Radeon HD 4890 vs Radeon HD 8790M

When choosing between Radeon HD 4890 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 4890 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 4890 Radeon HD 8790M
Power consumption (TDP) 190 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 S-Video No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 4890 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 4890.
  • Radeon HD 4890 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8790M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 4890 is build with TeraScale architecture, and Radeon HD 8790M - with GCN.
  • Both graphics cards have the same core clock speed.
  • Radeon HD 4890 is manufactured by 55 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8790M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 600 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 4890.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 7−8 3−4
ultra / 1080p 4−5 1−2
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 16−18 14−16
medium / 1080p 8−9 6−7
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 4890 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 50% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 4890 Radeon HD 8790M
Architecture TeraScale GCN
Code name RV790 Mars XTX
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 2 April 2009 16 November 2012
Pipelines 800 384
Core clock speed 850 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 959 million 950 million
Manufacturing process technology 55 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 34.00 21.60
Floating-point performance 1,360.0 gflops 691.2 gflops
Length 241 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 3900 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 124.8 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 10.1 (10_1) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 4.1 5.1
OpenGL 3.3 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
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