Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon HD 8790M

When choosing between Radeon HD 6870 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 Radeon HD 6870 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

  Radeon HD 6870 Radeon HD 8790M
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 MXM-A (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 6870 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8790M uses MXM-A (3.0) interface.
  • Radeon HD 8790M has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6870.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8790M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8790M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 3450 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6870.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 3−4
ultra / 1080p 6−7 1−2
QHD / 1440p 1−2 0−1
low / 720p 24−27 14−16
medium / 1080p 12−14 6−7
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 133% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6870 Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN
Code name RV940 Barts Mars XTX
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 October 2010 16 November 2012
Pipelines 1120 384
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 1,700 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 50.40 21.60
Floating-point performance 2,016.0 gflops 691.2 gflops
Length 220 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 1050 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 134.4 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131
Bus support PCIe 2.0 x16
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 213 Mh/s 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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