AMD Radeon RX 580 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon RX 580 across every shared benchmark. In the three tests where both GPUs have comparable measurements, the RX 580 wins all three with margins that range from substantial to overwhelming. The largest gap appears in Geekbench Metal, where the RX 580 scores 45,235 against the GTX 780M's 8,319, a difference of 443.8%. This is not a close contest; the RX 580 delivers more than five times the Metal performance of the older NVIDIA part.

The Geekbench Vulkan results tell a similar story. The RX 580 posts 45,173, while the GTX 780M manages only 12,696, putting the AMD card 255.8% ahead. Even in OpenCL, the closest of the three comparisons, the RX 580's 37,453 dwarfs the GTX 780M's 12,769 by 193.3%. Every head-to-head result favors the RX 580, and no benchmark in the shared set gives the GTX 780M a win.

Looking at broader averages, the RX 580 carries an average benchmark score of 12,928 across all recorded tests, while the GTX 780M sits at 11,261. That is a 14.8% advantage for the AMD card in aggregate performance. The RX 580 also ranks in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs in the database, compared to the 50th percentile for the GTX 780M. While both cards sit near the middle of the overall distribution, the RX 580's percentile is higher and its raw scores are consistently stronger.

The nearest rivals for each card help contextualize these numbers. The RX 580's average score of 12,928 places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940) and 0.4% behind the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12,986). It is also 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD FirePro W5100 (12,847). For the GTX 780M, the average of 11,261 puts it 0.3% ahead of both the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (11,228) and the AMD FirePro W4300 (11,225), and 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q (11,088) and RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q (11,088). In other words, the RX 580 competes with a much newer generation of midrange hardware, while the GTX 780M is grouped with professional workstation cards that score notably lower.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different design eras and foundries. The RX 580 uses the Polaris 20 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. The GTX 780M uses the GK104 chip with Kepler architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process. That process gap is significant: the RX 580 packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.6 million per mm². The GTX 780M contains 3,540 million transistors on a larger 294 mm² die, resulting in just 12.0 million per mm². The RX 580 achieves nearly double the transistor density despite having a smaller physical die.

Core configuration also favors the RX 580. The AMD card has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 780M has 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 580 leads in shader count by 50% and in TMU count by 12.5%, while ROP counts are equal. Clock speeds widen the gap further. The RX 580 runs at a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz. The GTX 780M operates at 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost. The RX 580's boost clock is 68% higher than the GTX 780M's.

These architectural and clock differences translate directly into throughput figures. The RX 580 delivers 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the GTX 780M delivers 2.448 TFLOPS. That is a 152% advantage for the AMD card. Pixel rate follows a similar pattern: 42.88 GPixel/s for the RX 580 versus 25.50 GPixel/s for the GTX 780M. Texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s for the RX 580 against 102.0 GTexel/s for the GTX 780M. The RX 580 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 (6.175 TFLOPS), while the GTX 780M has no recorded FP16 capability.

API support differs as well. The RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 780M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both cards support the same DirectX feature level for OpenGL, but the RX 580 has a newer Vulkan version and a higher DirectX feature level. Neither card includes ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 580 wins in every measurable category where both cards have data. Its dominance is most pronounced in Geekbench Metal, where it is 443.8% ahead. This makes it the clear choice for any application that leverages Apple's Metal API, whether for creative workloads or GPU compute. The 255.8% lead in Vulkan reinforces this position for cross-platform graphics and compute tasks. The 193.3% lead in OpenCL shows that even the RX 580's weakest shared benchmark still leaves the GTX 780M far behind.

For the GTX 780M, there is no benchmark in the shared set where it comes out ahead. Its only path to relevance is in legacy scenarios. The card uses the MXM-B form factor, which means it is designed for portable devices and modular laptop implementations. The RX 580 is a dual-slot desktop card with a 241 mm length and a 1x 8-pin power connector. Users with an MXM-based system cannot install the RX 580 without a complete platform change. The GTX 780M also draws less power at 122 W TDP versus 185 W for the RX 580, making it more suitable for constrained thermal envelopes.

The RX 580's additional memory capacity (8 GB versus 4 GB) and higher bandwidth (256.0 GB/s versus 160.0 GB/s) give it a clear advantage in texture-heavy workloads and larger frame buffers. The GTX 780M's 4 GB frame buffer may be sufficient for older titles, but the RX 580 offers headroom for modern games and higher resolution textures. The RX 580 also supports more display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, compared to the GTX 780M's portable-device-dependent outputs.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification field. The RX 580 uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the GTX 780M uses a 28 nm process from TSMC. Transistor counts are 5,700 million versus 3,540 million. Die size is 232 mm² for the RX 580 and 294 mm² for the GTX 780M. Transistor density is 24.6M per mm² versus 12.0M per mm².

Clock speeds: the RX 580 runs at 1257 MHz base and 1340 MHz boost. The GTX 780M runs at 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for the RX 580 and 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for the GTX 780M. Memory capacity is 8 GB GDDR5 for the RX 580 and 4 GB GDDR5 for the GTX 780M. Bus width is 256 bit for both, but bandwidth is 256.0 GB/s for the RX 580 versus 160.0 GB/s for the GTX 780M.

Compute resources: the RX 580 has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 780M has 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 580 achieves 42.88 GPixel/s and 193.0 GTexel/s. The GTX 780M achieves 25.50 GPixel/s and 102.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 6.175 TFLOPS for the RX 580 and 2.448 TFLOPS for the GTX 780M. The RX 580 has FP16 at 6.175 TFLOPS (1:1); the GTX 780M has no FP16 data.

Power and physical specifications differ significantly. The RX 580 has a 185 W TDP, is dual-slot, requires a 1x 8-pin connector, and needs a 450 W suggested PSU. The GTX 780M has a 122 W TDP, uses an MXM module form factor, has no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU. The RX 580 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the GTX 780M uses MXM-B (3.0). Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for the RX 580, versus portable-device-dependent outputs for the GTX 780M.

API support: the RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 780M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 580 was released on 2017-04-17, while the GTX 780M was released on 2013-05-10. The RX 580 has a launch MSRP of 229 USD. The GTX 780M has no recorded launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench Metal?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 45,235 versus 8,319 for the GTX 780M, a 443.8% advantage for the RX 580.

Q: How do the two cards compare in compute performance?

A: The RX 580 delivers 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the GTX 780M delivers 2.448 TFLOPS. The RX 580 is 152% ahead in raw FP32 throughput.

Q: What is the memory difference between the two GPUs?

A: The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 780M has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: No. The RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 780M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RX 580 has 24.6 million transistors per mm², while the GTX 780M has 12.0 million per mm². The RX 580 also has more total transistors (5,700 million versus 3,540 million) on a smaller die (232 mm² versus 294 mm²).

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 580 has a 185 W TDP, uses a 1x 8-pin power connector, and requires a 450 W suggested PSU. The GTX 780M has a 122 W TDP and uses no power connectors.

The Verdict

The data points to one conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the superior GPU in every shared benchmark. It wins all three head-to-head tests with deltas of 443.8%, 255.8%, and 193.3%. It has a higher average benchmark score (12,928 versus 11,261), a higher percentile rank (53rd versus 50th), more memory, higher bandwidth, more shading units, higher clocks, and significantly more compute throughput. There is no recorded benchmark where the GTX 780M beats the RX 580.

Who should pick the RX 580? Anyone who needs raw performance, modern API support, large frame buffers, or desktop connectivity. The 8 GB frame buffer, 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, and Vulkan 1.3 support make it suitable for current games and GPU-accelerated workloads. The dual-slot design and 1x 8-pin power connector fit standard desktop systems with a 450 W PSU.

Who should pick the GTX 780M? Only those constrained by form-factor compatibility. The MXM module design and lack of power connectors make it the only option for portable devices designed around the GeForce 700M generation. Its 122 W TDP is lower than the RX 580's 185 W, which matters in thermally limited laptops. But the performance gap is so large that any user with a choice of platform should favor the RX 580. The GTX 780M's 50th percentile ranking and grouping with workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 and FirePro W4300 confirm that it belongs to a slower era of mobile graphics. For desktop users, the RX 580 is the verdict.