60.00 GB/s is nearly four times the AMD's 16.00 GB/s. That GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus versus DDR3 on a 64-bit bus is a fundamental difference. In scenarios where texture throughput matters, the NVIDIA part's 21.60 GTexel/s beats the AMD's 17.10 GTexel/s, and its 24 ROPs triple the AMD's 8 for pixel-heavy operations. The NVIDIA chip also has a listed TDP of 50 W, which, for a discrete mobile GPU of that era, suggests it can sustain its clocks without the thermal constraints an IGP might face.

The generation gap is real. The AMD chip is from the R5 M400 series, part of the "Gem System" generation, while the NVIDIA is from GeForce 400M, released in September 2010. The AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the Fermi-based NVIDIA part has no Vulkan support recorded. DirectX support is nominally the same, both at version 12, though the AMD lists 11_1 and the NVIDIA lists 11_0 feature levels.

For a user with a laptop that supports either GPU, the AMD Radeon R5 M430 appears to be the better all-round compute performer, especially in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M, despite its age and lower benchmark scores, offers superior memory bandwidth and texture throughput that could make it preferable for specific legacy gaming or bandwidth-bound tasks. The data cannot settle that question definitively, but the architectural profile suggests each has a niche.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the recorded head-to-head benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M430 wins the only head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, with a score of 5152 versus the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M's 4282, a 20.3% advantage.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M have any performance advantage over the AMD Radeon R5 M430?

A: Yes, the NVIDIA part has significantly higher memory bandwidth at 60.00 GB/s versus 16.00 GB/s, and a higher texture rate at 21.60 GTexel/s versus 17.10 GTexel/s. It also has 24 ROPs compared to the AMD's 8.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M430 has an average benchmark score of 5018, placing it in the 30th percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M averages 4282, placing it in the 25th percentile.

Q: Which GPU supports Vulkan?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M430 records a Geekbench Vulkan score of 4884 and lists Vulkan API support at version 1.2.170. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M has no Vulkan score or support listed in the database.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M430 uses 4 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M uses 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 60.00 GB/s bandwidth versus the AMD's 16.00 GB/s.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M430's Jet chip packs 690 million transistors into 56 mm², yielding 12.3M transistors per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M's GF106 chip has 1,170 million transistors across 238 mm², for 4.9M per square millimeter.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly one direct comparison between these two GPUs: the Geekbench OpenCL test. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 scored 5152, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M scored 4282. The delta is 20.3% in AMD's favor, a decisive margin that aligns with the average score difference.

Breaking down what drives that OpenCL result requires looking at the underlying hardware. The AMD part outputs 547.2 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, edging out the NVIDIA's 518.4 GFLOPS by about 5.5%. That is a modest compute advantage, but the AMD also has 320 shading units versus 192, giving it more parallel lanes for the types of workloads OpenCL typically runs. The NVIDIA's higher texture rate (21.60 GTexel/s) and vastly higher memory bandwidth (60.00 GB/s) do not translate into an OpenCL win, suggesting the benchmark is more compute-bound than memory-bound.

The AMD also shows a Vulkan score of 4884, which is about 5.2% lower than its OpenCL score. That consistency across APIs indicates the chip's performance is stable regardless of the compute interface. The NVIDIA part has no Vulkan score, so a direct comparison there is impossible, but its absence means the AMD is the only one of the two that can even be evaluated in modern compute stacks.

The nearest rival data adds context. The AMD Radeon R5 M430 sits within 1% of four other GPUs in its neighborhood, all clustered between 4979 and 5063 average scores. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M's neighbors are similarly close, ranging from 4241 to 4335. The gap between the two clusters, roughly 500 to 700 points, is the real story. The AMD part competes in a higher performance tier, and its 30th percentile ranking versus the NVIDIA's 25th confirms that.

The pixel rate difference is small but real, 6.840 GPixel/s for AMD versus 5.400 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, a 26.7% edge for AMD. The ROP count tells a different story, NVIDIA has 24 ROPs to AMD's 8, which typically means better fill-rate efficiency in certain rendering paths. Yet the benchmark result still favors AMD, implying the ROP deficit is not the limiting factor in this test.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs diverge across nearly every specification category. The manufacturing process is the most fundamental split: AMD uses 28 nm, NVIDIA uses 40 nm, both from TSMC. The transistor counts reflect this, 690 million for AMD versus 1,170 million for NVIDIA, but the die sizes invert the comparison, 56 mm² for AMD versus 238 mm² for NVIDIA. The density figures are 12.3M transistors per square millimeter for AMD and 4.9M for NVIDIA.

Clock speeds only partially overlap. The AMD lists a base clock of 780 MHz and a boost of 855 MHz. The NVIDIA lists no base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 625 MHz (2.5 Gbps effective). The AMD memory clock is 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective).

Memory configurations are starkly different. The AMD has 4 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus with 16.00 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA has 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus with 60.00 GB/s bandwidth. That is a 3.75x bandwidth advantage for NVIDIA despite less total memory.

Compute unit counts differ: AMD has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. NVIDIA has 192 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The throughput numbers follow: AMD achieves 6.840 GPixel/s pixel rate and 17.10 GTexel/s texture rate, while NVIDIA achieves 5.400 GPixel/s and 21.60 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 547.2 GFLOPS for AMD and 518.4 GFLOPS for NVIDIA.

The slot width separates them physically: AMD is an IGP, NVIDIA is an MXM Module. The NVIDIA part has a 50 W TDP and no power connectors, while the AMD has no TDP listed. Bus interfaces differ, PCIe 3.0 x8 for AMD versus PCIe 2.0 x16 for NVIDIA.

API support shows the AMD part as more modern: DirectX 12 (11_1) versus DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6 for both, and Vulkan 1.2.170 for AMD only. The NVIDIA part has no Vulkan support recorded. Production status is end-of-life for both, but the NVIDIA release date is recorded as September 2, 2010, while the AMD has no release date. The AMD's generation is "Gem System (R5 M400)" and its predecessor and successor are listed as "Solar System" and "Polaris Mobile." The NVIDIA's generation is "GeForce 400M" with predecessor "GeForce 300M" and successor "GeForce 500M."