AMD FirePro M8900 vs NVIDIA GeForce 820M
AMD FirePro M8900
► remove from comparisonThe AMD FirePro M8900 is a high-end graphics card for mobile workstations. It is based on the same chip as the Radeon HD 6970M (Blackcomb XT) and therefore offers UVD3 decoding and slightly improved Tessellation performance compared to cards found in the previous generation (e.g., Radeon 6800 series).
Compared to the Radeon consumer line, the FirePro offers certified drivers for professional 3D applications. Due to optimizations and some unlocked features, the performance when running professional applications is highly improved.
The 960 Stream processors should be still based on the "old" 5D architecture, similar to the 5000 series. Due to the different architecture of the FirePro M8900, however, the core count cannot be directly compared to the 1D cores of current Nvidia GPUs. The Stream processors can be used with DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL. With the later two, the cores can also be used for general computations like transcoding videos.
The theoretical performance of the FirePro M8900 is similar to the consumer counterpart, the Radeon HD 6970M. However, due to the specialized professional drivers, games may run a bit slower. The 6970M is able to run modern games in high settings and resolutions fluently (see benchmarks on the HD 6970M page).
The new UVD3 video decoder supports the decoding of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, Flash and now also Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos on the graphics card.
Furthermore, the FirePro M8900 integrates a HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI or DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos).
The AMD HD3D Technology offers support for Blu-Ray 3D and 3D displays (integrated and external). However, the solution is not as mature as Nvidia's 3D Vision.
Thanks to Eyefinity, the M8900 graphics chip is able to theoretically drive up to 5 monitors simultaneously. However, this only works if the laptop features enough DisplayPort outputs.
The power consumption of the chip should be similar to the HD 6970M and is therefore best suited for large laptops (17-inch or greater) with good cooling solutions.
NVIDIA GeForce 820M
► remove from comparison
The NVIDIA GeForce 820M (or GT 820M) is an entry-level DirectX 12 compatible graphics card announced in January 2014. Its core is based on the 28nm GF117 chip (Fermi architecture) and is equipped with 64-bit DDR3 memory. Besides the slightly different clock rate, the 820M is almost identical to the old GeForce 710M and GT 720M.
Architecture
The GF117 is based on the optimized GF108 Fermi chip (GeForce GT 540M) and offers 96 shaders, 16 TMUs and 4 ROPs. Each shader core is clocked twice as fast as the rest of the graphics chip, a technique known as hot clocking. More detailed information on Fermi can be found on the GT 435M GPU page.
It should be noted that the GF117 does not offer dedicated graphic ports and can therefore only be used in conjunction with Optimus.
The 820M supports GPU Boost 2.0, which can automatically overclock the card if the laptop cooling system allows it. This feature is available on any notebook with a graphics card of the 800M series.
Performance
In our gaming benchmarks, the 3D performance of the GeForce 820M is similar to the former GT 720M and the Intel Iris Graphics 5100. This places the card in the entry level segment. Current games (as of 2013/2014) will run fluently only in low settings and resolutions.
Features
The shader cores (also called CUDA cores) can be used for general calculations with APIs such as CUDA, DirectCompute 2.1 and OpenCL. PhysX is theoretically possible, but the 820M is too slow to handle both PhysX and 3D rendering in modern games. 3D Vision is not supported according to Nvidia.
Power consumption
The power consumption of the Geforce 820M should be similar to the old GT 720M. As a result, the GPU is best suited for notebooks 13 inches in size or greater.
| AMD FirePro M8900 | NVIDIA GeForce 820M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GeForce 800M Series |
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| Codename | Blackcomb XT | N15V-GM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | Terascale 2 | Fermi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pipelines | 960 - unified | 96 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Core Speed | 680 MHz | 775 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Speed | 900 MHz | 1800 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Bus Width | 256 Bit | 64 Bit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Max. Amount of Memory | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shared Memory | no | no | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| API | DirectX 11, Shader 5.0 | DirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power Consumption | 75 Watt | 15 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transistors | 1.7 Billion | 585 Million | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| technology | 40 nm | 28 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notebook Size | large | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Announcement | 12.04.2011 | 07.01.2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shader Speed | 1550 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | PhysX, Verde Drivers, CUDA, Play, Optimus, GPU Boost 2.0, GameWorks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Link to Manufacturer Page | www.geforce.com |
Benchmarks
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce 820M
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit + NVIDIA GeForce 820M
Average Benchmarks AMD FirePro M8900 → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce 820M → 0% n=0
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
F1 2014
2014
The Evil Within
2014
Ryse: Son of Rome
2014
Alien: Isolation
2014
Fifa 15
2014
Sims 4
2014
Risen 3: Titan Lords
2014
GRID: Autosport
2014
Watch Dogs
2014
Thief
2014
X-Plane 10.25
2013
Call of Duty: Ghosts
2013
Battlefield 4
2013
F1 2013
2013
Total War: Rome II
2013
Saints Row IV
2013
Dota 2
2013
Company of Heroes 2
2013
GRID 2
2013
Metro: Last Light
2013
BioShock Infinite
2013
SimCity
2013
Tomb Raider
2013
Dead Space 3
2013
Far Cry 3
2012
Assassin´s Creed III
2012
Hitman: Absolution
2012
Dishonored
2012
F1 2012
2012
Counter-Strike: GO
2012
Sleeping Dogs
2012
Max Payne 3
2012
Dirt Showdown
2012
Diablo III
2012
Risen 2: Dark Waters
2012
Mass Effect 3
2012
Anno 2070
2011
Battlefield 3
2011
Batman: Arkham City
2011
Dirt 3
2011
Civilization 5
2010
StarCraft 2
2010
Trackmania Nations Forever
2008
World of Warcraft
2005For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
