AMD Radeon R7 M380 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M380 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 are separated by more than five years of GPU architecture, yet their benchmark scores land them in the same competitive tier. Both cards sit at the 46th percentile of all GPUs, with the R7 M380 scoring 9,313 and the GTX 465 scoring 9,294 in Geekbench OpenCL. The data shows a statistical dead heat, with the AMD part holding a 0.2% edge, a margin that falls well within normal run-to-run variance for any benchmark. This head-to-head comparison reveals how a modern entry-level mobile chip can match a former desktop flagship from an earlier era.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only shared benchmark between these two cards is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are remarkably close. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 produces a score of 9,313, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 trails slightly at 9,294, giving the AMD part a 0.2% advantage. This translates to a difference of just 19 points, which is negligible in real-world terms. When placed against the broader field of rivals, both cards perform nearly identically: the GTX 465 is 0.1% behind the GTX 850M (9,302), while the R7 M380 is 0.1% ahead of that same card. The GTX 465 sits 0.2% above the GTX 960 (9,273), and the R7 M380 is 0.4% above it. Both cards are roughly 1% faster than the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9,221), though the R7 M380's lead over Vega 8 is exactly 1.0% while the GTX 465's is 0.8%.

The single benchmark win goes to the AMD Radeon R7 M380, which claims victory in the only head-to-head test. However, the magnitude of that win — 0.2% — is far below what would constitute a meaningful performance difference. The data suggests that in OpenCL compute workloads, these two GPUs are effectively interchangeable. The GTX 465, despite being a desktop card with a 200 W TDP, cannot outrun a mobile chip that was designed for much lower power envelopes. Conversely, the R7 M380's modern GCN architecture does not give it any significant compute advantage over the older Fermi design in this specific test. The benchmark results indicate that raw architectural efficiency and clock speeds have converged to produce nearly identical outcomes.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M380 scores 9,313, which is 0.2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465's score of 9,294.

Q: How does each card compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M?

A: The R7 M380 is 0.1% ahead of the GTX 850M (9,302), while the GTX 465 is 0.1% behind it. Both cards are effectively tied with the GTX 850M.

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

A: The GTX 465 has a 256-bit memory bus with GDDR5 memory delivering 102.7 GB/s, while the R7 M380 uses a 128-bit bus with DDR3 memory providing 32.00 GB/s. The GTX 465 offers over three times the bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12, but the R7 M380 supports version 11_1 while the GTX 465 supports version 11_0.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The GTX 465 contains 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, while the R7 M380 contains 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The GTX 465 has more than double the transistors.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate?

A: The R7 M380 has a pixel rate of 14.64 GPixel/s, which is higher than the GTX 465's 13.38 GPixel/s, despite the GTX 465 having twice as many ROPs (32 vs. 16).

The Verdict

The data presents a clear picture of generational convergence. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 wins the only benchmark test, but the 0.2% margin is too small to recommend it over the GTX 465 on performance grounds alone. Both cards occupy the same 46th percentile, and their nearest rivals cluster within a 1% window. For compute workloads measured by Geekbench OpenCL, either card will deliver essentially the same result. However, the GTX 465 carries a 200 W TDP and requires a 550 W power supply with two 6-pin connectors, while the R7 M380 has no listed TDP, slot width, or power connector requirements — indicating it operates in a far lower power class. The GTX 465 also has a dual-slot form factor and measures 241 mm in length, making it a physically demanding card. The R7 M380, by contrast, is a mobile part with no listed dimensions, suggesting it fits into laptops where power and space are constrained. The choice comes down to platform: desktop systems with ample power delivery can use the GTX 465, while mobile users must rely on the R7 M380. The benchmark data cannot separate them on raw compute, so the decision rests on system compatibility and power budgets.

Specification Differences

The memory subsystems of these two cards could not be more different. The GTX 465 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 102.7 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 M380 uses 4 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, producing just 32.00 GB/s. The GTX 465's bandwidth advantage is substantial — over three times higher — but the R7 M380 offers four times the capacity, which benefits texture-heavy workloads and larger datasets. Clock speeds also diverge: the R7 M380 has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost of 915 MHz, while the GTX 465 lists no base or boost clock but runs its memory at 802 MHz (3.2 Gbps effective) versus the R7 M380's 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The R7 M380 has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, while the GTX 465 has 352 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 465's higher ROP count gives it a 32 ROP configuration, but the R7 M380's pixel rate of 14.64 GPixel/s still edges out the GTX 465's 13.38 GPixel/s. Texture rate favors the R7 M380 at 36.60 GTexel/s versus 26.75 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute also favors AMD at 1,171.2 GFLOPS versus 855.4 GFLOPS. The bus interface differs: the R7 M380 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 while the GTX 465 uses PCIe 2.0 x16.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 is built on GCN 1.0 architecture using the Tropo chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 uses the Fermi architecture with the GF100 chip, also fabricated at TSMC but on a larger 40 nm node. The process shrink from 40 nm to 28 nm allows the R7 M380 to pack 1,500 million transistors into just 123 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The GTX 465 has 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, with a density of just 5.9M per mm². The R7 M380 is more than twice as dense, reflecting the newer manufacturing process. The R7 M380 belongs to the Gem System generation within the R7 M300 series, while the GTX 465 belongs to the GeForce 400 generation. The R7 M380's predecessor is the Solar System series and its successor is Polaris Mobile; the GTX 465's predecessor is the GeForce 200 series and its successor is GeForce 500. In terms of API support, the R7 M380 supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the GTX 465 lists no Vulkan support at all. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The R7 M380's release date is May 2015, while the GTX 465 launched in May 2010, a five-year gap that explains the architectural advantages of the AMD part. The GTX 465 requires dual-slot cooling and a 550 W suggested PSU, while the R7 M380 has no such requirements listed, reinforcing its mobile-oriented design.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R7 M380 wins the only benchmark test, but its advantages extend beyond raw score. Its higher pixel rate (14.64 vs. 13.38 GPixel/s) and texture rate (36.60 vs. 26.75 GTexel/s) suggest better fill-rate performance in games that rely on these operations. Its FP32 compute of 1,171.2 GFLOPS is 37% higher than the GTX 465's 855.4 GFLOPS, which may benefit compute-heavy applications. The R7 M380 also supports Vulkan 1.2.170, opening modern API pathways that the GTX 465 lacks. Its 4 GB memory capacity is four times larger, which helps with high-resolution textures and large datasets, even though the bandwidth is far lower.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 wins on memory bandwidth by a wide margin: 102.7 GB/s versus 32.00 GB/s, a 3.2x advantage. This makes it better suited for bandwidth-bound workloads such as high-resolution rendering, heavy anti-aliasing, or compute tasks that stream large amounts of data. Its 256-bit bus and GDDR5 memory are characteristics of a desktop-class part, and its 32 ROPs double the R7 M380's count, though the higher clock speeds of the AMD part help it achieve a better pixel rate anyway. The GTX 465 also has more TMUs (44 vs. 40), which gives it a slight edge in texture-mapping parallelism. For users running legacy DirectX 11 (11_0) applications, the GTX 465 is fully compliant, and its dual-slot cooling and 2x 6-pin power connectors are suited for desktop towers with robust power supplies. The GTX 465's launch MSRP was 279 USD, a figure that reflects its original desktop flagship positioning.

In practical terms, the R7 M380 is the pick for mobile systems, modern API support, and compute workloads that leverage its higher GFLOPS and fill rates. The GTX 465 is the pick for desktop users who need high memory bandwidth and have the power delivery to support a 200 W card. The benchmark data shows they are equals in compute, so the decision hinges on platform and workload characteristics rather than raw performance.