AMD Radeon RX 6400 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M vs AMD Radeon RX 6400

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M and AMD Radeon RX 6400 represent two very different eras of mobile graphics. The GTX 580M is a 2011-era Fermi-based part designed for large gaming laptops, while the RX 6400 is a 2022 RDNA 2 discrete card aimed at entry-level desktop builds. In the single shared benchmark, the RX 6400 delivers a decisive victory, but the comparison reveals deeper architectural shifts that go far beyond raw score differences.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU scores higher in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6400 scores 32,011, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M scores 6,389. The RX 6400 leads by 80%, which is the only head-to-head benchmark available in the data.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in overall benchmark percentile ranking?

A: The GTX 580M sits at the 37th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6400 sits at the 35th percentile. Despite the RX 6400's massive OpenCL win, its average benchmark score (6,001) is actually lower than the GTX 580M's average (6,389), because the RX 6400 has additional lower-scoring tests included in its average.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card according to the data?

A: The GTX 580M's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE with an identical average score of 6,389 (0% delta). The RX 6400's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M at 6,000 (0% delta), with the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server just 0.1% behind.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The GTX 580M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6400 uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus but achieves higher bandwidth at 128.0 GB/s due to faster memory clocks.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The GTX 580M has a TDP of 100 W, while the RX 6400 consumes only 53 W. The RX 6400 also has a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the GTX 580M's power supply recommendation is not listed in the data.

Q: Which card supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The RX 6400 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 580M only supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and has no Vulkan support listed. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture: the AMD Radeon RX 6400 is the superior choice for anyone running modern workloads that leverage current APIs and higher compute throughput. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 32,011 versus the GTX 580M's 6,389 represents a 401% raw performance advantage, and it does so while consuming nearly half the power (53 W vs 100 W). The RX 6400 also brings 4 GB of VRAM, ray tracing cores, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, making it viable for contemporary gaming and compute tasks.

However, the GTX 580M is not without its own merits in context. Its 256-bit memory bus and 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, combined with a 37th percentile ranking versus the RX 6400's 35th, suggest it holds its own in older DirectX 9/10/11 workloads. For retro gaming or legacy applications that don't leverage modern features, the GTX 580M's architecture may still be relevant. Yet the RX 6400's average benchmark score of 6,001, while lower than the GTX 580M's 6,389, is dragged down by low-scoring synthetic tests like PassMark DirectX 9 (93) and DirectX 10 (54), which don't reflect its real-world capability in modern titles.

The verdict is straightforward: if you need modern features, efficiency, and raw compute, choose the RX 6400. If you're specifically targeting legacy DirectX 9/10 workloads and value the wider memory bus, the GTX 580M remains a functional option, but the data shows it is vastly outclassed in every measurable modern metric.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Radeon RX 6400 crushes the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M by 80%. The RX 6400's score of 32,011 versus 6,389 is not a marginal win—it's a generational gap. To put this in perspective, the GTX 580M's nearest rival in the overall database is the GTX 460 SE at exactly 6,389 (0% delta), while the RX 6400 sits alongside the GTX 770M at 6,000 (0% delta). The difference between these two cards' OpenCL scores is larger than the difference between the GTX 580M and cards scoring in the low 6,000s.

Digging into the RX 6400's broader benchmark suite reveals why its average score is lower than its OpenCL result. It scores 7,673 in PassMark G3D, 2,812 in GPU Compute, and 722 in G2D, but only 93 in DirectX 9, 70 in DirectX 11, 54 in DirectX 10, and 30 in DirectX 12. These older API tests clearly penalize the modern RDNA 2 architecture, likely due to driver overhead or architectural differences in how legacy instructions are handled. The GTX 580M, by contrast, has no such additional benchmark data—only its single OpenCL score.

The delta of -80% in the head-to-head means the RX 6400 is 80% faster than the GTX 580M in OpenCL, but the raw score ratio (32,011 / 6,389) is actually 5.01x. This discrepancy highlights that the deltaPct field measures relative improvement, not multiplicative factor. Either way, the RX 6400's compute advantage is unambiguous.

Specification Differences

The memory subsystems tell a fascinating story. The GTX 580M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6400 uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yet achieves 128.0 GB/s—33% more bandwidth despite a quarter of the bus width. This is entirely due to the RX 6400's 16 Gbps effective memory speed versus the GTX 580M's 3 Gbps. The GTX 580M's memory clock is listed at 750 MHz, while the RX 6400's memory runs at 2000 MHz base.

The compute resources differ dramatically. The GTX 580M has 384 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 6400 has 768 shading units (double), 48 TMUs (fewer), and 32 ROPs (same). The RX 6400 also adds 12 ray tracing cores, which the GTX 580M lacks entirely. In terms of throughput, the RX 6400's pixel rate of 74.27 GPixel/s is 7.5x the GTX 580M's 9.920 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s is 2.8x the GTX 580M's 39.68 GTexel/s.

The RX 6400's FP32 compute of 3.565 TFLOPS is 3.7x the GTX 580M's 952.3 GFLOPS. The RX 6400 also supports FP16 at 7.130 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 580M has no FP16 capability listed. Clock speeds are drastically different: the RX 6400 runs at 1923 MHz base, 2039 MHz game, and 2321 MHz boost, whereas the GTX 580M has no base or boost clocks listed—only its memory clock.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on radically different processes and architectures. The GTX 580M uses the GF114 chip on TSMC's 40 nm process, with 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die. The RX 6400 uses the Navi 24 chip on TSMC's 6 nm process, packing 5,400 million transistors into just 107 mm². This is the most striking contrast: the RX 6400 has 2.8x more transistors in one-third the die area, yielding a transistor density of 50.5M per mm² versus the GTX 580M's 5.9M per mm²—an 8.6x density advantage.

The GTX 580M is based on Fermi 2.0 architecture and belongs to the GeForce 500M generation, with predecessors in the GeForce 400M line and successors in the 600M series. The RX 6400 uses RDNA 2.0, belongs to the Radeon RX 6000 series (Navi II generation), and follows the Navi predecessor with Navi III as its successor. The GTX 580M's DirectX support is 12 (11_0), meaning it technically supports DX12 but only at the feature level of DX11. The RX 6400 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing, mesh shaders, and variable rate shading. The RX 6400 also lists Vulkan 1.4 support, while the GTX 580M has no Vulkan entry.

The GTX 580M is an MXM module with an MXM-B (3.0) interface, designed for notebook upgrades. The RX 6400 is a single-slot PCIe 4.0 x4 card with display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the GTX 580M's display outputs are "Portable Device Dependent." The RX 6400 has a launch MSRP of 159 USD, while the GTX 580M's launch MSRP is not listed.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon RX 6400 wins in:

• Compute performance: 32,011 vs 6,389 in OpenCL (80% lead)
• Memory capacity and bandwidth: 4 GB GDDR6 at 128.0 GB/s vs 2 GB GDDR5 at 96.00 GB/s
• Power efficiency: 53 W TDP vs 100 W TDP
• Modern API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, FP16 compute, ray tracing
• Pixel and texture throughput: 74.27 GPixel/s and 111.4 GTexel/s vs 9.920 GPixel/s and 39.68 GTexel/s
• Transistor density and process technology: 6 nm vs 40 nm

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M wins in:

• Average benchmark score: 6,389 vs 6,001 (6.5% higher)
• Percentile ranking: 37th vs 35th percentile
• Memory bus width: 256-bit vs 64-bit
• TMU count: 64 vs 48
• Legacy DirectX 9/10/11 compatibility is implied by its older architecture, though the RX 6400's low scores in those tests (93, 54, 70) suggest the GTX 580M may perform relatively better there—though no direct data confirms this

The data suggests the RX 6400 is the clear choice for modern gaming and compute, while the GTX 580M's higher average score and percentile ranking indicate it may still be competitive in older workloads. However, the RX 6400's low PassMark DirectX scores (30 in DX12, 93 in DX9) are puzzling—they suggest either driver limitations or architectural inefficiencies in legacy paths, which could make the GTX 580M a better option for DX9-era titles. The 256-bit bus of the GTX 580M also provides higher theoretical bandwidth efficiency in memory-heavy legacy scenarios, though the RX 6400's faster memory clock compensates with higher absolute bandwidth.