AMD Radeon R7 240 vs AMD Radeon Vega 3 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits decisively in favor of the AMD Radeon R7 240 in the only directly comparable test. The R7 240 wins the Geekbench OpenCL head-to-head by a substantial margin, scoring 27.8% higher than the Vega 3. That singular win makes it the clear choice for compute workloads that rely on the OpenCL API, particularly given its higher shading unit count and dedicated memory subsystem.

The AMD Radeon Vega 3, by contrast, does not win any head-to-head benchmark against the R7 240. However, its recorded benchmark suite includes results across three different APIs: Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan. Its Metal score of 4880 and Vulkan score of 3961 indicate that it can execute workloads across a broader range of modern API environments. The R7 240 has no recorded Metal or Vulkan results in the database, so the Vega 3's advantage lies in API versatility rather than raw performance. For users running applications that prefer Vulkan or Metal, the Vega 3 is the only one of the two with measured data to show.

In terms of overall standing, the R7 240 occupies the 30th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Vega 3 sits at the 25th percentile. The R7 240's average benchmark score is 5063, compared to the Vega 3's 4268. That 795-point gap aligns with the head-to-head result and reinforces the R7 240's position as the stronger compute performer in this pairing. The Vega 3's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (scoring 4282, just 0.3% above the Vega 3) and the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (scoring 4241, 0.6% below). The R7 240's nearest rivals cluster tightly around it: the R7 M340 matches it exactly at 5063, the FirePro W4170M is 0.6% behind, and the R5 M430 is 0.9% behind.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and fundamentally different implementation contexts. The R7 240 is built on GCN 1.0, the original Graphics Core Next architecture, and belongs to the Volcanic Islands generation (R7 200 family). It uses the Oland chip, fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process. The Vega 3 uses GCN 5.0, the latest iteration of the GCN design lineage, and belongs to the Vega IGP (Picasso) generation. Its Picasso chip is built by GlobalFoundries on a 12 nm process, which is a smaller node than the R7 240's 28 nm process.

Transistor counts and die sizes differ substantially. The R7 240's Oland chip contains 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The Vega 3's Picasso die is much larger at 210 mm² and packs 4,940 million transistors, for a density of 23.5 million per square millimeter. That higher density reflects the newer fabrication process and the integrated nature of the Picasso design, which includes not just the GPU but also CPU cores and other system components on the same die.

The R7 240 is a discrete, single-slot card with its own 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus. The Vega 3 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no dedicated memory; it uses system shared memory, and its memory bus width and bandwidth are listed as system dependent. This is a fundamental architectural difference: the R7 240 has a fixed memory configuration with 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Vega 3's memory performance depends entirely on the host system's RAM configuration.

The R7 240 uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 bus interface and requires no external power connectors, with a 200 W suggested power supply. The Vega 3 has no bus interface of its own since it is integrated into the processor, drawing power from the motherboard's socket and carrying a 15 W TDP. The R7 240's TDP is 30 W, double that of the Vega 3.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head test between these two GPUs is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is unambiguous. The R7 240 scores 5063, while the Vega 3 scores 3963. That gives the R7 240 a 27.8% advantage. The margin is large enough to represent a meaningful performance gap in OpenCL compute tasks, not a marginal edge. The R7 240's score places it at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, while the Vega 3's OpenCL result sits at the 25th percentile overall, so the R7 240 is also higher in the global distribution.

The Vega 3's other benchmark results provide context for its overall capability. Its best recorded score is 4880 in Geekbench Metal, which is actually higher than its OpenCL score of 3963 and its Vulkan score of 3961. The Metal result is notably close to the R7 240's OpenCL score of 5063, trailing by only 183 points. This suggests that on Apple's Metal API, the Vega 3 can approach the R7 240's OpenCL performance, though no direct Metal test exists for the R7 240 in the database.

The Vega 3's average benchmark score of 4268 places it among rivals that are all within a tight band. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M scores 4282 (0.3% higher), the AMD FirePro W2100 scores 4295 (0.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M scores 4241 (0.6% lower). The R7 240's rival cluster is similarly tight, with the R7 M340 matching its 5063 score exactly, the FirePro W4170M at 5034 (0.6% lower), and the R5 M430 at 5018 (0.9% lower). Both GPUs sit in competitive neighborhoods, but the R7 240's neighborhood is roughly 800 points higher.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every hardware specification that matters. The R7 240 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation units. The Vega 3 has 192 shading units, 12 TMUs, and only 4 ROPs. The R7 240 therefore has 66.7% more shading units, 66.7% more TMUs, and double the ROP count of the Vega 3. These raw resource differences explain the R7 240's compute advantage.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The Vega 3 has a base clock of 300 MHz but a boost clock of 1100 MHz, giving it a much higher peak frequency than the R7 240's 730 MHz base and 780 MHz boost. The R7 240's boost clock is only 50 MHz above its base, while the Vega 3's boost clock is 800 MHz above its base. Despite the Vega 3's higher boost clock, the R7 240 still achieves higher pixel and texture rates: 6.240 GPixel/s versus 4.400 GPixel/s, and 15.60 GTexel/s versus 13.20 GTexel/s. The R7 240 also leads in FP32 compute at 499.2 GFLOPS versus 422.4 GFLOPS. The Vega 3 does support FP16 at 844.8 GFLOPS (2:1 ratio), a feature the R7 240 lacks entirely.

The memory configurations are as different as the chips themselves. The R7 240 has 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 3 has no dedicated memory; its size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all system dependent. The R7 240's memory clock is 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective data rate.

The R7 240 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Vega 3 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 3 has a more modern DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version. The R7 240 offers display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x VGA, while the Vega 3's display outputs are motherboard dependent. The R7 240 is a 168 mm long, 69 mm high single-slot card; the Vega 3 has no physical dimensions since it is an IGP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 240 has an average benchmark score of 5063, which is 795 points higher than the AMD Radeon Vega 3's average of 4268.

Q: How much faster is the R7 240 in the OpenCL head-to-head test?

A: The R7 240 scores 5063 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 3963 for the Vega 3, a 27.8% advantage for the R7 240.

Q: Does the Vega 3 have any benchmark results in the database that the R7 240 lacks?

A: Yes. The Vega 3 has recorded scores in Geekbench Metal (4880) and Geekbench Vulkan (3961), while the R7 240 only has a recorded Geekbench OpenCL result.

Q: What are the memory configurations of these two GPUs?

A: The R7 240 has 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 3 uses system shared memory, with its bandwidth listed as system dependent.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and ROPs?

A: The R7 240 has 320 shading units and 8 ROPs, while the Vega 3 has 192 shading units and 4 ROPs. The R7 240 has double the ROP count and 66.7% more shading units.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The R7 240 has a 30 W TDP, while the Vega 3 has a 15 W TDP. The Vega 3 consumes half the power of the R7 240.