AMD Radeon R7 M380 vs AMD Radeon R9 M375 Comparison

The AMD Radeon R9 M375 and AMD Radeon R7 M380 are both mobile graphics processors from the same Tropo chip family, built on the GCN 1.0 architecture and manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. They share identical transistor counts of 1,500 million and a die size of 123 mm², with the same 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. However, the benchmark data reveals a clear performance hierarchy between the two, with the R9 M375 holding a decisive advantage in the single head-to-head test available, despite the R7 M380 offering a larger memory pool. This analysis walks through the measured results, contextualizes them against nearest rivals, and breaks down where each GPU makes sense based strictly on the provided facts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it shows a significant victory for the AMD Radeon R9 M375. The R9 M375 scores 10,457 points, while the AMD Radeon R7 M380 scores 9,313 points. This translates to a delta of 12.3% in favor of the R9 M375, a substantial margin for two GPUs that share the same core configuration and architecture.

This performance gap is largely explained by the clock speed differences between the two chips. The R9 M375 operates at a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1015 MHz, while the R7 M380 runs at a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 915 MHz. The R9 M375’s higher clocks directly feed into its compute throughput: it achieves 1,299.2 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, compared to 1,171.2 GFLOPS for the R7 M380. Similarly, the pixel rate and texture rate favor the R9 M375, with 16.24 GPixel/s versus 14.64 GPixel/s, and 40.60 GTexel/s versus 36.60 GTexel/s, respectively.

While the R7 M380 loses the compute battle, it does have a counterpoint in memory capacity. The R7 M380 ships with 4 GB of DDR3 memory, double the 2 GB found on the R9 M375. Both use a 128-bit memory bus, but the R7 M380’s memory runs at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), yielding a bandwidth of 32.00 GB/s. The R9 M375’s memory runs at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), resulting in 28.80 GB/s. So the R7 M380 has a 3.20 GB/s bandwidth advantage, which could matter in texture-heavy or large-dataset workloads, but it does not compensate for the 12.3% raw computing deficit in the OpenCL benchmark.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the R9 M375’s average benchmark score is 10,070, placing it in the 48th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M (average score 10,043, deltaPct 0.3), the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M (average score 10,013, deltaPct 0.6), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M (average score 9,959, deltaPct 1.1). All three of these are within 1.1% of the R9 M375, showing it sits in a tightly contested performance band. The R9 M375 also leads the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A by a 2% deltaPct, with the GTX 950A scoring 10,273, which is actually higher in raw score but the deltaPct is negative, indicating the R9 M375 is behind that particular rival.

The R7 M380, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 9,313, placing it in the 46th percentile. Its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts or an AMD APU: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (average score 9,302, deltaPct 0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (average score 9,294, deltaPct 0.2), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (average score 9,273, deltaPct 0.4), and the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (average score 9,221, deltaPct 1). These deltas are remarkably small, meaning the R7 M380 is essentially performance-equivalent to a cluster of GPUs that are within 1% of each other. The R9 M375, meanwhile, sits about 7.5% higher in average score than the R7 M380.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon R9 M375 is the faster GPU. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 12.3%, has a higher average benchmark score (10,070 versus 9,313), and ranks in a higher percentile (48th versus 46th). For any workload that relies on raw compute throughput, FP32 performance, or pixel and texture fill rates, the R9 M375 is the clear choice. Its higher clocks across the board — base, boost, and memory — give it a consistent edge that shows up directly in the OpenCL result.

However, the R7 M380 is not without a rationale. Its 4 GB memory capacity is double that of the R9 M375, which can be a decisive factor in scenarios where data sets exceed 2 GB or where application memory footprints are large. The R7 M380 also has slightly higher memory bandwidth at 32.00 GB/s versus 28.80 GB/s, which could help in bandwidth-bound situations. But the benchmark evidence does not show this translating into a compute win; the R7 M380 trails in every measured performance metric except memory size and bandwidth.

For a user who prioritizes maximum performance per the available data, the R9 M375 is the answer. For a user who needs larger framebuffer capacity or is working with memory-intensive workloads that fit within 4 GB, the R7 M380 offers a viable alternative, but it comes with a measurable performance penalty. The verdict is simple: the R9 M375 wins on speed, the R7 M380 wins on capacity.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R9 M375 wins in every category that directly impacts computational speed. It has a higher base clock (1000 MHz versus 900 MHz) and boost clock (1015 MHz versus 915 MHz), leading to superior FP32 throughput of 1,299.2 GFLOPS compared to 1,171.2 GFLOPS. Its pixel rate of 16.24 GPixel/s outpaces the R7 M380’s 14.64 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 40.60 GTexel/s beats the R7 M380’s 36.60 GTexel/s. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, it scores 12.3% higher. These wins make it the better option for general-purpose compute, gaming at lower resolutions where fill rate matters, and any application that scales with shading unit clock speed.

The AMD Radeon R7 M380 wins in memory capacity and bandwidth. It offers 4 GB of DDR3 memory versus the R9 M375’s 2 GB, which is a doubling of capacity. Its memory clock of 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) is higher than the R9 M375’s 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), resulting in a bandwidth of 32.00 GB/s versus 28.80 GB/s. This makes the R7 M380 better suited for workloads that store large textures, datasets, or buffers in VRAM, where the R9 M375 might hit a capacity wall. However, this advantage does not overcome the compute deficit in the measured benchmark.

Neither GPU has a win in the Vulkan benchmark category, as only the R9 M375 has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 9,682; the R7 M380 has no Vulkan result listed. Both support the same API set — DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170 — so software compatibility is identical. The R9 M375 also holds the edge in the nearest-rival comparison, with its closest competitors being within 1.1% deltaPct, whereas the R7 M380’s closest rivals are within 1%, but at a lower absolute performance level.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU performs better in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375 performs significantly better, scoring 10,457 points compared to the AMD Radeon R7 M380’s 9,313 points. This represents a 12.3% performance advantage for the R9 M375.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in terms of memory capacity?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M380 has twice the memory capacity of the R9 M375, offering 4 GB of DDR3 memory versus 2 GB. However, the R9 M375 has a higher memory clock speed in terms of effective data rate, though the R7 M380 achieves higher overall bandwidth.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M380 has a memory bandwidth of 32.00 GB/s, while the AMD Radeon R9 M375 has a memory bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. The R7 M380 leads by 3.20 GB/s, which is a 11.1% advantage in this specific metric.

Q: Are these GPUs based on the same underlying chip?

A: Yes, both the AMD Radeon R9 M375 and the AMD Radeon R7 M380 use the Tropo chip, built on the GCN 1.0 architecture. They share the same 1,500 million transistors, 123 mm² die size, and identical core configurations of 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs.

Q: What are the core clock speeds for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1015 MHz. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 has a lower base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 915 MHz.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score and percentile ranking?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375 has a higher average benchmark score of 10,070, placing it in the 48th percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 has an average score of 9,313, placing it in the 46th percentile.

Architecture Differences

Despite being built on the same Tropo chip and GCN 1.0 architecture, the two GPUs are configured differently in terms of clock speeds and memory. The R9 M375 runs its compute cores at 1000 MHz base and 1015 MHz boost, while the R7 M380 runs at 900 MHz base and 915 MHz boost. This 100 MHz base clock difference and 100 MHz boost clock difference directly contribute to the R9 M375’s higher FP32 performance of 1,299.2 GFLOPS versus 1,171.2 GFLOPS.

The memory subsystems also differ. The R9 M375 uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 900 MHz and an effective data rate of 1800 Mbps, yielding 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The R7 M380 uses 4 GB of DDR3 memory on the same 128-bit bus, but with a memory clock of 1000 MHz and an effective data rate of 2 Gbps, yielding 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The R7 M380’s memory controller accesses a larger memory pool at a higher clock speed, which explains its bandwidth advantage.

Both GPUs share identical architectural features: the same 1,500 million transistor count, 123 mm² die size, and 12.2M transistors per mm² density. They both support the same API set, including DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Neither has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, and neither has a listed FP16 performance figure. They share the same production status (End-of-life), release date of 2015-05-04, predecessor (Solar System), and successor (Polaris Mobile). The architecture is fundamentally the same; only the bins and memory configurations differ.

Specification Differences

The core specification differences between the AMD Radeon R9 M375 and AMD Radeon R7 M380 are concentrated in clock speeds, memory configuration, and resulting compute rates. The R9 M375 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and boost clock of 1015 MHz, while the R7 M380 has a base clock of 900 MHz and boost clock of 915 MHz. The R9 M375’s memory runs at 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective data rate, while the R7 M380’s memory runs at 1000 MHz with 2 Gbps effective data rate.

Memory size and bandwidth differ: the R9 M375 has 2 GB of DDR3 memory with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth, while the R7 M380 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory with 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The bus width is the same at 128 bits for both. The R9 M375 achieves a pixel rate of 16.24 GPixel/s and texture rate of 40.60 GTexel/s, while the R7 M380 achieves 14.64 GPixel/s and 36.60 GTexel/s, respectively. FP32 performance is 1,299.2 GFLOPS for the R9 M375 and 1,171.2 GFLOPS for the R7 M380.

Identical specifications include core counts (640 shading units, 40 TMUs, 16 ROPs), transistor count (1,500 million), die size (123 mm²), process node (28 nm), foundry (TSMC), bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x16), and API support (DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.2.170). Neither has a listed TDP, slot width, power connectors, suggested PSU, display outputs, or dimensions. Both are end-of-life products with the same release date and belong to the Gem System generation, with the R9 M375 in the R9 M300 series and the R7 M380 in the R7 M300 series.