AMD Radeon R9 M375X vs NVIDIA GeForce 945M Comparison

The AMD Radeon R9 M375X and NVIDIA GeForce 945M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from the 2015 era, built on the same 28 nm TSMC process. The data shows a remarkably close contest, with the AMD part holding a narrow edge in the only shared benchmark, while the NVIDIA part counters with a different feature set and memory configuration. The average benchmark scores place both firmly in the mid-range of the GPU landscape, with the R9 M375X at 8325 and the GeForce 945M at 8099, a difference of just 2.8%.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375X has an average benchmark score of 8325, which is 2.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 945M's average of 8099.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375X scores 8273, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M scores 8099. This gives the AMD part a 2.1% advantage in this specific test, as indicated by the head-to-head benchmark data.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375X uses 2 GB of GDDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 72.00 GB/s, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory with a much lower bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. Both have a 128-bit memory bus.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock speed?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 945M has a boost clock of 1020 MHz, which is slightly higher than the AMD Radeon R9 M375X's boost clock of 1015 MHz. The base clocks are nearly identical, at 928 MHz for NVIDIA and 925 MHz for AMD.

Q: How does the transistor count and die size compare?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 945M packs 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, while the AMD Radeon R9 M375X has 1,500 million transistors on a smaller 123 mm² die. The transistor density is similar, with NVIDIA at 12.6M / mm² and AMD at 12.2M / mm².

Q: What is the performance percentile ranking for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M375X sits at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M is at the 42nd percentile. This indicates both are positioned just below the midpoint of the performance spectrum.

The Verdict

The benchmark data paints a clear, if narrow, picture. The AMD Radeon R9 M375X is the faster GPU overall, winning the sole head-to-head benchmark and holding a higher average score. Its advantage in the Geekbench OpenCL test is 2.1%, and its average score is 2.8% higher than the NVIDIA part. The R9 M375X also benefits from GDDR5 memory, which provides over double the bandwidth of the 945M's DDR3, a significant factor in memory-bound workloads. Data suggests this is the pick for users prioritizing raw compute performance in OpenCL applications.

The NVIDIA GeForce 945M, while slightly slower in the aggregate, is not without merit. It matches the AMD part in core counts, with 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, and has a marginally higher boost clock. Its strength lies in its feature set, supporting Vulkan 1.4 compared to AMD's 1.2.170, and a higher DirectX version of 12 (11_0) versus AMD's 12 (11_1). For users who value broader API compatibility or who are locked into NVIDIA-specific software ecosystems, the 945M remains a viable option, but the data shows it is outgunned on raw performance.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is a close affair. The AMD Radeon R9 M375X scores 8273, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M scores 8099. This yields a delta of 2.1% in favor of the AMD part, a margin that is meaningful but not overwhelming. In the context of their nearest rivals, this victory is consistent with the AMD card's overall standing. The R9 M375X sits just 0.7% above the NVIDIA Quadro K1200 (8265) and 1.2% below the GeForce GTX 675MX (8427). The 945M, on the other hand, is 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GRID K2 (8080) and 0.4% behind the GeForce GTX 950M (8135).

The average benchmark scores reinforce the head-to-head result. The R9 M375X's average of 8325 places it 1.6% below the GeForce MX330 (8458) and 1.3% below the AMD Radeon 880M (8436). The 945M's average of 8099 puts it 0.4% below the Radeon R9 M360 (8129) and 0.4% above the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (8067). The data shows that the R9 M375X consistently edges out its rival in compute tasks, but both cards are clustered tightly with their peers, indicating that neither holds a decisive advantage in the wider mobile GPU landscape.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs diverge most sharply in their memory subsystems. The AMD Radeon R9 M375X is equipped with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory running at 1125 MHz with a 4.5 Gbps effective rate, delivering a bandwidth of 72.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA GeForce 945M uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory at 900 MHz with a 1800 Mbps effective rate, resulting in a bandwidth of just 28.80 GB/s. Both use a 128-bit bus, but the memory type difference is stark, with the AMD part offering 150% more bandwidth.

Clock speeds are another point of difference, though minor. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 928 MHz and a boost clock of 1020 MHz, while the AMD card runs at 925 MHz base and 1015 MHz boost. This gives the NVIDIA part a 3 MHz advantage at base and a 5 MHz advantage at boost. The compute rates are nearly identical as a result: the R9 M375X delivers 1,299.2 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the 945M delivers 1,305.6 GFLOPS. Pixel rates are also close, with the AMD card at 16.24 GPixel/s and the NVIDIA card at 16.32 GPixel/s, and texture rates are similarly matched at 40.60 GTexel/s versus 40.80 GTexel/s.

The physical and interface specifications also differ. The NVIDIA GeForce 945M is an MXM Module with an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface and a TDP of 75 W, while the AMD Radeon R9 M375X lists no TDP, slot width, or power connector details, and uses a standard PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. The NVIDIA card also specifies "Portable Device Dependent" for display outputs, while the AMD card lists none. The AMD part was released on May 4, 2015, while the NVIDIA part followed later on October 26, 2015.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is fundamental. The AMD Radeon R9 M375X is built on the Tropo chip using the GCN 1.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M uses the GM107 chip with the Maxwell architecture. Both are fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the underlying designs differ significantly. The R9 M375X belongs to the "Gem System (R9 M300)" generation, with its predecessor being the "Solar System" and its successor the "Polaris Mobile". The 945M is part of the "GeForce 900M" generation, succeeding the "GeForce 800M" and preceding "GeForce 10 Mobile".

The chip complexity favors NVIDIA. The GM107 packs 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, compared to the Tropo's 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. This gives the NVIDIA chip a higher transistor density of 12.6M per mm² versus 12.2M for AMD, indicating a more compact design that likely contributes to its higher clock speeds. Despite this, the core configuration is identical: both feature 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This means the performance difference comes down to memory bandwidth and clock speed, not core count.

The API support is another architectural differentiator. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The higher Vulkan version on the NVIDIA part suggests a more modern driver stack for that API, while the AMD part has a slightly higher DirectX feature level. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as indicated by the null values, so both rely on traditional rasterization and compute paths for their respective architectures.