Radeon HD 6950 vs Radeon HD 8790M

When choosing between Radeon HD 6950 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 6950 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 6950 Radeon HD 8790M
Power consumption (TDP) 500 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 MXM-A (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
  Check Price Check Price
  • Radeon HD 6950 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8790M uses MXM-A (3.0) interface.
  • Radeon HD 6950 and Radeon HD 8790M have maximum RAM of 2 GB.
  • Radeon HD 6950 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8790M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 6950 is build with TeraScale 3 architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Radeon HD 6950 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8790M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 3250 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6950.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 14−16 3−4
ultra / 1080p 8−9 1−2
QHD / 1440p 3−4 0−1
low / 720p 27−30 14−16
medium / 1080p 16−18 6−7
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6950 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 183% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6950 Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture TeraScale 3 GCN
Code name Cayman Mars XTX
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 14 December 2010 16 November 2012
Pipelines 1408 384
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 800 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 2,640 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 70.40 21.60
Floating-point performance 2,252.8 gflops 691.2 gflops
Length 267 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 1250 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 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) 244 Mh/s 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
  Check Price Check Price