AMD Radeon R9 M295X vs AMD Radeon RX 7700S Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is the clear performance leader in this pairing. Data from the database shows it wins both head-to-head benchmark comparisons by substantial margins. The RX 7700S sits at the 78th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon R9 M295X sits at the 74th percentile. The RX 7700S carries an average benchmark score of 33,849, compared to 28,580 for the R9 M295X.

For a modern gaming laptop, the RX 7700S is the only rational choice. It doubles the R9 M295X in OpenCL performance and holds a 25.1% lead in Vulkan. The R9 M295X is end-of-life; its architecture lacks hardware ray tracing, and its 4 GB memory capacity is restrictive for current titles. Pick the RX 7700S for any new system. The R9 M295X should only be considered if you are maintaining an older machine and need a drop-in MXM module, since it uses that legacy form factor and the RX 7700S uses an integrated (IGP) layout that will not fit the same chassis.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7700S wins in every recorded head-to-head test. In Geekbench OpenCL, it posts a score of 62,983 against the R9 M295X's 22,858, a 175.5% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 7700S scores 36,380 versus 29,091, which is 25.1% ahead. The database records two head-to-head wins for the RX 7700S and zero for the R9 M295X.

The R9 M295X does have one unique benchmark result: Geekbench Metal at 33,790. The RX 7700S has no Metal result recorded, so if a workload is strictly Metal-only on a macOS environment, the R9 M295X at least has a measurable score. However, that is a narrow niche. For OpenCL and Vulkan, the RX 7700S dominates.

The RX 7700S also wins on feature support. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the R9 M295X only supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170. The newer card's 32 ray tracing cores give it hardware RT capability that the older GCN part lacks entirely.

Architecture Differences

The RX 7700S is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using the Navi 33 chip, with the codename Hotpink Bonefish. It belongs to the Navi Mobile generation (RX 7000M series). The R9 M295X uses the GCN 3.0 architecture on the Amethyst chip, from the Gem System generation (R9 M200 series). These are two completely different design philosophies separated by nearly a decade of GPU development.

The manufacturing process is a major differentiator. The RX 7700S uses a 6 nm TSMC process, while the R9 M295X uses a 28 nm TSMC process. Transistor counts reflect this: the RX 7700S has 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die, giving a density of 65.2 million transistors per mm². The R9 M295X has 5,000 million transistors on a much larger 366 mm² die, with a density of just 13.7 million per mm². The newer chip packs over twice the transistors into a smaller area.

Both cards have 2,048 shading units and 128 texture mapping units, but the ROP count differs: the RX 7700S has 64 ROPs, the R9 M295X has 32. The RX 7700S adds 32 ray tracing cores, which the R9 M295X lacks entirely. Clock speeds also diverge sharply. The RX 7700S has a base clock of 1500 MHz, a game clock of 2200 MHz, and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The R9 M295X has no recorded base, game, or boost clocks in the database, so its silicon is running at unspecified frequencies. The RX 7700S's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the R9 M295X's memory runs at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

The power envelope tells the story of efficiency gains. The RX 7700S has a TDP of 100 W, while the R9 M295X draws 250 W. The newer card delivers roughly double the compute performance at less than half the power draw. This is a direct result of the 6 nm process and RDNA 3.0 efficiency improvements over 28 nm GCN 3.0.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better raw compute performance?

A: The RX 7700S. Its FP32 throughput is 20.48 TFLOPS, compared to 2.961 TFLOPS for the R9 M295X. That is nearly seven times the single-precision compute.

Q: Can the R9 M295X handle ray tracing?

A: No. The R9 M295X has no ray tracing cores and its GCN 3.0 architecture has no RT support. The RX 7700S has 32 dedicated ray tracing cores.

Q: How do their memory specifications compare?

A: The RX 7700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The R9 M295X has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s. The newer card has double the capacity and 80% more bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is more power efficient?

A: The RX 7700S. It has a 100 W TDP versus 250 W for the R9 M295X, while delivering far higher performance in every recorded benchmark.

Q: Are these GPUs interchangeable in the same laptop?

A: No. The RX 7700S is an IGP (integrated GPU) with a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the R9 M295X is an MXM module using the MXM-B (3.0) interface. They have physically different mounting and connection standards.

Q: What API level does each card support?

A: The RX 7700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The R9 M295X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 7700S is the only one with DirectX 12 Ultimate features.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL result is the largest single gap between these two cards. The RX 7700S scores 62,983, while the R9 M295X scores 22,858. That is a 175.5% delta, meaning the RX 7700S is nearly three times faster in this OpenCL workload. This result reflects the massive FP32 and FP16 throughput advantage of the newer card. The RX 7700S delivers 20.48 TFLOPS FP32 and 40.96 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), whereas the R9 M295X delivers 2.961 TFLOPS FP32 and 2.961 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The R9 M295X has no FP16 acceleration advantage; it processes both at the same rate.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a smaller but still decisive gap. The RX 7700S scores 36,380 versus 29,091 for the R9 M295X, a 25.1% delta. Vulkan is a lower-level API, and the older GCN architecture still handles it reasonably well, but the RDNA 3.0 part's higher clocks and newer feature set pull ahead. The RX 7700S's boost clock of 2500 MHz and game clock of 2200 MHz give it a per-clock advantage that the R9 M295X cannot match, especially since the older card has no published clock data to compare.

There is one additional data point worth noting. The R9 M295X has a Geekbench Metal score of 33,790. The RX 7700S has no Metal benchmark recorded in the database. For a macOS-oriented workflow that relies exclusively on Metal, the R9 M295X has a measurable result, but this does not imply it is faster overall; it simply means the benchmark exists for that card.

Texture and pixel throughput follow the same pattern. The RX 7700S has a texture rate of 320.0 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 160.0 GPixel/s. The R9 M295X has a texture rate of 92.54 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 23.14 GPixel/s. The RX 7700S is roughly 3.5 times faster at texturing and nearly 7 times faster at pixel fill. These numbers matter for high-resolution rendering and heavy texture workloads.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RX 7700S uses a 6 nm process; the R9 M295X uses 28 nm. The RX 7700S has 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die; the R9 M295X has 5,000 million on a 366 mm² die. Transistor density is 65.2 million per mm² versus 13.7 million per mm².

Memory capacity and type differ: the RX 7700S has 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the R9 M295X has 4 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7700S has a memory clock of 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective); the R9 M295X has a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Shading units are identical at 2,048, and TMUs are identical at 128. ROPs differ: 64 for the RX 7700S, 32 for the R9 M295X. The RX 7700S has 32 ray tracing cores; the R9 M295X has none. FP32 is 20.48 TFLOPS versus 2.961 TFLOPS. FP16 is 40.96 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 2.961 TFLOPS (1:1).

Pixel rate is 160.0 GPixel/s versus 23.14 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 320.0 GTexel/s versus 92.54 GTexel/s. TDP is 100 W versus 250 W. The RX 7700S is an IGP with a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface; the R9 M295X is an MXM module with MXM-B (3.0). The RX 7700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4; the R9 M295X supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RX 7700S was released on 2023-01-03 and is in active production; the R9 M295X was released on 2014-11-22 and is end-of-life. The R9 M295X's predecessor is Solar System and its successor is Polaris Mobile, which is the RX 7700S's predecessor, placing the two GPUs on opposite sides of a generational transition.