AMD Radeon R7 M380 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M380 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti represent two distinct approaches to graphics processing from different eras. The database places the R7 M380 at the 46th percentile among all GPUs, while the GTX 650 Ti sits at the 42nd percentile. The recorded benchmark data shows a single head-to-head comparison where the AMD part emerges victorious, but the architectural differences between the two tell a more complex story about their respective strengths.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results indicate a clear victory for the AMD Radeon R7 M380 in the OpenCL compute workload, scoring 9313 points against the GTX 650 Ti's 7877 points. This 18.2% advantage in raw compute performance suggests the R7 M380 is better suited for general-purpose GPU computing tasks, such as physics simulations, video encoding, and data-parallel workloads that leverage OpenCL.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti, despite losing the OpenCL comparison, demonstrates its own strengths in other areas. It has a Vulkan score of 8229 points, which the R7 M380 does not have recorded in the database. This suggests the GTX 650 Ti offers more complete API coverage for modern graphics workloads, particularly those that leverage Vulkan's lower overhead and better multi-threading capabilities.

The R7 M380's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (0.1% ahead), GTX 465 (0.2% ahead), and GTX 960 (0.4% ahead), along with the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (1% behind). This clustering indicates the R7 M380 sits in a performance tier where small percentage differences separate competitors. The GTX 650 Ti's rivals, including the GTX 650 Ti Boost (0.2% behind), GRID K2 (0.3% behind), GTX 880M (0.2% ahead), and Quadro P5000 (0.2% ahead), show it occupies a similar competitive density but at a lower absolute performance level.

For gaming, the GTX 650 Ti's higher texture rate of 59.39 GTexel/s and greater shading unit count of 768 units suggest it may have an edge in pixel-heavy workloads that rely on texture sampling and shader execution. The R7 M380's 640 shading units and 36.60 GTexel/s texture rate indicate a more modest capability in those specific areas, despite its compute advantage.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs employ fundamentally different architectures from their respective manufacturers. The AMD Radeon R7 M380 uses the Tropo chip based on the GCN 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. This architecture was designed with compute performance as a priority, featuring 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 12.2M per mm².

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti uses the GK106S chip based on the Kepler architecture, also manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. Kepler was optimized for gaming efficiency, and this chip packs 2,540 million transistors into a 221 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 11.5M per mm². The larger die size and higher transistor count reflect a more complex design with different resource allocation priorities.

Memory subsystems differ substantially between the two. The R7 M380 comes with 4 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 32.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 650 Ti features 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on the same 128-bit bus width, but achieves 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth due to the faster memory technology. This nearly 2.7 times bandwidth advantage for the NVIDIA part is significant for texture-heavy games and high-resolution rendering.

The clock speeds reflect their different design philosophies. The R7 M380 operates at a base clock of 900 MHz with a boost clock of 915 MHz, while its memory runs at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The GTX 650 Ti's memory clock is 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective), with no base or boost clock recorded in the database. The R7 M380 achieves a pixel rate of 14.64 GPixel/s, while the GTX 650 Ti reaches 14.85 GPixel/s, a marginal difference.

API support shows a split between the two. The R7 M380 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTX 650 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both cards are end-of-life products, with the R7 M380 released on May 4, 2015, and the GTX 650 Ti released on October 8, 2012.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole recorded head-to-head benchmark in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the AMD Radeon R7 M380 scores 9313 points against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti's 7877 points. This represents an 18.2% advantage for the AMD card, a substantial margin that places the two cards in different performance tiers despite their comparable percentile rankings.

The R7 M380's average benchmark score of 9313 points puts it 46th percentile overall, while the GTX 650 Ti's average of 8053 points (combining its OpenCL and Vulkan scores) places it at the 42nd percentile. This four-percentile gap aligns with the 18.2% difference in the OpenCL test, indicating the AMD card's higher raw compute throughput translates directly to better overall positioning.

The GTX 650 Ti's Vulkan score of 8229 points is higher than its OpenCL score of 7877 points, suggesting the Kepler architecture responds well to Vulkan's explicit command model. This score is still below the R7 M380's OpenCL result, but the lack of a Vulkan benchmark for the AMD card means a direct comparison in that API is not possible from the recorded data.

Looking at the nearest rival clusters, the R7 M380's 9313 points edges out the GTX 850M's 9302 points by a mere 0.1%, while the GTX 650 Ti's 8053 average sits close to the GTX 650 Ti Boost's 8067 points (0.2% higher). The AMD card's performance sits near the GTX 960, which scores 9273 points, only 0.4% behind, indicating that the R7 M380 competes with a much newer desktop GPU despite being a mobile part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M380 wins the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark with 9313 points versus 7877 points for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti, a difference of 18.2%.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The GTX 650 Ti offers 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth from its 1024 MB GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the R7 M380 provides 32.00 GB/s from 4 GB of DDR3 memory on the same 128-bit bus width.

Q: Do both GPUs support Vulkan?

A: Yes, both support Vulkan. The R7 M380 supports version 1.2.170, and the GTX 650 Ti supports version 1.2.175, a slightly newer revision.

Q: What is the transistor count difference between these two chips?

A: The GTX 650 Ti's GK106S chip contains 2,540 million transistors on a 221 mm² die, while the R7 M380's Tropo chip has 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti has 768 shading units, compared to 640 shading units on the AMD Radeon R7 M380.

Q: How close are these GPUs to their direct competitors in the database?

A: The R7 M380 is within 1% of its nearest rivals, the GTX 850M, GTX 465, and GTX 960, while the GTX 650 Ti is within 0.3% of its nearest rivals, the GTX 650 Ti Boost, GRID K2, GTX 880M, and Quadro P5000.

The Verdict

The benchmark data clearly favors the AMD Radeon R7 M380 for compute-oriented tasks. Its 18.2% lead in OpenCL performance places it in a higher performance bracket, and its 4 GB memory capacity provides more room for large datasets compared to the GTX 650 Ti's 1024 MB. Users running OpenCL workloads, machine learning inference, or other GPGPU applications should select the R7 M380 based on the recorded measurements.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti appeals to a different use case. Its 86.40 GB/s memory bandwidth, nearly 2.7 times that of the R7 M380, makes it the stronger choice for bandwidth-sensitive tasks like high-resolution texture streaming and certain game engines. The higher texture rate of 59.39 GTexel/s versus 36.60 GTexel/s further supports this, indicating the GTX 650 Ti can feed its texture units more efficiently. Its Vulkan support with a recorded score of 8229 points also suggests it handles modern low-level APIs well.

Users prioritizing gaming at high resolutions or texture-heavy titles should consider the GTX 650 Ti for its bandwidth and texture throughput advantages. Users focused on compute performance, larger memory footprints, or OpenCL acceleration should choose the R7 M380. The R7 M380 also carries architectural advantages with its GCN 1.0 design, which is known for compute efficiency, while the GTX 650 Ti's Kepler architecture prioritizes gaming efficiency. The GTX 650 Ti has a launch MSRP of 149 USD, which the database records, but the R7 M380 has no launch MSRP recorded.

The GTX 650 Ti's physical specifications, including its single-slot design, 145 mm length, 110 W TDP, and 1x 6-pin power connector with a suggested 300 W PSU, make it a straightforward desktop installation. The R7 M380, being a mobile-oriented part, has no such power or physical specifications recorded. In the final analysis, the R7 M380 wins the compute crown, while the GTX 650 Ti holds the bandwidth and texture throughput advantage, making each the appropriate choice for different workloads.