AMD Radeon R5 M435 vs AMD Radeon R7 M440 Comparison

The AMD Radeon R5 M435 and AMD Radeon R7 M440 are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from AMD's Gem System generation, yet they represent distinctly different design philosophies. The data shows a clear, though narrow, overall victory for the R5 M435, which wins the only shared benchmark by a significant margin. However, the R7 M440 counters with a larger memory pool and a more modern feature set, making the choice between them dependent on the specific workload and performance metric prioritized.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and here the AMD Radeon R5 M435 decisively outperforms the AMD Radeon R7 M440. The R5 M435 scores 5859 points, while the R7 M440 manages only 5214 points. This represents a 12.4% performance advantage for the R5 M435, a substantial gap in a single-generation comparison. This result is particularly noteworthy because the R7 M440 carries the higher-tier "R7" branding, which often implies superior performance within a product stack. The benchmark data, however, inverts this expectation, showing that the architectural and memory differences between the two parts have a profound impact on raw compute throughput.

When placed in the broader context of their respective peer groups, the two GPUs occupy similar competitive tiers, but their positions differ in detail. The R5 M435, with its score of 5859, sits just 0.3% above the AMD Radeon R7 M465 (5841) and 1.2% below the Intel UHD Graphics 730 (5929). It also trails the AMD Radeon HD 8730M and NVIDIA Quadro K620M, both scoring 5955 and 5957 respectively, by a 1.6% margin. This places the R5 M435 in a tight cluster where performance is highly competitive with its immediate rivals.

In contrast, the R7 M440's average benchmark score is 5483, which is based on both its OpenCL score of 5214 and a Vulkan score of 5751. This average places it in a similarly dense competitive field. It is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 (5467) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 610M (5444). Conversely, it trails the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (5501) by 0.3% and the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (5508) by 0.5%. While the R5 M435's single score is higher, the R7 M440's Vulkan result of 5751 demonstrates a different strength that is not captured in the direct head-to-head comparison.

The head-to-head data is unambiguous: the R5 M435 holds a 12.4% lead in OpenCL compute, a significant advantage that suggests its faster GDDR5 memory and higher clock speeds more than compensate for any architectural deficiencies compared to the R7 M440. The R7 M440's only path to victory in this comparison comes from its Vulkan performance, but since the R5 M435 has no corresponding Vulkan score, a direct comparison on that API cannot be made.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R5 M435 has a higher average benchmark score of 5859, compared to the AMD Radeon R7 M440's average of 5483. This is driven by the R5 M435's superior performance in the OpenCL test.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon R7 M440 faster than the AMD Radeon R5 M435 in any benchmark?

A: In the single direct comparison (Geekbench OpenCL), the R5 M435 is faster. The R7 M440 does have a Geekbench Vulkan score of 5751, but the R5 M435 has no Vulkan score for comparison, so no direct benchmark victory can be claimed for the R7 M440.

Q: How does the R5 M435 compare to its closest rival, the AMD Radeon R7 M465?

A: The R5 M435 is 0.3% faster than the AMD Radeon R7 M465, with scores of 5859 and 5841, respectively. This shows the two are virtually neck-and-neck in performance.

Q: What is the performance gap between the R7 M440 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M?

A: The R7 M440 is 0.3% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M. The R7 M440's average score is 5483, while the GTX 765M has an average score of 5501.

Q: Does the R7 M440's larger memory capacity give it a performance advantage?

A: The benchmark data does not support this. The R7 M440 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory but scores lower in OpenCL than the R5 M435, which has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. The R5 M435's higher memory bandwidth is a more significant factor in compute performance.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The R5 M435 has a higher percentile ranking than the R7 M440. The R5 M435 is in the 33rd percentile, while the R7 M440 is in the 32nd percentile of all GPUs.

Architecture Differences

The most profound difference between these two GPUs lies in their underlying architectures, which dictates their feature sets and performance characteristics. The AMD Radeon R5 M435 is built on the older GCN 1.0 architecture, while the AMD Radeon R7 M440 utilizes the more recent GCN 3.0 architecture. This generational leap is significant, as GCN 3.0 brings enhancements in compute efficiency and feature support over the initial GCN design.

This architectural difference is also reflected in the physical chip and its composition. The R5 M435 uses a chip named "Jet," which is a small design manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die. In contrast, the R7 M440 uses a larger chip called "Meso," also on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but with a substantially higher transistor count of 1,550 million on a much larger 125 mm² die. Interestingly, the transistor density is nearly identical, with the R5 M435 at 12.3M / mm² and the R7 M440 at 12.4M / mm², indicating that the process node is being used with similar efficiency, just at vastly different scales.

The feature set divergence is most clearly seen in the supported DirectX version. The R5 M435 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), which is a feature level that predates the full DirectX 12 feature set. The R7 M440, with its GCN 3.0 architecture, supports DirectX 12 (12_0), enabling it to utilize the complete set of DirectX 12 features. This makes the R7 M440 more future-proof for games that leverage the full DirectX 12 API. Both GPUs support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170, and both are designated as "IGP" slot width, meaning they are integrated into a portable device and are not discrete add-in cards.

Furthermore, the FP16 (half-precision) compute capability highlights a key architectural split. The R5 M435 lists its FP16 performance as null, indicating no dedicated or accelerated path. The R7 M440, however, lists its FP16 performance as 570.2 GFLOPS (1:1), meaning it can process half-precision data at the same rate as full-precision FP32 data. This capability is critical for certain compute workloads and modern graphics effects that utilize half-precision arithmetic for performance gains.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for the two GPUs reveal several key differences that explain their performance disparity. The most impactful difference is in memory configuration. The R5 M435 is equipped with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory running at an effective speed of 4.5 Gbps, which yields a bandwidth of 36.00 GB/s over a 64-bit bus. The R7 M440, conversely, has a larger 4 GB frame buffer, but it uses slower DDR3 memory. Its memory clock is 900 MHz with an effective data rate of 1800 Mbps, resulting in a bandwidth of just 14.40 GB/s over the same 64-bit bus width. This means the R5 M435 has 2.5 times the memory bandwidth of the R7 M440, a decisive factor in compute and gaming workloads.

Clock speeds also differ, though the R7 M440's core clocks are not specified. The R5 M435 has a base clock of 780 MHz and a boost clock of 1030 MHz. The R7 M440's base and boost clocks are listed as null, meaning this data is unavailable or not applicable. This lack of clock data makes direct clock-for-clock comparison impossible, but the R5 M435's available boost clock of 1030 MHz indicates a higher peak frequency than what the R7 M440's 570.2 GFLOPS FP32 throughput implies.

These differences in memory and clocks directly translate to differing compute rates. The R5 M435 achieves a pixel rate of 8.240 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 20.60 GTexel/s, while the R7 M440 achieves lower rates of 7.128 GPixel/s and 17.82 GTexel/s, respectively. The FP32 performance follows the same trend, with the R5 M435 delivering 659.2 GFLOPS compared to the R7 M440's 570.2 GFLOPS. The R7 M440's only specification advantage is its 4 GB memory capacity, which is double the R5 M435's 2 GB, and its 1:1 FP16 rate. Both GPUs share the same shading unit count (320), TMU count (20), ROP count (8), bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x8), and lack a defined TDP.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R5 M435 is the clear winner for raw compute performance and tasks sensitive to memory bandwidth. Its 12.4% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark is a direct result of its GDDR5 memory providing 36.00 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for the parallel arithmetic operations in OpenCL workloads. Its higher FP32 throughput of 659.2 GFLOPS also makes it the stronger candidate for general-purpose GPU computing tasks that rely on full-precision math. For users running compute-intensive applications or games that are bottlenecked by memory bandwidth, the R5 M435 is the superior choice.

Conversely, the AMD Radeon R7 M440's wins are less about raw speed and more about capacity and modern feature support. Its 4 GB of memory, while slower, offers double the capacity of the R5 M435's 2 GB, which is advantageous for workloads that require large datasets to be resident in VRAM, such as high-resolution textures or complex compute buffers. Its support for DirectX 12 (12_0) ensures full compatibility with the latest DirectX 12 titles, whereas the R5 M435's DirectX 12 (11_1) support is a subset. Furthermore, the R7 M440's 1:1 FP16 rate of 570.2 GFLOPS makes it a more capable choice for emerging workloads and APIs that leverage half-precision arithmetic for performance, such as certain machine learning inference or modern graphics effects. The R7 M440 also has a Vulkan benchmark score of 5751, which is higher than its own OpenCL score, suggesting it may be more competitive in Vulkan-based applications, although no direct comparison with the R5 M435 exists.