Radeon HD 6790 vs Radeon R9 M280X

When choosing between Radeon HD 6790 and Radeon R9 M280X, 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 Radeon HD 6790 and Radeon R9 M280X.

Radeon R9 M280X is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon R9 M280X 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 R9 M280X here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6790 Radeon R9 M280X
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 Not Listed
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort No outputs
  Check Price Check Price
  • Radeon HD 6790 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon R9 M280X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon HD 6790 is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M280X - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 6790 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon R9 M280X - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M280X is 60 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6790.
  • Radeon HD 6790 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 M280X - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 7−8 2−3
ultra / 1080p 4−5 1−2
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 18−20 14−16
medium / 1080p 9−10 4−5
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6790 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than Radeon R9 M280X.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6790 Radeon R9 M280X
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN
Code name Barts Saturn XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 4 April 2011 1 February 2015
Pipelines 800 896
Core clock speed 840 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 1,700 million 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 33.60 61.60
Floating-point performance 1,344.0 gflops 1,792 gflops
Length 198 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth 134.4 GB/s 96 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.0 6.3
OpenGL 4.4 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan N/A
FreeSync +
Bus support Not Listed
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 122 Mh/s
Laptop size large
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
  Check Price Check Price