Radeon Steam Deck 8CU vs Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) and Radeon Steam Deck 8CU, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
Steam Deck 8CU outperforms Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) by a whopping 204% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 795 | 490 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2017) | RDNA 2 (2022−2023) |
| GPU code name | Surface Book | RDNA 2 Sephiroth |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 October 2015 (10 years ago) | 9 November 2023 (2 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Real power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially if overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 384 | 512 |
| Core clock speed | 954 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 993 MHz | 1900 MHz |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 6 nm |
| L1 Cache | no data | 512 KB |
| L2 Cache | no data | 1 MB |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | no data |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | no data |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | no data |
| Memory clock speed | 5012 MHz | no data |
| Shared memory | - | + |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | + | - |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | DirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0 | 12_1 |
| CUDA | + | - |
Synthetic benchmarks
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score.
3DMark 11 Performance GPU
3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 28
+0%
| 28
+0%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Medium
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
−254%
|
45−50
+254%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 10−11
−240%
|
30−35
+240%
|
| Fortnite | 18−20
−226%
|
60−65
+226%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
−165%
|
45−50
+165%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
−153%
|
35−40
+153%
|
Full HD
High
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
−254%
|
45−50
+254%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 60−65
−146%
|
150−160
+146%
|
| Dota 2 | 30−35
−197%
|
95−100
+197%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 10−11
−170%
|
27
+170%
|
| Fortnite | 18−20
−226%
|
60−65
+226%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
−165%
|
45−50
+165%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 10−11
+0%
|
10
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 6−7
−250%
|
21−24
+250%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
−153%
|
35−40
+153%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
−145%
|
27−30
+145%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
−254%
|
45−50
+254%
|
| Dota 2 | 30−35
−197%
|
95−100
+197%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 10−11
−130%
|
23
+130%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
−165%
|
45−50
+165%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
−153%
|
35−40
+153%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
−145%
|
27−30
+145%
|
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 18−20
−226%
|
60−65
+226%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 24−27
−204%
|
75−80
+204%
|
| Metro Exodus | 1−2
−1100%
|
12−14
+1100%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Far Cry 5 | 6−7
−267%
|
21−24
+267%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 8−9
−213%
|
24−27
+213%
|
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 6−7
−267%
|
21−24
+267%
|
4K
High
| Grand Theft Auto V | 14−16
−40%
|
21−24
+40%
|
4K
Ultra
| Dota 2 | 10−11
−200%
|
30−33
+200%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
−450%
|
10−12
+450%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
−350%
|
18−20
+350%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 4−5
−150%
|
10−11
+150%
|
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 4−5
−150%
|
10−11
+150%
|
Full HD
Low
| Counter-Strike 2 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Resident Evil 4 Remake | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium
| Counter-Strike 2 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Valorant | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
Full HD
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Valorant | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Valorant | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
4K
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Valorant | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Escape from Tarkov | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
This is how Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) and Steam Deck 8CU compete in popular games:
- A tie in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Metro Exodus, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the Steam Deck 8CU is 1100% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Steam Deck 8CU performs better in 29 tests (48%)
- there's a draw in 31 tests (52%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 3.41 | 10.38 |
| Recency | 1 October 2015 | 9 November 2023 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 6 nm |
Steam Deck 8CU has a 204% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, and a 367% more advanced lithography process.
The Radeon Steam Deck 8CU is our recommended choice as it beats the Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
