GeForce 8800 GTX vs Radeon HD 8790M

In this comparison between GeForce 8800 GTX and Radeon HD 8790M you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce 8800 GTX will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 8790M will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 8790M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 8790M is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Radeon HD 8790M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce 8800 GTX Radeon HD 8790M
Power consumption (TDP) 155 Watt
Interface PCIe 1.0 x16 MXM-A (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin None
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 768 MB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x S-Video No outputs
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  • GeForce 8800 GTX is connected by PCIe 1.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8790M uses MXM-A (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce 8800 GTX has 766 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • GeForce 8800 GTX is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8790M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce 8800 GTX is build with Tesla architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 274 MHz higher, than GeForce 8800 GTX.
  • GeForce 8800 GTX is manufactured by 90 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8790M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 3600 MHz higher, than GeForce 8800 GTX.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 0−1 3−4
ultra / 1080p 1−2
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 1−2 14−16
medium / 1080p 0−1 6−7
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8790M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 1400% more, than GeForce 8800 GTX.

Full Specs

  GeForce 8800 GTX Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture Tesla GCN
Code name G80 Mars XTX
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 8 November 2006 16 November 2012
Pipelines 128 384
Core clock speed 576 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 681 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 90 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 36.8 billion/sec 21.60
Floating-point performance 345.6 gflops 691.2 gflops
Length 270 mm
Memory bus width 384 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 900 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 86.4 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.1 (10_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 4.0 5.1
OpenGL 3.3 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 575
SLI options +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
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