GeForce GTX 590 vs Radeon HD 8790M

When choosing between GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 8790M, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 8790M.

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 GTX 590 Radeon HD 8790M
Power consumption (TDP) 365 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 MXM-A (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors Two 8-pin None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) 2 GB
Display Connectors 3x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 590 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8790M uses MXM-A (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 590 has 3070 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • GeForce GTX 590 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8790M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 590 is build with Fermi architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 590 is 365 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • GeForce GTX 590 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8790M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 2793 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 590.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 16−18 3−4
ultra / 1080p 10−11 1−2
QHD / 1440p 4−5 0−1
low / 720p 35−40 14−16
medium / 1080p 21−24 6−7
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 590 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 250% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 590 Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture Fermi GCN
Code name GF110 Mars XTX
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 24 March 2011 16 November 2012
Pipelines 1024 384
Core clock speed 1215 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 3,000 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 77.7 billion/sec 21.60
Floating-point performance 2x 1,244.2 gflops 691.2 gflops
Length 11" (280 mm) (27.9 cm)
Memory bus width 768-bit (384-bit per GPU) 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 1707 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 327.7 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.2 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1024
Bus support 16x PCI-E 2.0
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
HDMI +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 107 Mh/s 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
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