AMD Radeon R7 M360 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M360 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 represent two very different approaches to graphics hardware from different eras, and the benchmark data shows just how close their real-world performance lands despite their architectural chasms. The GTS 450, a desktop card from 2010, edges out the mobile-oriented R7 M360 from 2015 in the one head-to-head test available, but the margins are slim enough that the choice between them depends heavily on context and software support. The average benchmark scores place them nearly on top of each other, with the GTS 450 at 4893 and the R7 M360 at 4931, a difference of less than one percent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it favors the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450. The GTS 450 scores 4893, while the AMD Radeon R7 M360 scores 4638. That is a delta of -5.2% for the AMD part, meaning the NVIDIA card is roughly 5% faster in this specific compute workload. In practical terms, a 5% difference in OpenCL performance is noticeable in GPU-accelerated applications that rely heavily on this API, but it is not a generational leap; it is the kind of margin that can be flipped by driver updates or specific workload optimizations.

Looking at the broader picture, the average benchmark score for the R7 M360 is 4931, which is actually higher than the GTS 450's 4893 average. This is because the R7 M360 has a second benchmark result—a Geekbench Vulkan score of 5223—that pulls its average up. The GTS 450 has no Vulkan result listed, so its average is derived solely from the OpenCL test. This means the R7 M360's lead in average score is entirely attributable to its Vulkan performance, which is a modern API the older NVIDIA card simply does not support.

When placed against their nearest rivals, both cards sit in a tight cluster. The R7 M360's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon R7 M265, which scores 4929, a delta of 0%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, a modern card, scores 4901, which is 0.6% higher than the R7 M360—a surprisingly small margin that highlights how much the R7 M360 punches above its weight in synthetic tests. For the GTS 450, the nearest rival is the AMD FirePro W5130M at 4904, a 0.2% difference, and the RTX 5060 Ti at 4901, also a 0.2% difference. The GTS 450 trails the AMD Radeon R7 M265 by 0.7% (4929 vs 4893). The data shows both cards are effectively in the same performance tier, with the GTS 450 having a slight edge in OpenCL and the R7 M360 having a significant advantage in Vulkan.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 wins decisively in the OpenCL compute test. This is a legacy API that many older professional and scientific applications still use, and the GTS 450's 5.2% lead over the R7 M360 suggests it is the better choice for anyone running software that relies on OpenCL for GPU acceleration. The GTS 450 also has a higher memory bandwidth—57.73 GB/s compared to the R7 M360's 14.40 GB/s—which, while not directly benchmarked here, historically favors the NVIDIA card in memory-bandwidth-bound tasks like texture-heavy rendering or certain filtering operations.

The AMD Radeon R7 M360 wins in modern API support, specifically Vulkan. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 5223 is the highest single benchmark result in this comparison, and it demonstrates that the card can leverage modern graphics APIs to outperform its older rival. The R7 M360 also has a higher average benchmark score (4931 vs 4893), which is an aggregate indicator of its broader capability across multiple test types. For anyone running Vulkan-based games or compute workloads, the R7 M360 is the clear winner, as the GTS 450 has no Vulkan support at all.

In terms of raw theoretical throughput, the R7 M360 leads in shader compute: it delivers 864.0 GFLOPS of FP32 performance versus the GTS 450's 601.3 GFLOPS. The R7 M360 also has a higher pixel rate (9.000 GPixel/s vs 6.264 GPixel/s) and a slightly higher texture rate (27.00 GTexel/s vs 25.06 GTexel/s). These numbers suggest that in fill-rate-bound scenarios—such as high-resolution rendering with simple shaders—the AMD card should have an advantage, even if the OpenCL benchmark does not fully reflect it. The GTS 450 counters with double the ROP count (16 vs 8) and a wider memory bus (128-bit vs 64-bit), which historically helps in certain post-processing and anti-aliasing workloads.

The Verdict

From the data, the choice splits cleanly along API lines. If the workload is anchored to OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 is the safer pick. Its 5.2% lead in the head-to-head OpenCL test is the only direct performance comparison available, and it is the kind of margin that matters in compute-heavy tasks where every bit of throughput counts. The GTS 450 also benefits from a higher memory bandwidth (57.73 GB/s vs 14.40 GB/s), which is a significant advantage in many real-world OpenCL applications that stream large datasets.

If the workload uses Vulkan, or if future compatibility with modern APIs is a priority, the AMD Radeon R7 M360 is the only option. The GTS 450 has no Vulkan support, while the R7 M360 scores 5223 in the Vulkan test—a result that is 6.7% higher than the GTS 450's OpenCL score. The R7 M360 also has a higher average benchmark score (4931 vs 4893) and supports DirectX 12 (12_0) versus the GTS 450's DirectX 12 (11_0), which indicates better modern feature support.

For a builder today, neither card is a performance powerhouse—both sit near the 28th-29th percentile of all GPUs. But the R7 M360 is the more future-proof choice due to its Vulkan and DirectX 12_0 support, while the GTS 450 is the legacy workhorse for older compute APIs. The R7 M360 also has a lower power draw profile (no TDP listed vs the GTS 450's 106 W), making it more suitable for compact or power-sensitive builds, though the GTS 450's 106 W TDP is far from extreme.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 scores 4893 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R7 M360 scores 4638. The GTS 450 leads by 5.2%.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 support Vulkan?

A: No. The GTS 450 has no Vulkan API support listed. The AMD Radeon R7 M360 supports Vulkan 1.2.170 and scores 5223 in the Geekbench Vulkan test.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M360 has an average benchmark score of 4931, which is 0.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450's average of 4893.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 has 57.73 GB/s of bandwidth, while the AMD Radeon R7 M360 has 14.40 GB/s. The GTS 450's bandwidth is 4x higher.

Q: What is the difference in their DirectX support?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M360 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 supports DirectX 12 (11_0). The AMD card has a more recent feature level.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M360 has 384 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 has 192. The AMD card has double the shader count.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon R7 M360 is built on the GCN 3.0 architecture using the Meso chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 uses the Fermi architecture with the GF106 chip, fabricated on a much older 40 nm process, also at TSMC. This process difference is significant: the R7 M360 packs 1,550 million transistors into a 125 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.4M per mm². The GTS 450 has fewer transistors (1,170 million) but a much larger die at 238 mm², resulting in a density of just 4.9M per mm². The R7 M360 is therefore more than twice as dense per square millimeter.

The R7 M360 supports a broader set of modern APIs: DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTS 450 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support. The R7 M360 also has a higher base clock (1100 MHz) and boost clock (1125 MHz), whereas the GTS 450 has no base or boost clock listed in the data. Memory types differ as well: the R7 M360 uses DDR3 at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), while the GTS 450 uses GDDR5 at 902 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective). The GTS 450's memory runs at a higher effective speed, which contributes to its much higher bandwidth.

Feature-wise, the R7 M360 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The GTS 450 has 192 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The AMD card has more shaders, while the NVIDIA card has more texture units and ROPs. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The R7 M360 supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 (both 864.0 GFLOPS), while the GTS 450 has no FP16 support listed.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification, reflecting their different design goals and eras.

• Process Node: AMD R7 M360 uses 28 nm; NVIDIA GTS 450 uses 40 nm.
• Transistors: AMD R7 M360 has 1,550 million; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 1,170 million.
• Die Size: AMD R7 M360 is 125 mm²; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 238 mm².
• Transistor Density: AMD R7 M360 has 12.4M / mm²; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 4.9M / mm².
• Memory Size: AMD R7 M360 has 2 GB; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 1024 MB.
• Memory Type: AMD R7 M360 uses DDR3; NVIDIA GTS 450 uses GDDR5.
• Memory Bus Width: AMD R7 M360 is 64-bit; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 128-bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: AMD R7 M360 has 14.40 GB/s; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 57.73 GB/s.
• Shading Units: AMD R7 M360 has 384; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 192.
• TMUs: AMD R7 M360 has 24; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 32.
• ROPs: AMD R7 M360 has 8; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 16.
• Pixel Rate: AMD R7 M360 is 9.000 GPixel/s; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 6.264 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: AMD R7 M360 is 27.00 GTexel/s; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 25.06 GTexel/s.
• FP32: AMD R7 M360 is 864.0 GFLOPS; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 601.3 GFLOPS.
• TDP: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 106 W.
• Power Connectors: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 requires 1x 6-pin.
• Suggested PSU: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 requires 300 W.
• Bus Interface: AMD R7 M360 is PCIe 3.0 x8; NVIDIA GTS 450 is PCIe 2.0 x16.
• Display Outputs: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a.
• Slot Width: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 is dual-slot.
• Dimensions: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 is 210 mm long and 111 mm high.
• DirectX Version: AMD R7 M360 supports 12 (12_0); NVIDIA GTS 450 supports 12 (11_0).
• Vulkan Version: AMD R7 M360 supports 1.2.170; NVIDIA GTS 450 has no Vulkan support.
• Release Date: AMD R7 M360 launched May 2015; NVIDIA GTS 450 launched September 2010.
• Launch MSRP: AMD R7 M360 has none listed; NVIDIA GTS 450 launched at 129 USD.