AMD Radeon R7 M340 vs NVIDIA GeForce 940MX Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M340 and NVIDIA GeForce 940MX are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from the 28 nm era, but the benchmark data reveals a split decision: the R7 M340 takes the Vulkan crown while the 940MX edges out a narrow OpenCL victory. With one win apiece in the head-to-head tests, the choice between these two comes down to which API workload matters more, as the underlying architectures and memory subsystems diverge sharply.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result in the dataset is the Vulkan gap. The AMD Radeon R7 M340 scores 5193 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX manages only 4749. That is a 9.3% advantage for the AMD part, and it is the single largest performance delta between the two cards in any test. This is not a marginal difference; it represents a clear generational software advantage for AMD’s GCN 3.0 architecture in Vulkan workloads, likely due to driver maturity and hardware feature support.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the tables turn, but only slightly. The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX posts a score of 4939, narrowly beating the AMD Radeon R7 M340’s 4932. The delta here is a razor-thin 0.1%, which is effectively a statistical tie. While NVIDIA can claim the win on the leaderboard, the practical performance difference is negligible, and any real-world OpenCL application would struggle to distinguish between the two.

Looking at the broader benchmark averages, the AMD Radeon R7 M340 holds a 4.5% advantage (5063 versus 4844). This average is pulled up significantly by the Vulkan result, but it also places the AMD card at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, versus the 940MX’s 28th percentile. The nearest rival data reinforces this positioning: the R7 M340 matches the AMD Radeon R7 240 exactly (0% delta), while the 940MX trails the GeForce GTX 560M by 0.2%. The 940MX also sits 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R6 M255DX, showing that its OpenCL win does not translate into overall average superiority.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural schools. The AMD Radeon R7 M340 is built on GCN 3.0, using the Meso chip, while the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX employs Maxwell, built around the GM107 die. Both are fabricated on TSMC’s 28 nm process, but the similarities end there. The NVIDIA chip is physically larger at 148 mm² and packs 1,870 million transistors, compared to the AMD’s 125 mm² and 1,550 million. Transistor density is close, with NVIDIA at 12.6M per mm² and AMD at 12.4M per mm², so the size difference comes down to raw transistor count.

The compute resources heavily favor NVIDIA. The GeForce 940MX fields 512 shading units and 32 texture mapping units, against the R7 M340’s 320 shaders and 20 TMUs. Both have 8 ROPs. This hardware advantage translates directly into peak throughput figures: the 940MX delivers 881.7 GFLOPS of FP32 performance and a 27.55 GTexel/s texture rate, while the R7 M340 offers 653.4 GFLOPS and 20.42 GTexel/s. The AMD card’s pixel rate is actually higher at 8.168 GPixel/s versus 6.888 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, despite the equal ROP count, because of its higher clocks.

Memory is another major divergence. The 940MX uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 40.10 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 M340 also has 2 GB, but it is DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus, resulting in just 16.00 GB/s — less than half the NVIDIA’s bandwidth. Clock speeds differ too: the AMD chip runs at a 943 MHz base and 1021 MHz boost, while the NVIDIA chip is clocked lower at 795 MHz base and 861 MHz boost, but compensates with faster memory and more shaders.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R7 M340 is the clear winner in Vulkan-based applications and games. Its 9.3% lead in that benchmark suggests that titles or workloads using Vulkan will see a tangible performance benefit on the AMD side. The higher pixel rate also hints at an advantage in fill-rate-bound scenarios, where the R7 M340’s 8.168 GPixel/s can outperform the 940MX’s 6.888 GPixel/s, even with identical ROP counts. For users running modern Vulkan titles, the R7 M340 is the safer bet.

The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX wins in OpenCL, though by a margin so small it is almost meaningless. Its 0.1% lead in that single test is within run-to-run variance. However, the NVIDIA card’s real strengths lie elsewhere: its 40.10 GB/s memory bandwidth is a massive 2.5x advantage over AMD’s 16.00 GB/s, which matters in memory-heavy workloads like high-resolution textures or compute tasks that stream data. The 940MX also has 60% more shading units (512 versus 320) and 60% more TMUs (32 versus 20), giving it a theoretical edge in shader-bound and texture-bound operations. Its FP32 output of 881.7 GFLOPS is 35% higher than the AMD’s 653.4 GFLOPS.

The AMD card also wins on average benchmark score, 5063 versus 4844, and holds a higher percentile ranking (30th versus 28th). For users who care about overall synthetic performance, the R7 M340 is the better pick. The 940MX, however, has a lower TDP of 23 W (the AMD TDP is not listed), which could make it more suitable for thin-and-light laptops where thermal limits are strict.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split: the AMD Radeon R7 M340 is the better choice for Vulkan-centric workloads and overall average performance, while the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX wins in OpenCL and offers superior raw compute and memory bandwidth. If a user’s primary applications use Vulkan, the R7 M340’s 9.3% lead is decisive. For OpenCL compute or tasks that stress memory bandwidth, the 940MX is the pick, despite its narrow benchmark win.

Given the 940MX’s 0.1% OpenCL edge being negligible, the AMD card’s 9.3% Vulkan advantage and higher average score (5063 versus 4844) make it the stronger overall performer. The R7 M340 also has a higher pixel rate, which could benefit certain rendering paths. However, the 940MX’s 2.5x memory bandwidth advantage and 35% higher FP32 throughput are not trivial, and in scenarios where those resources are fully utilized, the NVIDIA card will pull ahead even if synthetic averages say otherwise.

Neither card is a modern powerhouse — both sit in the bottom 30% of all GPUs — but for their era, the R7 M340 offers a more balanced package with a clear software win in Vulkan. The 940MX counters with brute-force compute resources that remain relevant for specific tasks. Choose the R7 M340 for Vulkan gaming and higher average scores; choose the 940MX for OpenCL compute and bandwidth-sensitive workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M340 scores 5063 on average, while the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX scores 4844, giving AMD a 4.5% advantage.

Q: How big is the Vulkan performance gap between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M340 scores 5193 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 4749 for the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, a 9.3% lead for AMD.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX has 40.10 GB/s of GDDR5 bandwidth, while the AMD Radeon R7 M340 has 16.00 GB/s of DDR3 bandwidth — a 2.5x advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX has 512 shading units, compared to 320 on the AMD Radeon R7 M340, a 60% increase for NVIDIA.

Q: Are both GPUs the same process node?

A: Yes, both are fabricated on TSMC’s 28 nm process, but the NVIDIA chip is larger at 148 mm² versus AMD’s 125 mm².

Q: What is the OpenCL score difference?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 940MX scores 4939 in Geekbench OpenCL, marginally ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 M340’s 4932, a 0.1% difference.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon R7 M340 | NVIDIA GeForce 940MX |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Chip | Meso | GM107 |

| Architecture | GCN 3.0 | Maxwell |

| Transistors | 1,550 million | 1,870 million |

| Die Size | 125 mm² | 148 mm² |

| Base Clock | 943 MHz | 795 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1021 MHz | 861 MHz |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 16.00 GB/s | 40.10 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 320 | 512 |

| TMUs | 20 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 8.168 GPixel/s | 6.888 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 20.42 GTexel/s | 27.55 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 653.4 GFLOPS | 881.7 GFLOPS |

| TDP | Not listed | 23 W |

| Slot Width | Not listed | MXM Module |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |