AMD Radeon R7 M340 vs AMD Radeon Vega 3 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data splits this pairing cleanly. The AMD Radeon R7 M340 is the faster GPU in raw compute tasks, winning both recorded head-to-head tests. It leads by 24.5% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 31.1% in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 5063 places it at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon Vega 3 averages 4268, sitting at the 25th percentile. Anyone prioritizing raw graphics throughput should choose the R7 M340.

The Vega 3, however, is not without a reason to exist. It is an integrated processor with a 15 W TDP, no power connectors, and a system-shared memory architecture. The R7 M340 is a discrete mobile part, end-of-life since 2015, while the Vega 3 arrived in late 2019. The Vega 3 belongs in lightweight laptops where power efficiency and simplicity matter more than peak frame rates. The R7 M340 belongs in older notebooks where a dedicated GPU is already installed and the user wants the stronger compute showing.

For a modern thin-and-light system, the Vega 3 is the sensible pick. For raw score hunting on legacy hardware, the R7 M340 wins outright.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M340 scores 4932 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 24.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Vega 3's 3963.

Q: Does the Vega 3 win any benchmark?

A: No. The recorded head-to-head data shows the R7 M340 winning both tests, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, with zero wins for the Vega 3.

Q: What is the power draw of the Vega 3?

A: The Vega 3 has a TDP of 15 W. The R7 M340 has no TDP listed in the database.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The R7 M340 averages 5063 across its recorded tests, while the Vega 3 averages 4268. That is a gap of roughly 18.6% in favor of the R7 M340.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The R7 M340 has 320 shading units, compared to 192 on the Vega 3. The R7 M340 also has 20 texture mapping units and 8 ROPs, versus 12 TMUs and 4 ROPs on the Vega 3.

Q: Is the Vega 3 a discrete graphics card?

A: No. The database classifies it as an IGP with a system-shared memory interface, motherboard-dependent display outputs, and no power connectors. The R7 M340 is a discrete GPU with 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations. The AMD Radeon R7 M340 uses GCN 3.0, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. Its chip is codenamed Meso, and it belongs to the Gem System generation under the R7 M300 family. The AMD Radeon Vega 3 uses GCN 5.0, fabricated on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with a Picasso chip and a Vega IGP generation label.

The manufacturing differences are stark. The R7 M340 packs 1,550 million transistors onto a 125 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The Vega 3 integrates 4,940 million transistors on a 210 mm² die, reaching 23.5 million transistors per square millimeter. That is nearly 3.2 times the transistor count and roughly 1.9 times the density, on a die that is only 1.68 times larger.

Memory architecture separates them further. The R7 M340 uses 2 GB of dedicated DDR3 memory with a 64-bit bus and a bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s. The Vega 3 uses system-shared memory with a system-dependent bandwidth. That means the Vega 3's memory performance is tied to the host system's RAM configuration, while the R7 M340 has a fixed, dedicated pool.

Compute feature sets also differ. The R7 M340 supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Vega 3 supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_1, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Vulkan API version on the Vega 3 is newer, and its DirectX feature level is one step higher.

The FP16 situation is notable. The R7 M340 delivers 653.4 GFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32. The Vega 3 delivers 844.8 GFLOPS of FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it can process half-precision data at twice the rate of full precision. That gives the Vega 3 a 29.3% FP16 advantage despite losing decisively in FP32.

Specification Differences

Clock speeds differ substantially. The R7 M340 has a base clock of 943 MHz and a boost clock of 1021 MHz. The Vega 3 has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 1100 MHz. The Vega 3's boost clock is higher, but its base clock is far lower, reflecting its power-constrained integrated nature.

The memory configuration is a major differentiator. The R7 M340 has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, with 16.00 GB/s of bandwidth and a memory clock of 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The Vega 3 has no dedicated memory: size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as system shared or system dependent.

Pixel and texture rates favor the R7 M340. Its pixel rate is 8.168 GPixel/s versus 4.400 GPixel/s on the Vega 3, a lead of roughly 85.6%. Its texture rate is 20.42 GTexel/s versus 13.20 GTexel/s, a lead of about 54.7%.

Compute throughput follows the same pattern. The R7 M340 reaches 653.4 GFLOPS of FP32, while the Vega 3 reaches 422.4 GFLOPS. That is a 54.7% advantage for the R7 M340, exactly matching its texture rate lead since both scale from the same core count ratio.

The form factor and power profile are completely different. The Vega 3 is an IGP with a 15 W TDP, no power connectors, and a bus interface listed simply as "IGP." The R7 M340 is a discrete PCIe 3.0 x8 card with no TDP listed. Display outputs on the Vega 3 are motherboard dependent, while the R7 M340's display outputs are not listed in the database.

Release timing also differs. The R7 M340 launched on May 4, 2015, while the Vega 3 launched on November 19, 2019. The R7 M340's predecessor is listed as Solar System and its successor as Polaris Mobile. The Vega 3's predecessor is GCN 3.0 IGP and its successor is Vega II IGP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head tests both go to the R7 M340. In Geekbench OpenCL, the R7 M340 scores 4932 against 3963 for the Vega 3, a delta of 24.5%. In Geekbench Vulkan, the R7 M340 scores 5193 against 3961, a delta of 31.1%. The Vulkan gap is the larger of the two, suggesting the R7 M340 benefits more from the low-level API relative to the Vega 3.

The average benchmark score tells a similar story. The R7 M340 averages 5063, while the Vega 3 averages 4268. That is a difference of 795 points, or about 18.6% in favor of the R7 M340. The R7 M340 sits at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, five points above the Vega 3's 25th percentile.

The nearest rival data puts both GPUs in context. The R7 M340 is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon R7 240, which also scores 5063 (0% delta). It edges the AMD FirePro W4170M (5034, 0.6% behind), the AMD Radeon R5 M430 (5018, 0.9% behind), and the AMD Radeon R7 Graphics (4998, 1.3% behind). That means the R7 M340 is right at the top of its immediate performance cluster.

The Vega 3's nearest rivals show a different landscape. It sits within 1.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (4282, 0.3% ahead), the AMD FirePro W2100 (4295, 0.6% ahead), the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (4241, 0.6% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 (4335, 1.5% behind). The inclusion of a modern high-end card in that list is a quirk of the clustering algorithm, but the data shows the Vega 3 is tightly grouped with older mid-range mobile parts.

The R7 M340's wins are consistent across both APIs. Its OpenCL score of 4932 is 24.5% above the Vega 3, and its Vulkan score of 5193 is 31.1% above. The Vulkan delta is particularly notable because the Vega 3 supports a newer Vulkan version (1.3 versus 1.2.170), yet still loses by a wider margin in that test.

The Vega 3's only statistical bright spots are architectural. Its FP16 throughput of 844.8 GFLOPS exceeds the R7 M340's 653.4 GFLOPS, and its boost clock of 1100 MHz is higher than the R7 M340's 1021 MHz. But neither translates into a benchmark win. The R7 M340's larger core configuration, 320 shading units versus 192, and its dedicated memory bandwidth, 16.00 GB/s versus system dependent, prove more decisive in the recorded tests.

The direct comparison is unambiguous: two wins for the R7 M340, zero for the Vega 3, with the largest single margin at 31.1% in Geekbench Vulkan.