AMD Radeon R8 M445DX vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits these two mobile graphics solutions along a single measurable axis: the OpenCL compute workload. In the recorded Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M posts a score of 4934, while the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX records 4727. That difference translates to a 4.2% advantage for the NVIDIA part, the only head-to-head benchmark available in the database. The AMD part wins no direct comparison in this dataset.

Looking at the broader context of the database, the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX sits at the 27th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 4727. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R5 M335 at 4752, which is 0.5% ahead, and the NVIDIA Quadro P400 at 4684, which sits 0.9% behind. The AMD part also trails the AMD Radeon R5 M255 by 1.3% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB by 1.3%, the latter being a desktop-class card that lands in the same score band purely by coincidence of this particular OpenCL workload.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M, by contrast, holds the 24th percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score across recorded tests is 4033. That average is pulled down by its Geekbench Metal score of 3132, a test the AMD part does not appear in. The GT 755M's OpenCL score of 4934 is notably higher than its own average, indicating that the Metal workload is significantly less favorable to this Kepler-based chip. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro M4150 at 4013, which is 0.5% behind, the Intel HD Graphics 630 at 4075, which is 1% ahead, the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 at 3977, which is 1.4% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB at 4093, which is 1.5% ahead.

The win pattern is clear: the NVIDIA part wins the only direct compute comparison, but the AMD part has a more consistent single-test profile. In terms of raw architecture, the GT 755M has more shading units (384 versus 320), more texture mapping units (32 versus 20), and double the render output units (16 versus 8). Those hardware advantages show up in the texture and pixel rates: the GT 755M achieves 32.64 GTexel/s versus 20.42 GTexel/s for the AMD part, while pixel rates are nearly identical at 8.160 GPixel/s and 8.168 GPixel/s respectively.

The AMD part's advantage lies in its integrated nature. It uses system-shared memory, meaning its bandwidth is system dependent and its memory size is whatever the host system allocates. The GT 755M has a dedicated 2 GB GDDR5 pool on a 128-bit bus with 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth. For workloads that depend on dedicated memory bandwidth, the NVIDIA part has a structural edge; for workloads that benefit from unified memory access, the AMD part's design could be more flexible, though the database does not record a benchmark that demonstrates that.

The Verdict

From the recorded data, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M is the faster part in OpenCL compute, the only workload where both are measured. It wins the head-to-head by 4.2%, posting 4934 against 4727. That margin is modest but consistent with its higher shading unit count, texture unit count, and dedicated GDDR5 memory. The GT 755M also has a higher FP32 throughput at 783.4 GFLOPS versus 653.4 GFLOPS for the AMD part, and a higher texture rate at 32.64 GTexel/s versus 20.42 GTexel/s.

However, the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX is not without its own case. It is an integrated part, so it consumes no separate slot and uses system memory, which may simplify laptop design. Its OpenCL score of 4727 is only 4.2% behind the GT 755M, despite having fewer shading units and no dedicated VRAM. It also supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0, while the GT 755M supports DirectX 12 at feature level 11_0, meaning the AMD part is more fully compliant with the modern DirectX specification. The AMD part also has a higher pixel rate by a hair, 8.168 GPixel/s versus 8.160 GPixel/s, though that difference is negligible in practice.

Who should pick which depends on the workload. For OpenCL compute tasks, the GT 755M is the safer choice, as it leads the only direct comparison and has dedicated memory bandwidth. For systems where integrated graphics are required and power draw is a concern, the AMD part is the only option, since the GT 755M is a discrete MXM module rated at 50 W TDP. The database does not record a TDP for the AMD part, but its IGP slot width indicates it is integrated into the processor package.

The percentile rankings tell a similar story: the GT 755M at the 24th percentile and the AMD part at the 27th percentile are within a few points of each other, and both are near the middle of the pack for their respective generations. Neither part is a performance leader, but the GT 755M edges out the AMD part in the one benchmark that matters for this comparison.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M wins with a score of 4934 against the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX's 4727, a delta of 4.2%. That is the entire direct comparison, so the analysis must lean on the individual benchmark records and architectural specs to fill in the picture.

The GT 755M's OpenCL score of 4934 is higher than its average benchmark score of 4033, which suggests that OpenCL is a favorable workload for this GPU. Its Metal score of 3132 is substantially lower, and since the AMD part has no Metal score recorded, the OpenCL result is the only fair comparison. The GT 755M's FP32 throughput of 783.4 GFLOPS is 19.9% higher than the AMD part's 653.4 GFLOPS, though the actual OpenCL score difference is only 4.2%, indicating that raw theoretical throughput does not translate linearly to real-world compute performance.

The AMD part's OpenCL score of 4727 is essentially its average benchmark score, since that is the only test recorded. Its nearest rival comparison shows it within 1.3% of the AMD Radeon R5 M255 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB, both of which score around 4790. That is a tight cluster, and the AMD part's position in that cluster suggests it is performing at a level consistent with its hardware configuration.

The GT 755M's nearest rival cluster is more spread out: its average score of 4033 sits between the AMD FirePro M4150 at 4013 and the Intel HD Graphics 630 at 4075, with the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 at 3977 and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB at 4093. The GT 755M's OpenCL score of 4934 is well above that entire cluster, meaning the OpenCL workload pushes it into a higher performance tier than its average suggests.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M scores 4934 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX scores 4727. That is a 4.2% difference in favor of the NVIDIA part.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in terms of memory configuration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX uses system-shared memory, meaning its size, type, and bandwidth are all system dependent.

Q: What are the DirectX support levels for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M supports DirectX 12 at feature level 11_0. Both support OpenGL 4.6, and the AMD part supports Vulkan 1.2.170 while the NVIDIA part supports Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has 384 shading units, compared to 320 on the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX. The NVIDIA part also has 32 texture mapping units versus 20, and 16 render output units versus 8.

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

A: The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX has 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, both fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has 1,270 million transistors on a 118 mm² die, also on TSMC's 28 nm process.

Q: What is the power consumption of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M?

A: The GT 755M is rated at 50 W TDP and uses an MXM Module slot width. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX has no recorded TDP and uses an IGP slot width, indicating it is integrated into the processor.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX is based on the Meso chip using the GCN 3.0 architecture, part of the Gem System Hybrid generation within the Rx M400 family. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M uses the GK107 chip with the Kepler architecture, part of the GeForce 700M generation.

The process nodes are identical: both are fabricated by TSMC on 28 nm. However, the transistor counts differ. The AMD part packs 1,550 million transistors onto a 125 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.4 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA part uses 1,270 million transistors on a smaller 118 mm² die, resulting in a lower density of 10.8 million per square millimeter. The AMD part is therefore more densely packed, which is notable given that it is an integrated part.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX uses system-shared memory, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM and the bandwidth depends entirely on the host system's memory configuration. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M has a fixed 2 GB GDDR5 pool on a 128-bit bus with 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth. This gives the NVIDIA part predictable memory performance, while the AMD part's memory performance is variable and platform dependent.

The compute resources differ in scale. The NVIDIA part has 384 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The AMD part has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. These differences manifest in the fill rates: the GT 755M achieves 32.64 GTexel/s versus 20.42 GTexel/s for the AMD part, and the pixel rates are nearly identical at 8.160 and 8.168 GPixel/s respectively. The FP32 throughput is 783.4 GFLOPS for the NVIDIA part and 653.4 GFLOPS for the AMD part, a 19.9% gap. The AMD part also records FP16 performance at 653.4 GFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA part has no recorded FP16 value.

Clock speeds are similar at the boost level: the AMD part runs at a base of 780 MHz and boosts to 1021 MHz, while the NVIDIA part runs at a base of 980 MHz and boosts to 1020 MHz. The NVIDIA part starts higher but boosts to nearly the same frequency. The memory clock for the NVIDIA part is 1350 MHz, or 5.4 Gbps effective, which is not applicable to the AMD part due to its shared memory design.

The bus interface also differs. The AMD part uses an IGP interface, confirming it is integrated into the processor package. The NVIDIA part uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and comes as an MXM module with no power connectors, drawing a rated 50 W TDP. The AMD part has no TDP recorded, and its slot width is listed as IGP. Display outputs for both are portable device dependent, meaning they vary by laptop implementation.

API support shows a generational difference. The AMD part supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0, while the NVIDIA part supports DirectX 12 at feature level 11_0. Both support OpenGL 4.6, and the Vulkan versions are close: 1.2.170 for AMD and 1.2.175 for NVIDIA. The AMD part's higher DirectX feature level is a notable advantage for modern game compatibility, though the benchmark data does not include a DirectX workload to quantify it.

The release dates are separated by nearly three years. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M was released on 2016-05-14, while the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX was released on 2013-06-24. Both are end-of-life products. The NVIDIA part has a predecessor in the GeForce 600M and a successor in the GeForce 800M, while the AMD part has no recorded predecessor or successor in the database.