GPU Comparison

The AMD Radeon R7 M445 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930A are both end-of-life mobile graphics processors aimed at thin-and-light laptops, and the benchmark data places them virtually neck-and-neck. In the sole available Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD part scores 5358 against NVIDIA’s 5317, a razor-thin 0.8% margin that puts both at the 31st percentile of all GPUs. The data shows a pairing where architectural philosophies diverge sharply, yet real-world performance lands within a rounding error of each other.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R7 M445 is the outright winner in the only head-to-head benchmark recorded, taking the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 5358 versus the GeForce 930A’s 5317. That 0.8% delta is the entire competitive gap between these two in the data. The AMD card’s win is narrow, but it is a win nonetheless, and it positions the R7 M445 as the marginally faster option in compute workloads that resemble OpenCL.

The NVIDIA GeForce 930A, by contrast, does not win any of the recorded head-to-head benchmarks, the count stands at zero wins for NVIDIA. However, its loss is so small that it effectively ties the AMD part. Looking at the nearestRivals data for the 930A, it trails the R7 M445 by that same 0.8%, but it also sits within 0.6% of the GeForce 940M and within 0.2% of the GeForce GTX 980M in average score, suggesting that the 930A is not an outlier in its class, it is simply one of many similarly-performing mobile parts. For the AMD side, the R7 M445’s rivals list shows it beating the GeForce 930A, the GeForce 840M, and the GeForce GTX 980M by margins of 0.7% to 0.9%, while trailing the Intel UHD Graphics P630 by 0.2%. The takeaway is that neither GPU has a meaningful performance advantage; the AMD card wins the single test, but the data does not support calling it a decisive victor.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon R7 M445 is built on the GCN 3.0 architecture using the Meso chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,550 million transistors onto a 125 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.4 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce 930A uses the Maxwell architecture with the GM108 chip, also on a 28 nm TSMC process, but with fewer transistors, 1,020 million, on a smaller 77 mm² die, achieving a higher density of 13.2 million per mm².

The compute layouts differ significantly. The AMD part fields 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs, while the NVIDIA part counters with 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and the same 8 ROPs. This means NVIDIA has 20% more shaders and TMUs, yet the AMD part still edges ahead in the benchmark. Clock speeds tell part of the story: the GeForce 930A runs at a base of 928 MHz and boosts to 941 MHz, notably higher than the R7 M445’s 780 MHz base and 920 MHz boost. Despite lower clocks, AMD’s GCN architecture manages to match or slightly exceed NVIDIA’s Maxwell in OpenCL. The R7 M445 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 (588.8 GFLOPS each), whereas the GeForce 930A has no listed FP16 capability. API support differs as well: AMD lists DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while NVIDIA lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and a newer Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the numbers are extremely close. The AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5358, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A scores 5317, giving AMD a 0.8% advantage. To put that in context, the R7 M445’s nearest rival list shows it beating the GeForce 930A by that exact 0.8%, and the GeForce 930A’s own rival list confirms the same delta from the opposite direction. The AMD part also outperforms the GeForce 840M (5322) by 0.7% and the GeForce GTX 980M (5308) by 0.9%, though those are not direct head-to-head matches. The NVIDIA part, for its part, trails the GeForce 940M (5284) by 0.6% and the GeForce GTX 980M by 0.2%, but it does beat the GeForce 840M by 0.1%. The only direct comparison shows AMD ahead, but the margin is so small that it falls within typical run-to-run variance. No other benchmark data exists for either GPU, so the 0.8% delta is the entire measurable performance difference.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal several clear divergences between the two parts. Memory configuration is a major split: the AMD Radeon R7 M445 comes with 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 32.00 GB/s of bandwidth, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A offers 2 GB of DDR3 on the same 64-bit bus, yielding just 16.02 GB/s, exactly half the bandwidth. The AMD card’s memory runs at 1000 MHz with 4 Gbps effective speed, versus the NVIDIA’s 1001 MHz with 2 Gbps effective. The R7 M445’s 4 GB capacity is double the 930A’s 2 GB, which matters for texture-heavy workloads. Compute rates also favor NVIDIA: the 930A reaches 722.7 GFLOPS FP32 and 22.58 GTexel/s, while the R7 M445 manages 588.8 GFLOPS and 18.40 GTexel/s. Pixel rates are nearly identical at 7.360 GPixel/s for AMD and 7.528 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. The NVIDIA part has a listed TDP of 33 W, while the AMD part has no TDP listed. Both use PCIe 3.0 x8 interfaces and have portable-device-dependent display outputs. The GeForce 930A was released on March 12, 2015, over a year before the R7 M445’s May 14, 2016 release. The AMD card’s predecessor is Solar System and its successor is Polaris Mobile; the NVIDIA card’s predecessor is GeForce 800A with no listed successor.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5358 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 0.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 930A’s 5317.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The AMD R7 M445 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 with 32.00 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A uses 2 GB of DDR3 with 16.02 GB/s bandwidth. Both have a 64-bit memory bus.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930A has 384 shading units, compared to 320 on the AMD Radeon R7 M445. The NVIDIA part also has 24 TMUs versus 20 on AMD.

Q: Are there differences in API support?

A: Yes. The AMD R7 M445 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: What is the transistor count and die size for each?

A: The AMD R7 M445 has 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A has 1,020 million transistors on a 77 mm² die. Both are fabricated on a 28 nm TSMC process.

Q: What do the nearest rival scores indicate about these GPUs?

A: The AMD R7 M445’s nearest rivals include the Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370, -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5322, +0.7%), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (5308, +0.9%). The GeForce 930A’s rivals include the GeForce 840M (5322, -0.1%), GeForce GTX 980M (5308, +0.2%), and GeForce 940M (5284, +0.6%). Both GPUs cluster within a 1% band of each other and their immediate competitors.

The Verdict

The benchmark data shows a statistical tie between the AMD Radeon R7 M445 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930A, with the AMD card taking the single recorded OpenCL test by 0.8%. For compute workloads, the R7 M445’s higher memory bandwidth (32.00 GB/s versus 16.02 GB/s) and double the VRAM (4 GB versus 2 GB) provide a tangible advantage, even if the raw FP32 rate (588.8 GFLOPS) is lower than NVIDIA’s (722.7 GFLOPS). The GeForce 930A counters with more shading units (384 versus 320), higher clock speeds (941 MHz boost versus 920 MHz), and a newer Vulkan API version (1.4 versus 1.2.170), but none of that translates into a benchmark win. Buyers or system integrators looking at these two parts should weigh the AMD card’s memory capacity and bandwidth for texture-heavy or compute-bound tasks, while the NVIDIA card offers a lower 33 W TDP and a smaller die (77 mm² versus 125 mm²) that may suit more power-constrained designs. On pure performance, the data picks the AMD Radeon R7 M445 by a hair; on efficiency and API modernity, the GeForce 930A has the edge. Neither part is a clear winner, but for anyone prioritizing raw OpenCL scores and memory throughput, the R7 M445 is the one to choose.