AMD Radeon R7 M440 vs NVIDIA GeForce 930A Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available between the AMD Radeon R7 M440 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930A is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this single head-to-head run, the NVIDIA GeForce 930A comes out ahead with a score of 5317, while the AMD Radeon R7 M440 trails at 5214. That is a 1.9% deficit for the AMD part, which is a narrow margin that can easily be lost in driver variance or thermal behavior in a laptop chassis.

Widen the scope to the average benchmark score, and the picture remains close. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A posts an average score of 5317, which places it in the 31st percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon R7 M440, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 5483, sitting in the 32nd percentile. So despite losing the single OpenCL head-to-head, the AMD part actually has a higher aggregate score across its two recorded benchmarks (OpenCL and Vulkan). The Vulkan score for the R7 M440 is 5751, which is notably above its OpenCL score, suggesting that the architecture responds well to Vulkan workloads. The GeForce 930A has no recorded Vulkan score in the data, so a direct comparison in that API is impossible.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides additional context. The R7 M440 sits within a tight cluster: the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 is 0.3% ahead, the GeForce GTX 765M is 0.3% behind, the GeForce MX130 is 0.5% behind, and the AMD Radeon 610M is 0.7% ahead. Every one of these deltas is under a full percentage point, which means the R7 M440 is effectively in a dead heat with four very different GPUs. The GeForce 930A's rivals tell a similar story: the GeForce 840M is 0.1% ahead, the GeForce GTX 980M is 0.2% behind, the GeForce 940M is 0.6% ahead, and the AMD Radeon R7 M445 is 0.8% behind. Again, all margins are sub-1%, so the 930A is also trading blows with a wide range of hardware.

What matters here is that neither card has a decisive performance win. The 930A wins the single direct test, but the R7 M440 has the better average score and a Vulkan result that the 930A cannot match. If you are choosing based purely on the one shared benchmark, the NVIDIA card is the winner by a hair. If you factor in API coverage and aggregate performance, the AMD card has the edge.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the direct head-to-head benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930A wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 5317 against the AMD Radeon R7 M440's 5214, a 1.9% margin.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon R7 M440 have any performance advantage?

A: Yes. Its average benchmark score is 5483, which is higher than the GeForce 930A's 5317. The R7 M440 also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 5751, while the GeForce 930A has no recorded Vulkan benchmark.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: Both cards are within 1% of all their nearest rivals. The R7 M440's closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 at 0.3% ahead, and the GeForce 930A's closest rival is the GeForce 840M at 0.1% ahead.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M440 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus with 14.40 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus with 16.02 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M440 sits in the 32nd percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A sits in the 31st percentile.

Q: Are both cards the same generation?

A: No. The R7 M440 is from the Gem System (R7 M400) generation, released May 2016, while the GeForce 930A is from the GeForce 900A generation, released March 2015.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon R7 M440 is built on the Meso chip using GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The die contains 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² surface, giving a transistor density of 12.4 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A uses the GM108 chip with Maxwell architecture, also on TSMC's 28 nm node. Its die is significantly smaller at 77 mm², with 1,020 million transistors, yielding a higher density of 13.2 million per square millimeter.

The compute configurations differ meaningfully. The R7 M440 has 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The GeForce 930A has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. More shading units and TMUs give the NVIDIA card higher theoretical throughput in raw pixel and texture work. The pixel rate is 7.128 GPixel/s for the AMD card versus 7.528 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card. Texture rate is 17.82 GTexel/s versus 22.58 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 570.2 GFLOPS for the R7 M440 and 722.7 GFLOPS for the GeForce 930A. The NVIDIA card is clearly stronger on paper for compute-heavy tasks.

However, the AMD card has a notable feature advantage: it supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA card only supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6, but the Vulkan support differs. The R7 M440 supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the GeForce 930A supports Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card also has a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio at 570.2 GFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card has no listed FP16 capability. The AMD card's memory clock is 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective, while the NVIDIA card runs at 1001 MHz with 2 Gbps effective.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon R7 M440 | NVIDIA GeForce 930A |

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

| Chip | Meso | GM108 |

| Architecture | GCN 3.0 | Maxwell |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,550 million | 1,020 million |

| Die Size | 125 mm² | 77 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.4M / mm² | 13.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not listed | 928 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not listed | 941 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 900 MHz / 1800 Mbps effective | 1001 MHz / 2 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | DDR3 |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 14.40 GB/s | 16.02 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 320 | 384 |

| TMUs | 20 | 24 |

| ROPs | 8 | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 7.128 GPixel/s | 7.528 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 17.82 GTexel/s | 22.58 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 570.2 GFLOPS | 722.7 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | 570.2 GFLOPS (1:1) | Not listed |

| TDP | Not listed | 33 W |

| Power Connectors | Not listed | None |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 (11_0) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | May 2016 | March 2015 |

| Predecessor | Solar System | GeForce 800A |

| Successor | Polaris Mobile | Not listed |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |

The two cards share the same process node, memory type, bus width, ROP count, slot width (IGP), bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x8), and display outputs (portable device dependent). They diverge on nearly everything else. The AMD card has double the memory capacity but lower bandwidth, while the NVIDIA card has higher clocks, more shading units, and higher throughput.

The Verdict

The benchmark data does not crown a clear winner. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A wins the only direct head-to-head test, the Geekbench OpenCL run, by 1.9%. That is a real but small victory. The AMD Radeon R7 M440, however, has a higher average benchmark score (5483 versus 5317) and a Vulkan score (5751) that the NVIDIA card cannot answer. The percentile rankings favor AMD as well, with the R7 M440 at the 32nd percentile versus the 930A at the 31st.

For raw compute throughput, the GeForce 930A has the edge. Its FP32 output of 722.7 GFLOPS is roughly 27% higher than the R7 M440's 570.2 GFLOPS. Its texture rate of 22.58 GTexel/s is about 27% higher as well. These are meaningful differences for workloads that rely on shader math or texturing. The NVIDIA card also has a lower TDP at 33 W, which matters in thin-and-light laptops where thermal headroom is scarce.

For memory capacity, the AMD card wins decisively. 4 GB versus 2 GB of DDR3 means the R7 M440 can hold larger textures and datasets in local memory, which can help in games with high-resolution assets or in compute tasks with larger working sets. The bandwidth is lower (14.40 GB/s versus 16.02 GB/s), but capacity can be more important than bandwidth when the alternative is spilling to system memory.

For API support, the AMD card has a fuller feature set. DirectX 12 (12_0) support is a step above the NVIDIA card's DirectX 12 (11_0). The R7 M440 also has FP16 support at a 1:1 ratio, which the 930A lacks entirely. The Vulkan version on the NVIDIA card is newer (1.4 versus 1.2.170), but the AMD card has a recorded Vulkan benchmark score, showing it can actually deliver performance in that API.

The practical advice from the data: if you need the best single-benchmark performance and lower power draw, pick the GeForce 930A. If you need more memory, better API coverage, or a higher aggregate benchmark score, pick the Radeon R7 M440. The differences are small enough that the rest of the laptop's design, display, and cooling will likely matter more than the GPU choice.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA GeForce 930A wins on: The only direct head-to-head benchmark (OpenCL, 5317 versus 5214). Raw compute throughput, with higher FP32, pixel rate, and texture rate. Lower power consumption at 33 W TDP versus no listed TDP for the AMD card. Higher memory bandwidth at 16.02 GB/s. Higher base and boost clocks (928 MHz and 941 MHz versus no listed clocks on the AMD part). Newer Vulkan API version (1.4 versus 1.2.170).

AMD Radeon R7 M440 wins on: Average benchmark score (5483 versus 5317). Percentile ranking (32nd versus 31st). Vulkan benchmark coverage (5751 score recorded versus no Vulkan test for the 930A). Memory capacity (4 GB versus 2 GB). DirectX 12 feature level (12_0 versus 11_0). FP16 compute support at 1:1 ratio (570.2 GFLOPS versus none listed). Larger die with more transistors (1,550 million versus 1,020 million), which suggests more complex hardware. A successor exists in Polaris Mobile, while the 930A has none listed.

The split is clean: NVIDIA wins on speed and efficiency, AMD wins on capacity, API coverage, and aggregate performance. Neither card is a dominant choice. The data suggests that for a laptop buyer, the decision should come down to whether the software being run favors the NVIDIA card's higher throughput or the AMD card's larger memory and broader API support. For older DirectX 11 titles, the 930A's higher clocks and shader count will likely serve better. For Vulkan-based workloads or games that can use 4 GB of memory, the R7 M440 is the safer bet.