GeForce GTX 860M vs Radeon HD 8790M

When choosing between GeForce GTX 860M 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 860M and Radeon HD 8790M.

GeForce GTX 860M and Radeon HD 8790M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: GeForce GTX 860M 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 860M or Radeon HD 8790M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 860M Radeon HD 8790M
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt
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 860M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 8790M uses MXM-A (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 860M has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 860M is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 53 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 860M.
  • GeForce GTX 860M and Radeon HD 8790M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 16−18 3−4
ultra / 1080p 10−11 1−2
QHD / 1440p 5−6 0−1
4K / 2160p 4−5
low / 720p 30−35 14−16
medium / 1080p 21−24 6−7
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 860M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 233% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 860M Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture Maxwell GCN
Code name N15P-GX Mars XTX
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 12 March 2014 16 November 2012
Pipelines 640 384
Core clock speed 797 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 915 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 1,870 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 43.40 21.60
Floating-point performance 1,389 gflops 691.2 gflops
Memory bus width 128 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 80.0 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.5 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1152 or 640
Bus support PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 163 Mh/s 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized medium sized
Standard memory configuration GDDR5
eDP 1.2 signal support Up to 3840x2160
LVDS signal support Up to 1920x1200
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support Up to 3840x2160
HDCP content protection +
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI +
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
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