AMD Radeon R7 M445 vs NVIDIA RTX A400 Comparison

FAQ

Q: What are the two GPUs compared here?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A400, a workstation GPU from the Ampere generation, and the AMD Radeon R7 M445, a mobile integrated graphics processor from the GCN 3.0 generation.

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A400 has an average benchmark score of 6078, while the AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5358. The RTX A400 sits at the 35th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon R7 M445 sits at the 31st percentile.

Q: What is the difference in OpenCL performance between the two?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA RTX A400 scores 22844 compared to 5358 for the AMD Radeon R7 M445. This gives the RTX A400 a 326.4% advantage in that specific workload.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: Both GPUs have 4 GB of memory and a 64-bit bus width. However, the RTX A400 uses GDDR6 memory with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon R7 M445 uses GDDR5 with 32.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: Only the NVIDIA RTX A400 has dedicated ray tracing cores (6) and tensor cores (24). The AMD Radeon R7 M445 has no such hardware, as its architecture predates those features.

Q: What are the production statuses of these GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A400 is listed as Active, while the AMD Radeon R7 M445 is End-of-life. The RTX A400 was released in April 2024, and the Radeon R7 M445 was released in May 2016.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA RTX A400 and AMD Radeon R7 M445 represent two very different eras of GPU design. The RTX A400 is built on the GA107 chip using the Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 8,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². In contrast, the Radeon R7 M445 uses the Meso chip with GCN 3.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. That older process houses only 1,550 million transistors across a 125 mm² die, for a density of 12.4M per mm².

The compute resources differ dramatically. The RTX A400 has 768 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The Radeon R7 M445 has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. The RTX A400 also brings dedicated hardware that the Radeon simply does not have: 6 ray tracing cores and 24 tensor cores. These are foundational to the Ampere architecture's feature set, enabling DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support. The Radeon R7 M445 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_0) and offers no ray tracing or tensor acceleration.

Clock speeds also tell the story of process advantage. The RTX A400 runs at a base clock of 1417 MHz and boosts to 1762 MHz. The Radeon R7 M445 starts at 780 MHz and boosts to 920 MHz. The memory subsystem follows suit: the RTX A400 uses GDDR6 at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon uses GDDR5 at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) with only 32.00 GB/s bandwidth.

The bus interfaces differ as well. The RTX A400 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Radeon R7 M445 uses the older PCIe 3.0 x8. The RTX A400 is a single-slot card with four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and no power connectors, drawing a 50 W TDP with a suggested 250 W PSU. The Radeon R7 M445 is listed as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with display outputs that are "Portable Device Dependent," meaning it is designed for laptops and mobile systems rather than desktop expansion.

The API support also differs. The RTX A400 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon R7 M445 supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX A400 is the newer, more capable part in every measurable architectural category.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear separation between these two GPUs. The NVIDIA RTX A400 is the superior performer in the only benchmark test where both have recorded scores. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A400 scores 22844 versus 5358 for the Radeon R7 M445, a 326.4% advantage. The RTX A400 also has the higher average benchmark score at 6078, compared to 5358 for the Radeon.

Who should pick the NVIDIA RTX A400? Anyone needing workstation-grade features: ray tracing cores, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and PCIe 4.0 connectivity. The 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs make it suitable for multi-display professional setups. Its active production status means it is currently available in the market.

Who should pick the AMD Radeon R7 M445? The data offers little reason to choose it over the RTX A400 in raw performance. However, the Radeon is an IGP, meaning it is embedded in mobile systems where the RTX A400's single-slot desktop form factor cannot fit. For an older laptop with no upgrade path, the Radeon R7 M445 is what it is: a 28 nm GCN 3.0 part from 2016, now end-of-life, sitting at the 31st percentile of all GPUs. The RTX A400, at the 35th percentile, is only modestly higher in overall rank, but its OpenCL dominance shows how far ahead it is in compute-heavy tasks.

The verdict is straightforward: the RTX A400 is the more capable, more modern, and better-performing GPU. The Radeon R7 M445 only makes sense in the context of an existing mobile system where the RTX A400 cannot be installed.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs:

• Chip: GA107 (NVIDIA) vs Meso (AMD)
• Architecture: Ampere vs GCN 3.0
• Generation: Workstation Ampere (Ax000) vs Gem System (R7 M400)
• Process Node: 8 nm vs 28 nm
• Foundry: Samsung vs TSMC
• Transistors: 8,700 million vs 1,550 million
• Die Size: 200 mm² vs 125 mm²
• Transistor Density: 43.5M / mm² vs 12.4M / mm²
• Base Clock: 1417 MHz vs 780 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1762 MHz vs 920 MHz
• Memory Clock: 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) vs 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective)
• Memory Type: GDDR6 vs GDDR5
• Bandwidth: 96.00 GB/s vs 32.00 GB/s
• Shading Units: 768 vs 320
• TMUs: 24 vs 20
• ROPs: 16 vs 8
• RT Cores: 6 vs none
• Tensor Cores: 24 vs none
• Pixel Rate: 28.19 GPixel/s vs 7.360 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 42.29 GTexel/s vs 18.40 GTexel/s
• FP32: 2.706 TFLOPS vs 588.8 GFLOPS
• FP16: 2.706 TFLOPS (1:1) vs 588.8 GFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 50 W vs not listed
• Slot Width: Single-slot vs IGP
• Power Connectors: None vs not listed
• Suggested PSU: 250 W vs not listed
• Bus Interface: PCIe 4.0 x8 vs PCIe 3.0 x8
• Display Outputs: 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a vs Portable Device Dependent
• DirectX: 12 Ultimate (12_2) vs 12 (12_0)
• Vulkan: 1.4 vs 1.2.170
• Dimensions: 163 mm length, 69 mm height vs not listed
• Production Status: Active vs End-of-life
• Release Date: April 2024 vs May 2016
• Predecessor: Quadro Turing vs Solar System
• Successor: Workstation Ada vs Polaris Mobile

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark test with recorded scores for both GPUs is Geekbench OpenCL. The results are decisive. The NVIDIA RTX A400 scores 22844, while the AMD Radeon R7 M445 scores 5358. The RTX A400 wins by 326.4%. That is not a marginal victory; it is a four-fold difference in raw compute throughput.

Contextualizing the RTX A400's average score of 6078, it sits just above the NVIDIA Quadro P2000 (6049, 0.5% faster than the P2000) and just below the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 (6117, 0.6% slower). The nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce MX230 at 6077, a 0% difference. The AMD Radeon 760M trails at 6019, putting the RTX A400 1% ahead.

For the Radeon R7 M445, its average score of 5358 places it near the Intel UHD Graphics P630 (5370, 0.2% behind) and the NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5322, 0.7% ahead). It also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (5317, 0.8%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (5308, 0.9%). These are all older or lower-tier mobile parts, and the Radeon holds its own among them, but that peer group is far below the RTX A400's competition.

The RTX A400's OpenCL score of 22844 is more than four times the Radeon's 5358, which aligns with the architectural gap: 768 shading units versus 320, 2.706 TFLOPS FP32 versus 588.8 GFLOPS, and 96.00 GB/s memory bandwidth versus 32.00 GB/s. The RTX A400 also has 6 RT cores and 24 tensor cores that the Radeon lacks entirely, which explains the DirectX 12 Ultimate support and the Vulkan 1.4 API listing.

The Radeon R7 M445 has no benchmark wins in this comparison. The wins column shows 1 for the RTX A400 and 0 for the Radeon. Every metric that can be compared, from clock speed to memory bandwidth to pixel rate to texture rate to raw compute, favors the NVIDIA part. The Radeon's only advantage is its IGP form factor, which suits mobile devices, but even there, its 28 nm process and GCN 3.0 architecture are from a much older era.

In summary, the head-to-head data shows a single massive win for the RTX A400 in OpenCL, and the supporting specification differences reinforce that result. The Radeon R7 M445 is a legacy mobile part, while the RTX A400 is a modern workstation GPU with dedicated acceleration hardware and a significantly faster memory subsystem.