AMD Radeon R7 M440 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M posts an average benchmark score of 6389, while the AMD Radeon R7 M440 achieves 5483. That puts the GTX 580M roughly 16.5% higher on average.

Q: How do the two compare in the OpenCL benchmark?

A: The GTX 580M scores 6389 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 5214 for the R7 M440. The delta is 22.5%, making the NVIDIA part the clear winner in that test.

Q: Does the AMD R7 M440 have any benchmark advantage?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows only one benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL) and the winner is the GTX 580M. The R7 M440 does have a Vulkan score of 5751, but there is no comparable Vulkan score recorded for the GTX 580M.

Q: What are the percentile rankings of each GPU?

A: The GTX 580M sits at the 37th percentile of all GPUs, while the R7 M440 is at the 32nd percentile. The NVIDIA part is positioned higher in the overall performance distribution.

Q: Which GPU has a larger memory capacity?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M440 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory, whereas the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M has 2 GB of GDDR5. The memory type and bus width differ substantially: GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus for NVIDIA, DDR3 on a 64-bit bus for AMD.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each GPU?

A: For the GTX 580M, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE with an identical average score of 6389 (0% delta). For the R7 M440, the closest is the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 at 5467, a 0.3% delta.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M uses the GF114 chip under the Fermi 2.0 architecture, built on a 40 nm process at TSMC. The AMD Radeon R7 M440 uses the Meso chip under the GCN 3.0 architecture, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 28 nm process. The newer node gives AMD a transistor density advantage: 12.4 million transistors per square millimeter versus 5.9M for NVIDIA. However, the NVIDIA chip has a higher total transistor count at 1,950 million versus 1,550 million, and a much larger die size at 332 mm² compared to 125 mm².

The shading resources differ as well. The GTX 580M packs 384 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The R7 M440 has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. In raw throughput terms, the NVIDIA part delivers 952.3 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD part delivers 570.2 GFLOPS. The AMD GPU does support FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (570.2 GFLOPS), a feature not listed for the NVIDIA part.

Memory architecture is another major split. The GTX 580M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit interface, yielding 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 M440 uses 4 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit interface, which produces only 14.40 GB/s. That is a 6.7x difference in memory bandwidth, which heavily favors NVIDIA in bandwidth-sensitive workloads. The bus interface also differs: the GTX 580M uses MXM-B (3.0) and is an MXM module, while the R7 M440 is an IGP with PCIe 3.0 x8.

API support shows a notable split. The GTX 580M lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but no Vulkan version. The R7 M440 lists DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both are end-of-life products, with the GTX 580M released on 2011-06-27 and the R7 M440 on 2016-05-14. The NVIDIA part belongs to the GeForce 500M generation, while the AMD part belongs to the Gem System (R7 M400) series.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains a single OpenCL benchmark. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M scores 6389, and the AMD Radeon R7 M440 scores 5214. The delta is 22.5% in favor of NVIDIA. This is a substantial margin, and it aligns with the raw compute and bandwidth figures in the specification data.

The GTX 580M's FP32 throughput of 952.3 GFLOPS is 67% higher than the R7 M440's 570.2 GFLOPS. Memory bandwidth is even more lopsided: 96.00 GB/s versus 14.40 GB/s, a 6.7x advantage. These hardware differences explain why the OpenCL score gap is as large as it is.

The R7 M440 does have a Vulkan score of 5751 in the database, but the GTX 580M has no recorded Vulkan result. Without a direct comparison, that number cannot be used to claim an advantage. The only direct comparison shows NVIDIA winning the single test.

The nearest rival data places each GPU in context. The GTX 580M's average score of 6389 exactly matches the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE (delta 0%). It is also 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 and 1% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 M350. The R7 M440's average of 5483 puts it 0.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M4000, 0.3% ahead of the GeForce GTX 765M, 0.5% behind the GeForce MX130, and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 610M. Both GPUs sit in a crowded mid-range band, but the GTX 580M lands at a higher absolute level.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M is the stronger GPU. It wins the only direct benchmark comparison by 22.5% in OpenCL. Its average benchmark score is 6389 versus 5483 for the AMD Radeon R7 M440, and its percentile ranking is higher at 37 versus 32. The hardware specifications support this outcome: the GTX 580M has more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, higher FP32 throughput, and vastly higher memory bandwidth.

The AMD R7 M440 does offer advantages in certain areas. It has double the memory capacity (4 GB versus 2 GB), a more modern process node (28 nm versus 40 nm), and broader API support including Vulkan 1.2.170. It also has a higher transistor density and a smaller die, which may have implications for power efficiency in integrated designs. However, none of these factors translate into a benchmark win in the recorded data.

For a user choosing between these two, the GTX 580M is the pick if the priority is raw computational performance and memory bandwidth. The R7 M440 is the pick if the priority is memory capacity, modern API compatibility, or a smaller, more integrated form factor. The data does not support any claim of AMD superiority in compute performance.

Specification Differences

| Field | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M | AMD Radeon R7 M440 |

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

| Chip | GF114 | Meso |

| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 | GCN 3.0 |

| Generation | GeForce 500M | Gem System (R7 M400) |

| Process Node | 40 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,950 million | 1,550 million |

| Die Size | 332 mm² | 125 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 5.9M / mm² | 12.4M / mm² |

| Memory Clock | 750 MHz, 3 Gbps effective | 900 MHz, 1800 Mbps effective |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 96.00 GB/s | 14.40 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 384 | 320 |

| TMUs | 64 | 20 |

| ROPs | 32 | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 9.920 GPixel/s | 7.128 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 39.68 GTexel/s | 17.82 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 952.3 GFLOPS | 570.2 GFLOPS |

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

| TDP | 100 W | Not listed |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | IGP |

| Power Connectors | None | Not listed |

| Bus Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

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

| Vulkan | Not listed | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2011-06-27 | 2016-05-14 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 400M | Solar System |

| Successor | GeForce 600M | Polaris Mobile |

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M wins in every metric that directly affects computational throughput. It has more shading units (384 versus 320), more TMUs (64 versus 20), more ROPs (32 versus 8), and higher pixel and texture rates. Its FP32 output of 952.3 GFLOPS is nearly double the AMD part's 570.2 GFLOPS. The memory subsystem is decisively in NVIDIA's favor: 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth versus 14.40 GB/s, on a 256-bit bus versus 64-bit. The only benchmark comparison confirms this, with a 22.5% OpenCL lead.

The AMD Radeon R7 M440 wins in areas that are not directly compute benchmarks. It offers 4 GB of memory, which is double the GTX 580M's 2 GB. It supports Vulkan 1.2.170, which the NVIDIA part does not list. It is built on a 28 nm process, giving it a higher transistor density and a much smaller die (125 mm² versus 332 mm²). Its DirectX 12 support is listed as 12_0, while the GTX 580M is listed as 12 (11_0). It also has a 1:1 FP16 capability, which the NVIDIA part lacks.

For a use case that demands large memory allocations, such as holding larger textures or datasets in VRAM, the R7 M440's 4 GB capacity could be relevant. For a use case that demands modern API features like Vulkan, the R7 M440 has the edge on paper. But for raw performance in the recorded OpenCL test, the GTX 580M is ahead by a wide margin. The data shows a clear split: NVIDIA for speed, AMD for capacity and modern feature support.