AMD Radeon R9 M360 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M Comparison

The AMD Radeon R9 M360 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M represent two very different design philosophies from the same 28 nm era, yet benchmark data places them in an unexpectedly close overall standing. The R9 M360 edges ahead in the single available head-to-head test, while the GTX 880M counters with a vastly larger memory interface and far higher raw compute limits. Both cards sit at the 42nd percentile among all GPUs, with the AMD card averaging 8129 points and the NVIDIA card averaging 8040 points, a gap of only about 1.1 percent. This near-tie in average scores, despite massive differences in silicon size and memory configuration, raises immediate questions about what each architecture prioritizes and where real-world performance diverges.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is a decisive win for the AMD Radeon R9 M360. The AMD card scores 8211 points against the GTX 880M’s 5622 points, yielding a 46.1 percent advantage. This is not a marginal victory; it is a landslide in compute-oriented workloads. The implication is that AMD’s GCN 1.0 architecture, despite having only 512 shading units compared to NVIDIA’s 1536, extracts far more useful work per shader in this particular OpenCL test. The R9 M360’s 947.2 GFLOPS of FP32 throughput is roughly one-third of the GTX 880M’s 3.050 TFLOPS, yet the AMD part still wins by nearly half. This suggests that the OpenCL workload is heavily sensitive to memory latency, driver efficiency, or architectural scheduling rather than raw arithmetic throughput.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the R9 M360’s average score of 8129 places it within a hair of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M (8135, -0.1 percent delta) and slightly above the GeForce 945M (8099, +0.4 percent). The GTX 880M’s average of 8040 sits just below the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (8039, 0 percent delta) and slightly under the GeForce GTX 650 Ti (8053, -0.2 percent). Interestingly, both cards share the NVIDIA GRID K2 as a neighbor in their rival lists, with the R9 M360 beating it by 0.6 percent and the GTX 880M trailing it by 0.5 percent. This clustering of scores in the 8000-8200 range indicates that both mobile GPUs are firmly mid-pack performers, but the OpenCL result shows the AMD chip is the stronger compute engine despite its smaller physical footprint.

The delta of 46.1 percent in OpenCL is the single most striking number in this comparison. It is large enough to suggest that the GTX 880M’s Kepler architecture is poorly optimized for this specific API test, or that the 8 GB memory configuration introduces overhead that the 4 GB AMD card avoids. The GTX 880M’s 160.0 GB/s bandwidth is over twice the R9 M360’s 72.00 GB/s, yet that bandwidth advantage does not translate into a win here. This inversion of expected performance based on memory specs is a clear signal that benchmark scores do not always follow hardware specifications linearly.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs could not be more different in construction. The AMD Radeon R9 M360 uses the Tropo chip based on GCN 1.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M uses the GK104 chip with Kepler architecture, also 28 nm at TSMC, but packs 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. That is more than double the transistor count and nearly 2.4 times the die area. Transistor density is nearly identical at 12.2M per mm² for AMD and 12.0M per mm² for NVIDIA, confirming that both are at the same process maturity, but NVIDIA chose to scale up the silicon while AMD kept the chip small.

The shading unit count tells the core story: the GTX 880M has 1536 shaders against the R9 M360’s 512, a 3-to-1 ratio. Texture mapping units follow suit at 128 versus 32, and render output units at 32 versus 16. Clock speeds are also higher on the NVIDIA part, with a base of 954 MHz and boost of 993 MHz compared to AMD’s 900 MHz base and 925 MHz boost. The memory subsystem diverges sharply: the GTX 880M offers 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the R9 M360 offers 4 GB on a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also has a higher effective memory clock at 5 Gbps versus 4.5 Gbps.

Feature support shows a split. The R9 M360 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) while the GTX 880M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), giving AMD a slight API generation edge. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but Vulkan versions differ: 1.2.170 for AMD and 1.2.175 for NVIDIA. Power consumption is only listed for the GTX 880M at 122 W TDP, with an MXM Module slot width and no power connectors, indicating a modular laptop design. The R9 M360 has no TDP listed, but its smaller die and fewer transistors suggest a lower power envelope. The bus interfaces also differ: PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD versus MXM-B (3.0) for NVIDIA.

Release timing places the GTX 880M as the older part, launching March 2014, while the R9 M360 arrived in May 2015. The NVIDIA card’s predecessor was the GeForce 700M and its successor the GeForce 900M, while AMD’s predecessor was Solar System and successor Polaris Mobile. Both are end-of-life products. The GTX 880M’s display outputs are marked as portable device dependent, whereas the R9 M360 lists no display outputs, reflecting their intended mobile form factors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the only direct benchmark comparison?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M360 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 8211 against the GTX 880M’s 5622, a 46.1 percent advantage.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The R9 M360 averages 8129 points, while the GTX 880M averages 8040 points. Both cards sit at the 42nd percentile among all GPUs, with the AMD card ahead by roughly 1.1 percent.

Q: Does the GTX 880M have more memory and bandwidth?

A: Yes, the GTX 880M has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the R9 M360 has 4 GB on a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and higher clock speeds?

A: The GTX 880M has 1536 shading units with a 954 MHz base and 993 MHz boost clock. The R9 M360 has 512 shading units with a 900 MHz base and 925 MHz boost.

Q: Are there differences in API support?

A: The R9 M360 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) while the GTX 880M supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, with Vulkan 1.2.170 on AMD and 1.2.175 on NVIDIA.

Q: How do their silicon sizes compare?

A: The GTX 880M’s GK104 die is 294 mm² with 3,540 million transistors, while the R9 M360’s Tropo die is 123 mm² with 1,500 million transistors. Transistor density is nearly equal at 12.0M and 12.2M per mm² respectively.

Specification Differences

The most glaring difference is in transistor count and die size. The GTX 880M uses 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, versus 1,500 million on 123 mm² for the R9 M360. This translates to a 136 percent larger die and 136 percent more transistors for NVIDIA. Shading units differ by 3x: 1536 for NVIDIA versus 512 for AMD. Texture mapping units are 128 versus 32, and ROPs are 32 versus 16. Clock speeds are higher on the GTX 880M by 54 MHz base and 68 MHz boost.

Memory configuration is another major split. The GTX 880M has 8 GB versus 4 GB, a 256-bit bus versus 128-bit, and 160.0 GB/s versus 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. Effective memory clock is 5 Gbps versus 4.5 Gbps. Pixel rate is 31.78 GPixel/s versus 14.80 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 127.1 GTexel/s versus 29.60 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 3.050 TFLOPS versus 947.2 GFLOPS, a 3.2x difference.

Power and form factor differ as well. The GTX 880M lists a 122 W TDP, MXM Module slot width, and no power connectors, while the R9 M360 has no TDP or slot width listed. Bus interface is MXM-B (3.0) for NVIDIA and PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD. DirectX support favors AMD at 12 (11_1) over NVIDIA’s 12 (11_0), while Vulkan favors NVIDIA at 1.2.175 over AMD’s 1.2.170. Release dates are March 2014 for NVIDIA and May 2015 for AMD. The GTX 880M’s predecessor is GeForce 700M and successor GeForce 900M; the R9 M360’s predecessor is Solar System and successor Polaris Mobile.

The Verdict

The data presents a curious case. The AMD Radeon R9 M360 wins the only direct benchmark by a wide margin, yet the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M has vastly superior hardware specifications on paper. The R9 M360’s 46.1 percent OpenCL victory suggests that GCN 1.0 is more efficient at compute tasks in this test, despite having one-third the shading units and less than one-third the FP32 throughput. The GTX 880M’s 3.050 TFLOPS versus 947.2 GFLOPS should theoretically dominate, but it does not in practice for this workload.

For users prioritizing OpenCL compute performance, the R9 M360 is the clear choice based on the head-to-head result. Its 8211 score versus 5622 is decisive and not close to being explained by the 1.1 percent average score gap. However, the GTX 880M offers advantages in raw memory bandwidth and capacity that could matter in other workloads not captured by this single benchmark. The 160.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB capacity are double the AMD part’s specs, which could benefit large textures or data sets.

The average scores tell a different story than the head-to-head. At 8129 versus 8040, the R9 M360 leads by only 89 points, which is within the noise of the rival comparisons. The GTX 880M’s nearest rivals include the Quadro P5000 at 8039 and GTX 650 Ti at 8053, showing it competes with desktop parts from earlier generations. The R9 M360’s rivals include the GTX 950M at 8135 and GTX 945M at 8099, indicating it trades blows with newer NVIDIA mobile parts.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R9 M360 wins decisively in OpenCL compute benchmarks, as shown by the 46.1 percent head-to-head victory. It also holds a slight edge in average benchmark score at 8129 versus 8040. The R9 M360’s smaller die and fewer transistors suggest better efficiency per transistor, and its DirectX 12 (11_1) support is a generation ahead of the GTX 880M’s 12 (11_0). For users running compute workloads or applications that leverage OpenCL, the R9 M360 is the stronger performer.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M wins on raw specification counts across the board: more shaders, more texture units, more ROPs, higher clocks, and significantly more memory bandwidth. The 160.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB capacity are the standout advantages, potentially enabling higher resolution textures and smoother performance in memory-bound scenarios. The GTX 880M also has a higher pixel rate at 31.78 GPixel/s versus 14.80 GPixel/s, and a higher texture rate at 127.1 GTexel/s versus 29.60 GTexel/s. For workloads that scale with raw fill rate or memory bandwidth rather than compute efficiency, the GTX 880M is the better option.

The verdict from the data is nuanced: the R9 M360 is the compute champion of this pair, while the GTX 880M is the specification heavyweight. Neither card dominates the other across all metrics, and the choice depends entirely on whether the application favors OpenCL compute or raw memory throughput. Both cards sit at the same 42nd percentile, reinforcing that they occupy similar performance tiers despite their architectural differences.