AMD Radeon HD 7670M

The AMD Radeon HD 7670M is a mobile graphics solution from the London generation, built on the TeraScale 2 architecture with a 40 nm process at TSMC. It integrates 716 million transistors on a 118 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 6.1M per mm². The GPU operates with a memory clock of 900 MHz, translating to 1800 Mbps effective, and was released on February 16, 2012, with a production status of end-of-life.

Memory Subsystem

The Radeon HD 7670M is equipped with 1024 MB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus interface, yielding a total memory bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. This configuration is characteristic of entry-level mobile GPUs of its era, designed to balance power consumption with adequate frame buffer capacity for mainstream resolutions. The 128-bit bus width is a limiting factor compared to higher-tier parts, as it constrains the amount of data that can be transferred between the GPU and memory per clock cycle. For high-resolution gaming, the 1024 MB capacity can become a bottleneck in scenarios requiring large texture sets, but the effective bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s is sufficient for older titles and less demanding workloads. The DDR3 type, while not as fast as GDDR5, aligns with the power envelope of the chip, which is rated at a 20 W TDP. The pixel rate stands at 9.600 GPixel/s, and the texture rate at 14.40 GTexel/s, both of which are direct consequences of the memory subsystem's throughput and the core configuration. In practice, the memory subsystem's performance will be most noticeable at higher resolutions, where bandwidth demands increase, but the data suggests this GPU is better suited for 720p or lower settings rather than 1080p with high detail.

How It Compares

The Radeon HD 7670M sits in a tightly contested segment of the mobile GPU market, with its nearest rivals separated by only a few percentage points in average benchmark scores. Against the NVIDIA GeForce 610M, the HD 7670M holds a marginal lead of 1.2%, placing it slightly ahead in raw OpenCL performance. This is a negligible difference in real-world terms, indicating the two solutions are effectively interchangeable in performance. The ATI Radeon HD 5570, an older desktop part, trails by 2.4% in average score, suggesting the mobile HD 7670M manages to outperform a previous-generation desktop GPU, which is a notable feat given the thermal constraints of mobile platforms. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M, despite a higher model number, is 4% behind the HD 7670M, showing that newer naming schemes do not always correlate with superior performance. Finally, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX is 4.8% slower than the HD 7670M, reinforcing the idea that this AMD part is competitive with a range of low-end NVIDIA offerings. The percentile ranking of 7% against all GPUs indicates that the HD 7670M is in the lower quartile of overall performance, but within its immediate peer group, it holds a slight edge over two of four rivals.

Benchmark Performance

The sole benchmark result available for the Radeon HD 7670M is Geekbench OpenCL, where it achieves a score of 1400. This score serves as the average benchmark score and places the GPU at the 7th percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms only 7% of the broader database. The FP32 compute capability is 576.0 GFLOPS, derived from 480 shading units operating at the given clocks, which is a modest figure for modern standards but acceptable for the target market. Comparing to the nearest rivals, the delta percentages reveal a clustering of performance: the GeForce 610M scores 1383, a 1.2% deficit, while the HD 5570 scores 1367, a 2.4% deficit. The GeForce 800M scores 1458, which is 4% higher than the HD 7670M, and the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1470, 4.8% higher. The data indicates that the HD 7670M is positioned between these two groups, outperforming the 610M and HD 5570 but losing to the 800M and GT 520MX. In practical terms, a 4-5% difference is within the margin of error for many applications, but it does establish a clear hierarchy where the NVIDIA parts have a slight edge in peak throughput. The texture rate of 14.40 GTexel/s, combined with 24 TMUs, suggests that texture-heavy workloads will perform adequately, while the 16 ROPs limit fill-rate-bound scenarios, as reflected in the 9.600 GPixel/s pixel rate. Overall, the benchmark results place the HD 7670M as a solid entry-level performer, competitive with its immediate peers but not capable of exceeding them by any significant margin.

FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score of the AMD Radeon HD 7670M?

A: The average benchmark score, based on the Geekbench OpenCL test, is 1400 points.

Q: How does the Radeon HD 7670M compare to the NVIDIA GeForce 610M?

A: The Radeon HD 7670M is 1.2% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce 610M, with scores of 1400 and 1383 respectively.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the Radeon HD 7670M?

A: The memory bandwidth is 28.80 GB/s, achieved with 1024 MB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Does the Radeon HD 7670M support DirectX 12?

A: No, it supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, but has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: What is the transistor count and die size of the Thames chip?

A: The Thames chip contains 716 million transistors on a die size of 118 mm², manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC.

Q: What is the power consumption of the Radeon HD 7670M?

A: The TDP is rated at 20 W, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The Radeon HD 7670M does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these are absent from the specifications. Its feature set is instead defined by the TeraScale 2 architecture, which provides support for DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4. The lack of Vulkan support means it relies on older API paths for cross-platform compatibility. The GPU has 480 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units, which are the core building blocks for traditional rasterization. Without RT cores, real-time ray tracing is not feasible, and any such effects would require compute shaders or CPU fallbacks, which would be impractical given the FP32 performance of 576.0 GFLOPS. The memory interface is PCIe 2.0 x16, which is adequate for the GPU's data transfer needs. Display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, meaning connectivity varies by laptop design. The absence of tensor cores also precludes any AI-accelerated features such as deep learning super sampling, which is expected for a GPU of this era. The production status is end-of-life, with a predecessor of Vancouver and a successor of Solar System, indicating its place in the AMD product timeline. Overall, the feature set is limited to conventional DirectX 11-era graphics, with no modern acceleration hardware for ray tracing or machine learning workloads.