AMD Radeon Vega 8 vs NVIDIA GeForce 945M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark recorded in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the AMD Radeon Vega 8 scores 8822, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M scores 8099. That places the AMD part 8.9% ahead of the NVIDIA part, a clear but not overwhelming margin. The result is unambiguous: the Vega 8 wins the sole head-to-head comparison, with the GeForce 945M trailing in every matched test.

Looking at the broader benchmark averages, the AMD Radeon Vega 8 records an average score of 9221 across all tests, which combines its Geekbench Metal result of 10706, its OpenCL score of 8822, and its Vulkan score of 8134. The NVIDIA GeForce 945M, by contrast, has only a single recorded benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL score of 8099, which also serves as its average. The difference in average scores is 13.9% in favor of the AMD part, but this comparison is skewed by the fact that the Vega 8 has three benchmark entries including a strong Metal result, while the 945M has just one.

The percentile rankings reinforce the same hierarchy. The AMD Radeon Vega 8 sits at the 45th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M sits at the 42nd percentile. This is a modest but consistent separation: the Vega 8 lands in a slightly higher tier of overall performance. The nearest rivals for each part confirm that both are positioned in a crowded mid-range segment. The Vega 8's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon 890M, with an average score of 9210, a mere 0.1% difference. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 scores 9273, which is 0.6% higher than the Vega 8, and the GTX 465 scores 9294, 0.8% higher. The GTX 850M is 0.9% ahead at 9302. For the GeForce 945M, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GRID K2 at 8080 (0.2% lower), followed by the AMD Radeon R9 M360 at 8129 (0.4% higher), the GTX 650 Ti Boost at 8067 (0.4% lower), and the GTX 950M at 8135 (0.4% higher). What this shows is that the Vega 8 competes against a slightly faster cluster of cards, while the 945M sits in a slightly slower cluster. The 8.9% head-to-head delta is consistent with this overall positioning.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Vega 8 is built on the GCN 5.0 architecture, using the Raven chip, and is classified as a Vega IGP from the Raven Ridge generation. It is fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with a die size of 210 mm² and 4,940 million transistors. The transistor density works out to 23.5 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce 945M, in contrast, uses the Maxwell architecture with the GM107 chip, belonging to the GeForce 900M generation. It is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with a smaller die of 148 mm² and 1,870 million transistors, giving a density of 12.6 million per mm². The process node advantage is significant: the Vega 8 packs more than 2.6 times the transistors into a die that is roughly 42% larger, which explains its higher density.

The core configurations also differ markedly. The Vega 8 has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 8 render output units. The 945M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. In raw unit counts, the NVIDIA part has 25% more shaders, 25% more TMUs, and double the ROPs. However, the clock speeds tell a different story. The Vega 8 runs at a base clock of 300 MHz and boosts to 1100 MHz. The 945M has a base clock of 928 MHz and a boost of 1020 MHz. The NVIDIA part starts much higher but its boost is only 92 MHz above base, while the AMD part has a massive 800 MHz boost headroom. The resulting pixel rate for the Vega 8 is 8.800 GPixel/s, while the 945M achieves 16.32 GPixel/s. Texture rates are 35.20 GTexel/s for the AMD and 40.80 GTexel/s for the NVIDIA. In floating-point performance, the 945M leads with 1,305.6 GFLOPS FP32 versus 1,126.4 GFLOPS for the Vega 8. The Vega 8 does offer FP16 support at 2.253 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the 945M has no recorded FP16 capability.

Memory architecture is another major divider. The Vega 8 uses system shared memory, with the size, type, bus width, and bandwidth all marked as system dependent. The 945M has dedicated 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock for the 945M is recorded at 900 MHz with 1800 Mbps effective. The Vega 8's memory performance is entirely contingent on the host system's RAM configuration, making it highly variable, whereas the 945M has a fixed, predictable memory subsystem. The power envelopes are also distinct: the Vega 8 is rated at 25 W TDP as an integrated graphics processor, while the 945M is rated at 75 W TDP as an MXM module. The bus interfaces reflect this, with the Vega 8 using an IGP connection and the 945M using MXM-B (3.0). Display outputs are motherboard dependent for the AMD part and portable device dependent for the NVIDIA part.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Vega 8 wins in the compute-oriented workloads that the database measures. Its Geekbench Metal score of 10706 is its strongest result, and its OpenCL score of 8822 beats the 945M's OpenCL score of 8099 by 8.9%. The Vega 8 also has a Vulkan score of 8134, which is higher than the 945M's sole OpenCL result, though the tests are not directly comparable across different APIs. The Vega 8's advantage in OpenCL suggests it handles general-purpose compute tasks, particularly those leveraging the GCN architecture's asynchronous compute capabilities, with greater efficiency. The FP16 support at 2.253 TFLOPS is a specific capability the NVIDIA part lacks entirely, which could matter for applications that use reduced-precision arithmetic.

The NVIDIA GeForce 945M wins in raw rasterization throughput. Its pixel rate of 16.32 GPixel/s is nearly double the Vega 8's 8.800 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 40.80 GTexel/s exceeds the AMD part's 35.20 GTexel/s. The 945M also has double the ROP count (16 versus 8) and a higher FP32 throughput at 1,305.6 GFLOPS. For traditional gaming workloads that are fill-rate bound, the 945M's dedicated 2 GB VRAM with fixed 28.80 GB/s bandwidth provides a consistency advantage, since the Vega 8 must contend with system memory that may be slower or shared with the CPU. The 945M's higher base clock of 928 MHz also means it delivers performance more consistently at idle and low-load states, whereas the Vega 8 relies heavily on its boost clock to reach competitive levels.

In terms of API support, the Vega 8 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The 945M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vega 8 has a higher DirectX feature level, which could enable newer rendering features, while the 945M has a newer Vulkan version. The database records the 945M as having a successor in the GeForce 10 Mobile series and a predecessor in the GeForce 800M series, while the Vega 8's predecessor is GCN 3.0 IGP and its successor is Vega II IGP. Both are end-of-life products, with release dates of 2018-02-11 for the Vega 8 and 2015-10-26 for the 945M.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 8 has an average benchmark score of 9221, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M has an average score of 8099. The Vega 8 is 13.9% higher, though this is based on three benchmark entries for the AMD part versus a single OpenCL entry for the NVIDIA part.

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

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 8 scores 8822, and the NVIDIA GeForce 945M scores 8099. The Vega 8 wins by 8.9%, which is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each GPU?

A: The Vega 8's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon 890M at 9210 (0.1% difference), followed by the GTX 960 at 9273 (0.6% higher), the GTX 465 at 9294 (0.8% higher), and the GTX 850M at 9302 (0.9% higher). The 945M's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GRID K2 at 8080 (0.2% lower), followed by the R9 M360 at 8129 (0.4% higher), the GTX 650 Ti Boost at 8067 (0.4% lower), and the GTX 950M at 8135 (0.4% higher).

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 945M has 640 shading units, while the AMD Radeon Vega 8 has 512. The 945M also has 40 TMUs and 16 ROPs, versus 32 TMUs and 8 ROPs for the Vega 8.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 8 is rated at 25 W TDP, while the NVIDIA GeForce 945M is rated at 75 W TDP. The Vega 8 is an integrated GPU (IGP), whereas the 945M is an MXM module.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce 945M support FP16 computation?

A: No. The database lists no FP16 value for the 945M. The AMD Radeon Vega 8, by contrast, supports FP16 at 2.253 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio.

Specification Differences

The table below lists only the fields where the two GPUs differ, based on the recorded data.

| Field | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | NVIDIA GeForce 945M |

|---|---|---|

| Manufacturer | AMD | NVIDIA |

| Chip | Raven | GM107 |

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Maxwell |

| Generation | Vega IGP (Raven Ridge) | GeForce 900M |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 28 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 4,940 million | 1,870 million |

| Die Size | 210 mm² | 148 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 23.5M / mm² | 12.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 300 MHz | 928 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1100 MHz | 1020 MHz |

| Memory Clock | System Shared | 900 MHz, 1800 Mbps effective |

| Memory Size | System Shared | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | System Shared | DDR3 |

| Memory Bus Width | System Shared | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | System Dependent | 28.80 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 640 |

| TMUs | 32 | 40 |

| ROPs | 8 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 8.800 GPixel/s | 16.32 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 35.20 GTexel/s | 40.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,126.4 GFLOPS | 1,305.6 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | 2.253 TFLOPS (2:1) | Not recorded |

| TDP | 25 W | 75 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | MXM Module |

| Bus Interface | IGP | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Display Outputs | Motherboard Dependent | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2018-02-11 | 2015-10-26 |

| Predecessor | GCN 3.0 IGP | GeForce 800M |

| Successor | Vega II IGP | GeForce 10 Mobile |

| Geekbench OpenCL Score | 8822 | 8099 |

| Average Benchmark Score | 9221 | 8099 |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 45 | 42 |