AMD Radeon R9 M360

The AMD Radeon R9 M360 is a mobile graphics solution built on the Tropo chip, using GCN 1.0 architecture and fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It houses 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. The card features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs, with a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 925 MHz. Memory consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 72.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The card is listed as end-of-life, with a release date of May 4, 2015, and sits in the 40th percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database.

Who Should Consider It

The R9 M360’s average benchmark score of 8006 places it in the 40th percentile, meaning it outperforms only 40% of all GPUs in the database. This is a mid-to-low standing, indicating that the card is not intended for demanding, high-end workloads. Its pixel rate of 14.80 GPixel/s and texture rate of 29.60 GTexel/s are modest figures that limit its ability to handle high-resolution rendering or heavy post-processing effects. The 4 GB GDDR5 memory, while sufficient for standard texture loads, is paired with a 128-bit bus and 72.00 GB/s bandwidth, which may become a bottleneck in games with large, detailed assets. FP32 compute is rated at 947.2 GFLOPS, a moderate level that supports basic compute tasks but not intensive scientific or machine-learning workloads.

Given these specifications, the R9 M360 is best suited for users who play at lower resolutions and are willing to reduce graphical settings to achieve playable frame rates. It is not designed for high-refresh-rate monitors or 4K gaming, as the fill rate and bandwidth are insufficient for such demands. The card’s Vulkan score of 7800 and OpenCL score of 8211 indicate that compute performance varies by API; OpenCL workloads are comparatively stronger, while Vulkan compute is weaker. For users with legacy applications that rely on OpenCL acceleration, this card may offer acceptable performance, but modern games that leverage Vulkan will likely see reduced efficiency. The 40th percentile also suggests that many other GPUs, both older and newer, provide superior performance, so the R9 M360 should be considered only for very modest usage scenarios.

Power and Cooling

The fact pack does not provide a TDP, slot width, or power connector specifications for the R9 M360. Consequently, no PSU recommendation can be derived from the data. The only power-related detail is the PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface, which is the standard slot for this card. The card is built on a 28 nm process, a mature node, and the transistor count of 1,500 million suggests a moderate power envelope, but without an official TDP, any estimate would be speculative. The die size of 123 mm² and transistor density of 12.2M per mm² are physical characteristics that influence thermal behavior, but again, no thermal design power is listed. Users should ensure their system provides adequate airflow based on the card’s physical dimensions, which are also not specified. In summary, the absence of power and cooling specifications in the fact pack means that no quantitative guidance can be offered; only the bus interface and process node are known.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The R9 M360 does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores; the fact pack lists null for both. This means the card relies entirely on traditional rasterization techniques and has no hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects or AI-based features such as DLSS. On the API side, the card supports DirectX 12 with a feature level of 11_1, which is a subset of full DirectX 12. It also supports OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Vulkan version is relatively recent, allowing for modern compute and graphics workloads, but the lack of ray tracing support limits its utility in titles that require RT hardware. The absence of tensor cores also means no dedicated neural network acceleration for tasks like image upscaling. For users who prioritize ray tracing or AI-enhanced rendering, this card is not suitable. However, for traditional rasterized games and compute workloads that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan, the card’s 512 shading units and 32 TMUs provide a baseline of functionality.

How It Compares

The nearest rivals, as listed in the fact pack, are four NVIDIA GPUs. The R9 M360’s average benchmark score is 8006. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti has an average score of 8018, which is 0.1% higher. This places the two cards essentially on par, with the R9 M360 trailing by a negligible margin. The GeForce GTX 970, a much larger chip, scores 8024, only 0.2% higher, indicating that the R9 M360 is surprisingly close in this specific benchmark aggregate. The NVIDIA GRID K2, a virtualization-oriented card, scores 8075, 0.9% higher. Finally, the GeForce GTX 675MX, a mobile GPU, scores 8094, 1.1% higher. In all cases, the R9 M360 is slightly slower, but the differences are all under 1.2%. This suggests that the R9 M360 is competitive with these older or mid-range NVIDIA parts in the tested workloads. The percentile of 40 also aligns with this positioning: the card sits just below the midpoint of the database.

Benchmark Performance

The R9 M360’s own benchmark results show an OpenCL score of 8211 and a Vulkan score of 7800. The OpenCL score is higher, indicating that the card’s compute performance through OpenCL is stronger than its Vulkan compute performance. The average of these two scores is 8006, which is the figure used for comparison against rivals. When compared to the GTX 650 Ti, which has an average of 8018, the R9 M360 is 0.1% slower. The GTX 970’s 8024 is 0.2% faster, and the GRID K2’s 8075 is 0.9% faster. The GTX 675MX’s 8094 is 1.1% faster. These deltas are all small, meaning that in the aggregate benchmark, the R9 M360 performs within a 1.1% band of its nearest competitors. However, the card’s own OpenCL score of 8211 is actually higher than the averages of all four rivals. For instance, the GTX 650 Ti’s average is 8018, so the R9 M360’s OpenCL score exceeds that average. The Vulkan score of 7800 is lower than all rival averages, indicating that Vulkan compute performance is a weakness. This suggests that the card’s overall standing is pulled down by its Vulkan results, while its OpenCL performance is comparatively strong. Users who rely on OpenCL workloads may find the card more capable than the average score implies, while Vulkan-heavy applications will see lower performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the process node of the R9 M360?

A: The R9 M360 is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 123 mm² and 1,500 million transistors.

Q: How much memory does the card have?

A: It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 72.00 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What API versions does it support?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (with feature level 11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Does it have ray tracing cores?

A: No, the fact pack lists no ray tracing cores (null) and no tensor cores.

Q: What are its benchmark scores?

A: The OpenCL score is 8211, the Vulkan score is 7800, and the average is 8006.

Q: When was it released?

A: The release date is May 4, 2015, and the production status is end-of-life.