AMD Radeon RX 6500M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M and AMD Radeon RX 6500M represent two very different eras of mobile graphics, separated by nearly a decade of architectural evolution. The GTX 780M is a Kepler-based flagship from 2013, designed for large gaming laptops with a 122 W TDP, while the RX 6500M is a modern RDNA 2.0 part from 2022, built on a 6 nm process with a 50 W TDP. Benchmark data shows the RX 6500M dominating in raw compute and graphics workloads, but the GTX 780M still holds relevance in specific legacy contexts. This analysis walks through the benchmark results, architectural differences, and specification gaps to clarify where each GPU stands.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6500M wins outright in both head-to-head benchmarks available in the data. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6500M scores 38,586 against the GTX 780M’s 12,769, a delta of -66.9% from the perspective of the NVIDIA part. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6500M scores 43,837 versus 12,696, a delta of -71%. These are decisive victories, indicating that the RX 6500M is roughly three times faster in OpenCL and nearly 3.5 times faster in Vulkan. The wins are not marginal; they represent a generational leap in compute throughput, driven by the RX 6500M’s higher clock speeds, newer architecture, and superior shader efficiency.

The GTX 780M, however, does not win any of the head-to-head benchmarks in the FACT PACK. Its strengths lie in its average benchmark score and percentile placement, not in direct competition with the RX 6500M. The GTX 780M has an average benchmark score of 11,261 and sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6500M averages 10,362 and sits at the 48th percentile. This is counterintuitive given the head-to-head results, but it reflects the fact that the GTX 780M’s benchmark set includes only Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, whereas the RX 6500M’s set includes a broader range of Passmark tests, which pull its average down. In the specific tests where both are measured, the RX 6500M is clearly superior.

For use-case splits, the RX 6500M is the clear choice for any modern workload that leverages Vulkan or OpenCL, such as gaming with modern APIs, compute tasks, or content creation. The GTX 780M, with its older Kepler architecture and DirectX 12 (11_0) support, is better suited for legacy applications or scenarios where the MXM Module form factor is required, though its performance ceiling is far lower. The data shows that the RX 6500M wins on raw speed, while the GTX 780M holds a slight edge in average benchmark score due to its narrower test set.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the data, the AMD Radeon RX 6500M is the superior GPU for virtually all modern use cases. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 66.9% and 71%, respectively, and offers nearly double the FP32 throughput at 4.915 TFLOPS versus 2.448 TFLOPS for the GTX 780M. The RX 6500M also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, compared to the GTX 780M’s DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175, making it future-proof for newer titles and APIs.

The GTX 780M, however, is not without merit. Its average benchmark score of 11,261 is higher than the RX 6500M’s 10,362, and it ranks at the 50th percentile versus the RX 6500M’s 48th. This suggests that in certain legacy workloads—particularly those that rely on Metal or older OpenCL paths—the GTX 780M can outperform the RX 6500M. The GTX 780M also has a wider 256-bit memory bus and 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus the RX 6500M’s 64-bit bus and 144.0 GB/s, which could matter in memory-bound legacy scenarios.

For the buyer, the data says this: pick the RX 6500M if you need modern API support, high compute performance, or efficiency (50 W TDP versus 122 W). Pick the GTX 780M only if you are constrained to an MXM Module slot and require its specific form factor, or if your software stack is tied to Kepler-era features. The RX 6500M wins on performance, architecture, and feature set; the GTX 780M wins only on average benchmark score and percentile, which are narrow metrics that favor its limited test suite.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most telling result is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6500M scores 38,586 against the GTX 780M’s 12,769. The delta of -66.9% indicates that the GTX 780M is less than one-third as fast as the RX 6500M in this compute-heavy test. This massive gap is explained by the RX 6500M’s 2,000 MHz base clock and 2,400 MHz boost clock, compared to the GTX 780M’s 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost. Even though the GTX 780M has more shading units (1,536 versus 1,024), the RX 6500M’s clocks are nearly three times higher, and its RDNA 2.0 architecture is far more efficient per clock.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further. The RX 6500M scores 43,837, while the GTX 780M manages 12,696, a delta of -71%. Vulkan is a modern low-level API that benefits from the RX 6500M’s dedicated ray accelerators (16 RT cores) and newer instruction set. The GTX 780M, with no ray tracing support and a DirectX 12 (11_0) feature level, cannot compete. The RX 6500M’s pixel rate of 76.80 GPixel/s and texture rate of 153.6 GTexel/s dwarf the GTX 780M’s 25.50 GPixel/s and 102.0 GTexel/s, confirming that the AMD part is faster in both fill-rate and texture-bound tasks.

There are no benchmarks where the GTX 780M wins, so the head-to-head data is one-sided. The RX 6500M’s wins are not just numerical; they are proportional and consistent across both API tests. The only area where the GTX 780M shows parity is in average benchmark score, but that is an aggregate across different test sets and does not reflect a direct comparison.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M has an average benchmark score of 11,261, while the AMD Radeon RX 6500M averages 10,362. This puts the GTX 780M at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, versus the RX 6500M at the 48th percentile.

Q: How much faster is the RX 6500M in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 6500M scores 38,586 in Geekbench OpenCL, compared to the GTX 780M’s 12,769. The delta is -66.9%, meaning the GTX 780M is roughly one-third as fast.

Q: Does the GTX 780M support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 780M has no RT cores listed in the FACT PACK, whereas the RX 6500M has 16 RT cores. The GTX 780M’s DirectX support is 12 (11_0), which lacks the full ray tracing features of DirectX 12 Ultimate.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The GTX 780M has a 256-bit bus and 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 6500M has a 64-bit bus and 144.0 GB/s bandwidth. Despite the narrower bus, the RX 6500M is within 10% of the GTX 780M’s bandwidth due to faster GDDR6 memory at 18 Gbps effective versus 5 Gbps effective.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The RX 6500M has a transistor density of 50.5M / mm², compared to the GTX 780M’s 12.0M / mm². This reflects the RX 6500M’s 6 nm process node versus the GTX 780M’s 28 nm node.

Q: How do the TDPs compare?

A: The RX 6500M has a TDP of 50 W, while the GTX 780M has a TDP of 122 W. The RX 6500M delivers significantly higher performance while consuming less than half the power.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is stark. The GTX 780M is built on NVIDIA’s Kepler architecture, using the GK104 chip manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.0M / mm². Kepler was designed for the early 2010s, with a focus on raw shader count over efficiency. The GTX 780M has 1,536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, but no RT cores or tensor cores, as those concepts did not exist in consumer GPUs at the time.

The RX 6500M, in contrast, uses AMD’s RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on the Navi 24 chip with a 6 nm process at TSMC. It has 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, giving it a much higher transistor density of 50.5M / mm². RDNA 2.0 is a modern architecture that includes 16 RT cores for hardware ray tracing, a feature completely absent from the GTX 780M. The RX 6500M also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 780M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 6500M’s FP16 throughput of 9.830 TFLOPS (2:1) is a capability the GTX 780M lacks entirely, as its FP16 field is null.

The manufacturing process difference is critical. The 6 nm node allows the RX 6500M to clock at 2,000 MHz base and 2,400 MHz boost, versus the GTX 780M’s 771 MHz base and 797 MHz boost. This clock advantage, combined with RDNA 2.0’s higher instructions-per-clock, explains why the RX 6500M achieves 4.915 TFLOPS FP32 despite having fewer shading units. The GTX 780M’s 2.448 TFLOPS is less than half. The RX 6500M also has a game clock of 2,191 MHz, a feature the GTX 780M lacks.

Specification Differences

Comparing the specifications where the two differ reveals the full picture. The GTX 780M uses GDDR5 memory at 1,250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), while the RX 6500M uses GDDR6 at 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). Both have 4 GB of memory, but the bus widths diverge: the GTX 780M has a 256-bit bus, and the RX 6500M has a 64-bit bus. This results in bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s for the GTX 780M and 144.0 GB/s for the RX 6500M, a relatively small difference given the bus width disparity.

The shading unit count favors the GTX 780M (1,536 versus 1,024), as does TMU count (128 versus 64). However, the RX 6500M matches the GTX 780M in ROPs with 32 each. The pixel rate tells the real story: the RX 6500M achieves 76.80 GPixel/s versus the GTX 780M’s 25.50 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 153.6 GTexel/s versus 102.0 GTexel/s. The GTX 780M has a TDP of 122 W and uses an MXM Module slot, while the RX 6500M has a 50 W TDP and is an IGP with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface. Both are end-of-life products, but the GTX 780M was released on 2013-05-10, while the RX 6500M came out on 2022-01-03.

The GTX 780M’s predecessor is the GeForce 600M, with the GeForce 800M as its successor. The RX 6500M’s predecessor is the Polaris Mobile, and it has no successor listed. The GTX 780M has no launch MSRP, and neither does the RX 6500M, so no pricing data is available. The GTX 780M supports OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.175, while the RX 6500M supports OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The display outputs are portable-device dependent for both, reflecting their mobile nature.