Radeon HD 8790M vs Radeon R9 M385

When choosing between Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385, 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 8790M and Radeon R9 M385.

Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385 are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385 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 Radeon HD 8790M or Radeon R9 M385 here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 8790M Radeon R9 M385
Interface MXM-A (3.0) PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 8790M is connected by MXM-A (3.0), and Radeon R9 M385 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon R9 M385 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385 are build with GCN architecture.
  • Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385 are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 3000 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M385.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 3−4 10−12
ultra / 1080p 1−2 6−7
QHD / 1440p 0−1 1−2
low / 720p 14−16 24−27
medium / 1080p 6−7 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M385 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 133% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8790M Radeon R9 M385
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Mars XTX Strato
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 16 November 2012 16 June 2015
Pipelines 384 896
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz 1100 MHz
Transistor count 950 million 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 21.60 56.00
Floating-point performance 691.2 gflops 1,792 gflops
Memory bus width 128 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4500 MHz 1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 64 GB/s 76.8 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.6 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan 1.2.131
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 80 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized medium sized
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
TrueAudio +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
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