AMD Radeon R7 M340 vs AMD Radeon R7 M445 Comparison

# AMD Radeon R7 M445 vs AMD Radeon R7 M340

The AMD Radeon R7 M445 and AMD Radeon R7 M340 are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions built on the same Meso chip and GCN 3.0 architecture, but they target different segments of the laptop market. The M445 is the newer part, released in May 2016, while the M340 arrived a year earlier in May 2015. Despite sharing identical core configurations, the two GPUs diverge sharply in memory technology, clock speeds, and resulting benchmark performance, with the M445 holding a clear edge in the only direct head-to-head comparison available.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data presents a straightforward picture: the AMD Radeon R7 M445 wins the only shared test, Geekbench OpenCL, with a score of 5358 against the M340’s 4932, a delta of 8.6%. This makes the M445 the stronger choice for compute-oriented workloads that leverage OpenCL, such as general-purpose GPU acceleration in productivity applications or light content creation tasks.

The AMD Radeon R7 M340, however, has a notable advantage in its own right: it is the only one of the two with a Geekbench Vulkan score, posting 5193. This indicates that the M340 can handle Vulkan-based workloads, while the M445 has no recorded Vulkan benchmark result in the data. For users running Vulkan-capable games or applications, the M340 is the only option with verified performance in this API.

In terms of overall positioning, the M445 sits at the 31st percentile against all GPUs, while the M340 sits at the 30th percentile. This is a narrow gap, but it reflects the M445’s higher average benchmark score of 5358 versus the M340’s 5063. The M445 also edges out its nearest rivals — the Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370, -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5322, +0.7%), NVIDIA GeForce 930A (5317, +0.8%), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (5308, +0.9%) — by a whisker. The M340, by contrast, sits exactly level with the AMD Radeon R7 240 (5063, 0% delta) and slightly ahead of the AMD FirePro W4170M (5034, +0.6%), AMD Radeon R5 M430 (5018, +0.9%), and AMD Radeon R7 Graphics (4998, +1.3%).

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental architecture: GCN 3.0, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die and a transistor density of 12.4M per mm². The chip is Meso for both, and they belong to the same "Gem System" generation family — the M445 under the R7 M400 series and the M340 under the R7 M300 series. Both have identical compute resources: 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation units. Neither has ray tracing or tensor cores.

The critical differences lie in clocks and memory. The M340 runs at a higher base clock of 943 MHz and a boost clock of 1021 MHz, compared to the M445’s 780 MHz base and 920 MHz boost. This gives the M340 higher theoretical peak rates: 8.168 GPixel/s pixel rate, 20.42 GTexel/s texture rate, and 653.4 GFLOPS FP32 (and the same FP16 figure, at 1:1 ratio). The M445, despite lower clocks, counters with faster memory: 4 GB of GDDR5 at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) on a 64-bit bus, yielding 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The M340 uses 2 GB of DDR3 at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) on the same 64-bit bus, resulting in only 16.00 GB/s bandwidth — exactly half.

This creates a classic trade-off: the M340 has higher raw compute throughput on paper, but the M445 has double the memory bandwidth and double the memory capacity. The M445’s pixel rate is 7.360 GPixel/s and texture rate is 18.40 GTexel/s, both lower than the M340’s figures, yet the M445 still wins the OpenCL benchmark decisively. This suggests that memory bandwidth is the limiting factor in real-world compute workloads, outweighing the M340’s clock advantage.

Other shared specifications include PCIe 3.0 x8 bus interface, DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170 support. The M445 is listed as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with portable-device-dependent display outputs, while the M340’s slot width and display outputs are not specified. Both are end-of-life products, with the predecessor listed as "Solar System" and the successor as "Polaris Mobile" for both.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and the AMD Radeon R7 M445 wins it with a score of 5358 against the M340’s 4932, a delta of 8.6%. This is a meaningful margin, especially given that the M340 has a 21% higher base clock (943 MHz vs 780 MHz) and an 11% higher boost clock (1021 MHz vs 920 MHz). The M340’s theoretical FP32 peak of 653.4 GFLOPS is 11% higher than the M445’s 588.8 GFLOPS, yet the M445 still comes out ahead in the actual workload.

The explanation lies in memory. The M445’s GDDR5 at 32.00 GB/s delivers exactly double the bandwidth of the M340’s DDR3 at 16.00 GB/s. In OpenCL compute tasks that are memory-bound, this bandwidth advantage more than compensates for the M340’s higher shader throughput. The M445 also has 4 GB of memory versus 2 GB, which can reduce memory swapping and improve performance in larger datasets.

The M340 does have a separate Vulkan score of 5193, which is higher than its own OpenCL score of 4932. However, there is no Vulkan score for the M445, so a direct comparison in that API is impossible. The M340’s Vulkan result suggests that its architecture handles Vulkan efficiently, but without a corresponding M445 figure, the relative Vulkan performance between the two remains unknown.

Looking at the rivals, the M445’s OpenCL score of 5358 places it just 0.2% behind the Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370) and slightly ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5322, +0.7%), GeForce 930A (5317, +0.8%), and GeForce GTX 980M (5308, +0.9%). The M340’s average score of 5063 puts it level with the AMD Radeon R7 240 (5063, 0%) and just ahead of the FirePro W4170M (5034, +0.6%), Radeon R5 M430 (5018, +0.9%), and Radeon R7 Graphics (4998, +1.3%). These rival comparisons underscore that the M445 competes with a slightly higher tier of integrated and entry-level discrete GPUs, while the M340 sits alongside older AMD parts.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M445, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 5358 versus the M340’s 4932, an 8.6% advantage.

Q: Why does the M340 have higher clock speeds but lose the benchmark?

A: The M340 runs at 943 MHz base and 1021 MHz boost, versus the M445’s 780 MHz and 920 MHz. However, the M445 has GDDR5 memory at 32.00 GB/s bandwidth, exactly double the M340’s DDR3 at 16.00 GB/s, which is the decisive factor in the OpenCL workload.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The M340 additionally has a recorded Geekbench Vulkan score of 5193, while the M445 has no Vulkan benchmark result in the data.

Q: How do these GPUs compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The M445’s average score of 5358 is 0.2% behind the Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370) and 0.7-0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5322), GeForce 930A (5317), and GeForce GTX 980M (5308). The M340’s average of 5063 is level with the AMD Radeon R7 240 and 0.6-1.3% ahead of the FirePro W4170M (5034), Radeon R5 M430 (5018), and Radeon R7 Graphics (4998).

Q: What are the memory specifications of each GPU?

A: The M445 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus with 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The M340 has 2 GB of DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus with 16.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are listed as end-of-life products. The M445 was released on May 14, 2016, and the M340 on May 4, 2015. Both share the same predecessor ("Solar System") and successor ("Polaris Mobile").

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for most use cases: the AMD Radeon R7 M445. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 5358 is 8.6% higher than the M340’s 4932, and it does so with lower clock speeds, proving that its double memory bandwidth (32.00 GB/s vs 16.00 GB/s) and double memory capacity (4 GB vs 2 GB) are more valuable than raw shader throughput in real compute workloads. The M445 also sits at a slightly higher overall percentile (31st vs 30th) and has a higher average benchmark score (5358 vs 5063).

The AMD Radeon R7 M340, however, is not without merit. Its higher clocks (943 MHz base, 1021 MHz boost) give it superior theoretical peak rates — 653.4 GFLOPS FP32, 20.42 GTexel/s texture rate, and 8.168 GPixel/s pixel rate — which could translate to better performance in purely shader-bound scenarios that do not stress memory bandwidth. Its Vulkan score of 5193 is also a point in its favor, though the lack of a comparable M445 Vulkan result prevents a direct assessment.

For users choosing between these two in the used or legacy laptop market, the M445 is the safer bet for compute-heavy applications, offering a measurable performance lead in the one benchmark where both are tested. The M340’s only clear advantage is its Vulkan support, which may matter in niche cases. Given that both are end-of-life products with identical architecture and core counts, the M445’s superior memory subsystem makes it the more capable overall GPU, while the M340 remains a reasonable fallback for those who prioritize Vulkan compatibility or find it in a better-equipped system.