AMD Radeon R7 M380 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single benchmark comparison available between these two mobile GPUs is Geekbench OpenCL, and it produces a decisive if modest victory for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M. The NVIDIA part scores 9821 points against the AMD Radeon R7 M380’s 9313 points, a 5.2% advantage. That margin is meaningful in real-world terms—it places the GTX 850M clearly ahead in raw compute throughput as measured by OpenCL, a workload that exercises the GPU’s shader array and memory subsystem in a balanced fashion.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, both cards occupy nearly identical positions in the performance hierarchy. The R7 M380’s average benchmark score is 9313, while the GTX 850M’s average is 9302—a difference of just 0.1%. This near-parity in average scores is striking given the 5.2% gap in the head-to-head test. The explanation lies in the fact that the GTX 850M’s average is pulled down by its additional Geekbench Vulkan result of 8782, which is substantially lower than its OpenCL score. The R7 M380 has only the one OpenCL benchmark recorded, so its average equals its single score.

In the nearest-rival rankings, the two cards sandwich each other tightly. The R7 M380 sits just 0.1% above the GTX 850M in average score, while the GTX 850M sits 0.1% below the R7 M380 from its own perspective. Both are within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (avg score 9273) and within 1% of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (avg score 9221). This cluster of four GPUs spans only about 1% in average performance, indicating that these mobile parts are essentially interchangeable in overall compute capability, even if the specific OpenCL test favors the NVIDIA card by a more noticeable margin.

The percentile ranking reinforces this story. Both cards sit at the 46th percentile among all GPUs, meaning they outperform roughly 46% of the field and fall behind the remaining 54%. That places them in the lower-midrange tier of graphics hardware overall, though within the context of mobile GPUs from their respective generations, they represent competent mainstream offerings.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two parts is substantial, reflecting fundamentally different design philosophies from AMD and NVIDIA during this era. The R7 M380 uses the Tropo chip, built on AMD’s Graphics Core Next 1.0 architecture—the original GCN design that debuted in the company’s 7000-series desktop cards. The GTX 850M, by contrast, employs the GM107 chip, built on NVIDIA’s Maxwell architecture, which was a major efficiency-focused redesign of their GPU architecture.

Both chips are manufactured on the same 28 nm process at TSMC, but their physical characteristics diverge. The AMD part packs 1,500 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2 million transistors per square millimeter. The NVIDIA chip is larger and more complex by these metrics: 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, for a density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The GTX 850M’s die carries roughly 25% more transistors, and its higher density suggests a more tightly packed design.

The compute resources are identical in count but differ in execution. Both GPUs feature 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. The pixel rate is nearly identical: 14.64 GPixel/s for the R7 M380 versus 14.43 GPixel/s for the GTX 850M. Texture rates follow the same pattern: 36.60 GTexel/s versus 36.08 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance (FP32) also lands within a hair of each other—1,171.2 GFLOPS for the AMD part versus 1,154.6 GFLOPS for the NVIDIA part. These near-identical figures mean that on paper, the two GPUs should deliver almost the same raw throughput, which makes the 5.2% OpenCL gap all the more interesting.

Clock speeds differ in presentation if not dramatically in practice. The R7 M380 lists a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 915 MHz. The GTX 850M does not report base or boost clocks in the available data, making direct clock comparison impossible. What is known is that both use DDR3 memory running at an effective 2 Gbps, across a 128-bit bus. The memory bandwidth is effectively equal: 32.00 GB/s for the AMD card versus 32.03 GB/s for the NVIDIA card. The R7 M380 ships with 4 GB of memory, while the GTX 850M has 2 GB—the only major hardware specification where the AMD part holds a clear advantage.

API support shows a subtle but real difference. The R7 M380 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the GTX 850M supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6. Vulkan support differs in version: the AMD card lists Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA card lists Vulkan 1.4. The higher Vulkan version on the NVIDIA part may explain its comparatively strong 8782 Vulkan score, though that figure still trails its own OpenCL result by 10.6%.

Power characteristics could not be more different in presentation. The GTX 850M specifies a 45 W TDP, lists its slot width as IGP (integrated graphics processor), and requires no power connectors. The R7 M380 provides no TDP, slot width, or power connector data. This asymmetry in available information is itself informative—the NVIDIA part was clearly positioned as an efficiency-focused mobile solution, while the AMD part’s power profile remains unspecified in the available data.

# Where Each One Wins

The GTX 850M wins the only head-to-head benchmark that pits the two directly against each other. Its 9821 Geekbench OpenCL score beats the R7 M380’s 9313 by 5.2%, a comfortable margin that suggests NVIDIA’s Maxwell architecture handles OpenCL compute workloads with greater efficiency than AMD’s GCN 1.0 design at similar hardware specifications. The GTX 850M also demonstrates balanced performance across multiple API workloads: its Vulkan score of 8782 is lower than its OpenCL score but still represents a respectable showing, and its average score of 9302 keeps it competitive with the R7 M380 despite the drag from that Vulkan result.

The R7 M380 wins on memory capacity, offering 4 GB of DDR3 compared to the GTX 850M’s 2 GB. For gaming at higher resolutions or with high-resolution texture packs, that extra memory could prove decisive, even though the memory bandwidth is essentially identical between the two cards. The AMD part also holds a razor-thin edge in average benchmark score—9313 versus 9302—though that advantage is so small as to be statistically negligible.

For users prioritizing compute performance in OpenCL-accelerated applications, the GTX 850M is the clear choice. The 5.2% advantage in the head-to-head test translates directly to faster execution times in workloads that leverage OpenCL, such as video encoding, image processing, or scientific computing. The NVIDIA card’s higher Vulkan version (1.4 versus 1.2.170) also suggests better forward compatibility with Vulkan-based applications.

For users prioritizing memory capacity, the R7 M380 offers double the frame buffer. In scenarios where texture memory exceeds 2 GB—common in modern games with high-detail assets—the AMD card will avoid the performance cliffs associated with memory swapping. The R7 M380’s marginally higher pixel rate (14.64 versus 14.43 GPixel/s) and texture rate (36.60 versus 36.08 GTexel/s) give it a slight theoretical edge in fill-rate-bound scenarios, though these differences are too small to notice in practice.

Neither card distinguishes itself in overall market position. Both sit at the 46th percentile among all GPUs, and both are end-of-life products. The R7 M380 was released on May 4, 2015, as part of AMD’s Gem System (R7 M300) generation, succeeding the Solar System series and preceding Polaris Mobile. The GTX 850M launched on March 11, 2014, in the GeForce 800M generation, succeeding GeForce 700M and preceding GeForce 900M. The NVIDIA card is roughly 14 months older.

# FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M scores 9821 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 5.2% higher than the AMD Radeon R7 M380’s 9313. This is the only direct head-to-head benchmark available between the two cards.

Q: Do the two GPUs have identical compute resources?

A: Yes, both feature 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. Their pixel rates (14.64 versus 14.43 GPixel/s) and texture rates (36.60 versus 36.08 GTexel/s) are also nearly identical.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M380 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory. Both use a 128-bit memory bus with effectively the same bandwidth (32.00 GB/s versus 32.03 GB/s).

Q: What are the architectural differences between the two chips?

A: The R7 M380 uses AMD’s GCN 1.0 architecture on the Tropo chip, while the GTX 850M uses NVIDIA’s Maxwell architecture on the GM107 chip. Both are built on TSMC’s 28 nm process. The NVIDIA chip has more transistors (1,870 million versus 1,500 million) and a larger die (148 mm² versus 123 mm²).

Q: Which card has better Vulkan support?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD Radeon R7 M380 supports Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTX 850M also has a recorded Geekbench Vulkan score of 8782.

Q: How do these cards compare to other GPUs in their performance class?

A: Both cards sit at the 46th percentile among all GPUs. Their average scores are 9313 (R7 M380) and 9302 (GTX 850M). They are within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (score 9273) and within 1% of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (score 9221).

# Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two cards:

| Specification | AMD Radeon R7 M380 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M |

|---|---|---|

| Manufacturer | AMD | NVIDIA |

| Chip | Tropo | GM107 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Maxwell |

| Generation | Gem System (R7 M300) | GeForce 800M |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 1,870 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 148 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.2M / mm² | 12.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 900 MHz | Not specified |

| Boost Clock | 915 MHz | Not specified |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Clock | 1000 MHz | 1001 MHz |

| Memory Bandwidth | 32.00 GB/s | 32.03 GB/s |

| Pixel Rate | 14.64 GPixel/s | 14.43 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 36.60 GTexel/s | 36.08 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 1,171.2 GFLOPS | 1,154.6 GFLOPS |

| TDP | Not specified | 45 W |

| Slot Width | Not specified | IGP |

| Power Connectors | Not specified | None |

| Display Outputs | Not specified | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_1) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | May 4, 2015 | March 11, 2014 |

| Predecessor | Solar System | GeForce 700M |

| Successor | Polaris Mobile | GeForce 900M |

| Geekbench OpenCL Score | 9313 | 9821 |

| Geekbench Vulkan Score | Not recorded | 8782 |

| Average Benchmark Score | 9313 | 9302 |

| Head-to-Head Delta | +0.1% (vs GTX 850M) | -5.2% (vs R7 M380) |