AMD Radeon R7 M340 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a stark contrast between these two mobile graphics processors. In the two directly comparable tests, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M dominates the AMD Radeon R7 M340, winning both head-to-head matchups without a single victory for the AMD part.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 970M scores 18,946 against the R7 M340's 4,932, a delta of -74% from the AMD card's perspective. This means the NVIDIA solution delivers roughly four times the compute throughput in this workload. The Geekbench Vulkan test tells a similar story: 18,292 for the GTX 970M versus 5,193 for the R7 M340, a -71.6% delta. Both results place the NVIDIA card in a completely different performance tier.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this gap. The GTX 970M's average of 4,628 sits slightly below its individual test scores because its benchmark suite includes several Passmark tests (DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute) that pull the average down. The R7 M340's average of 5,063 is actually higher than its Geekbench-only scores might suggest, but this is a quirk of the database's averaging methodology across different test sets. The percentile rankings are closer than the raw scores imply: the GTX 970M sits at the 27th percentile of all GPUs, while the R7 M340 sits at the 30th percentile. This counterintuitive result occurs because the GTX 970M's broader test suite includes older DirectX workloads where its scores are relatively modest.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M wins decisively with a score of 18,946 versus the AMD Radeon R7 M340's 4,932, a 74% advantage.

Q: How do these cards compare in Vulkan compute workloads?

A: The GTX 970M scores 18,292 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the R7 M340 scores 5,193, giving NVIDIA a 71.6% lead.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M340 has an average benchmark score of 5,063, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M averages 4,628. The R7 M340's higher average reflects its limited test set, not superior real-world performance.

Q: Which card has better percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M340 ranks at the 30th percentile, slightly ahead of the GTX 970M's 27th percentile, despite losing every head-to-head tests by wide margins.

Q: Are there benchmark tests where the R7 M340 performs competitively?

A: No, the R7 M340 loses both head-to-head matchups in the database (Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan), with zero wins recorded in the head-to-head comparison.

Q: What do the nearest rival comparisons reveal about each card's positioning?

A: The R7 M340's closest rival is the AMD Radeon R7 240 with an identical average score of 5,063 and 0% delta, suggesting it performs at entry-level discrete GPU levels. The GTX 970M's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M3000M at 4,621 (0.2% delta), placing it in a more capable performance tier.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is substantial. The AMD Radeon R7 M340 is built on the Meso chip using Graphics Core Next 3.0 architecture, part of the Gem System R7 M300 generation. It utilizes 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, produced on TSMC's 28 nm process, yielding a transistor density of 12.4 million transistors per square millimeter.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M employs the GM204 chip with Maxwell 2.0 architecture, belonging to the GeForce 900M generation. This is a dramatically larger silicon: 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, also on TSMC's 28 nm process, with a transistor density of 13.1 million per square millimeter. The GTX 970M packs more than three times the transistor count and over three times the die area of the R7 M340.

The compute resources differ accordingly. The R7 M340 offers 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The GTX 970M provides 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, quadrupling the shading units and TMU count while sextupling the ROP count. The pixel rate of 49.82 GPixel/s for the GTX 970M dwarfs the R7 M340's 8.168 GPixel/s, and the texture rate of 83.04 GTexel/s versus 20.42 GTexel/s shows similar scaling.

Floating-point throughput follows the same pattern. The GTX 970M delivers 2.657 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the R7 M340 manages 653.4 GFLOPS. The AMD card does offer FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (653.4 GFLOPS), while the NVIDIA card has no listed FP16 capability in the database. API support shows the GTX 970M with DirectX 12_1 (feature level 12_1) against the R7 M340's DirectX 12_0, and Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.2.170, though both support OpenGL 4.6.

Specification Differences

The memory subsystems present a clear separation in capability. The R7 M340 uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering 16.00 GB/s of bandwidth at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The GTX 970M uses 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus, achieving 120.3 GB/s at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective). This is a 7.5x bandwidth advantage for NVIDIA, which matters significantly for texture-heavy workloads and higher resolutions.

Clock speeds are comparable at the core level. The R7 M340 runs at 943 MHz base and 1021 MHz boost, while the GTX 970M runs at 924 MHz base and 1038 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card's slightly higher boost clock (17 MHz more) barely offsets its lower base clock (19 MHz less), so the performance gap comes almost entirely from the massive differences in compute units and memory bandwidth.

The bus interface differs notably: the R7 M340 uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the GTX 970M uses MXM-B (3.0), reflecting its modular MXM Module form factor with portable device dependent display outputs and no power connectors listed. The AMD card lacks slot width, power connector, and display output data in the database. The GTX 970M was released on October 6, 2014, while the R7 M340 followed on May 4, 2015. Both are end-of-life products, with the AMD card's predecessor being the Solar System series and successor the Polaris Mobile, while the GTX 970M's predecessor is GeForce 800M and successor is GeForce 10 Mobile.

The Verdict

The data points to an unambiguous conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M is the overwhelmingly faster GPU. It wins both head-to-head benchmark matchups by margins of 71.6% to 74%, offers 7.5x the memory bandwidth, quadruple the shading units, and six times the ROP count. The GTX 970M's 2.657 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is roughly four times the R7 M340's 653.4 GFLOPS.

However, the percentile rankings complicate the narrative. The R7 M340's 30th percentile versus the GTX 970M's 27th percentile suggests that in the broader GPU landscape, the AMD card's limited benchmark set (only two Geekbench tests) may inflate its relative standing. The GTX 970M's Passmark results, including 5,704 in G3D and 2,289 in GPU compute, indicate a more well-rounded but still mid-range performer.

For users choosing between these two, the GTX 970M is the clear choice for any compute-intensive task, 3D rendering, or gaming workload. The R7 M340 might suit basic display output and light compute duties where its lower power envelope (though TDP is not listed in the database) and smaller die could be advantageous in thin-and-light laptops. But from a pure performance standpoint, the NVIDIA card's dominance is absolute.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M wins in every measurable category in the head-to-head comparison. In Geekbench OpenCL, its 18,946 score represents a 74% advantage, making it the obvious choice for OpenCL compute workloads. In Geekbench Vulkan, the 71.6% lead (18,292 versus 5,193) cements its position for Vulkan-based applications. The card's 120.3 GB/s memory bandwidth versus 16.00 GB/s, its 49.82 GPixel/s pixel rate versus 8.168 GPixel/s, and its 83.04 GTexel/s texture rate versus 20.42 GTexel/s all point to superior performance in bandwidth-sensitive scenarios.

The AMD Radeon R7 M340's only advantages are relative. Its higher average benchmark score (5,063 versus 4,628) and higher percentile ranking (30th versus 27th) reflect the limited scope of its recorded tests rather than genuine performance superiority. The card's FP16 support at 1:1 ratio (653.4 GFLOPS) gives it a capability the GTX 970M lacks entirely, which could matter for specific compute applications that leverage half-precision arithmetic. Its smaller die (125 mm² versus 398 mm²) and lower transistor count (1,550 million versus 5,200 million) suggest potentially lower power draw, though TDP figures are not recorded in the database.

For gaming and general 3D workloads, the GTX 970M's Passmark scores tell the story: 5,704 in G3D, 99 in DirectX 9, 42 in DirectX 11, 28 in DirectX 10, and 24 in DirectX 12. These results indicate the card handles older DirectX titles comfortably while struggling with newer API workloads. The R7 M340's lack of Passmark data means no direct comparison is possible for these specific workloads, but the Geekbench results provide sufficient evidence of the NVIDIA card's overall superiority. The GTX 970M is the pick for anyone needing real graphics performance; the R7 M340 only makes sense for the most basic of tasks.