GeForce GTX 965M vs Radeon HD 8790M

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing GeForce GTX 965M and Radeon HD 8790M. Here you can take a closer look at graphics cards specs, such as core clock speed, memory type and size, display connectors, etc. The price, overall benchmark and gaming performances are usually defining factors when it comes to choosing between GeForce GTX 965M and Radeon HD 8790M. Make sure that the graphics card has compatible dimensions and will properly fit in your new or current computer case. Also these graphics cards may have different system power recommendations, so take that into consideration and upgrade your PSU if necessary.

GeForce GTX 965M and Radeon HD 8790M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: GeForce GTX 965M and Radeon HD 8790M are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 GeForce GTX 965M or Radeon HD 8790M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 965M Radeon HD 8790M
Interface MXM-B (3.0) MXM-A (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors None None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 965M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 8790M uses MXM-A (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 965M has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 965M is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 965M is 94 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • GeForce GTX 965M and Radeon HD 8790M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 2000 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 965M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 20−22 3−4
ultra / 1080p 12−14 1−2
QHD / 1440p 6−7 0−1
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 35−40 14−16
medium / 1080p 24−27 6−7
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 965M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 300% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 965M Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture Maxwell GCN
Code name N16E-GS, N16E-GR Mars XTX
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 5 January 2015 16 November 2012
Pipelines 1024 384
Core clock speed 944 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 950 / 1151 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 2,940 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 73.60 21.60
Floating-point performance 2,355 gflops 691.2 gflops
Memory bus width 128 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 2500 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 80 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
DirectX 12 (12_1) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 6.4 5.1
OpenGL 4.5 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1024
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 226 Mh/s 80 Mh/s
Laptop size large medium sized
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
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