Radeon HD 8790M vs Radeon R9 M385X

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385X. Here you can take a closer look at graphics cards specs, such as core clock speed, memory type and size, display connectors, etc. The price, overall benchmark and gaming performances are usually defining factors when it comes to choosing between Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385X. Make sure that the graphics card has compatible dimensions and will properly fit in your new or current computer case. Also these graphics cards may have different system power recommendations, so take that into consideration and upgrade your PSU if necessary.

Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385X are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385X 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 M385X here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 8790M Radeon R9 M385X
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 M385X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon R9 M385X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385X are build with GCN architecture.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M385X is 250 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8790M.
  • Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon R9 M385X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8790M is 3000 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M385X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 3−4 8−9
ultra / 1080p 1−2 5−6
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 14−16 18−20
medium / 1080p 6−7 10−11
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M385X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 66% more, than Radeon HD 8790M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8790M Radeon R9 M385X
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Mars XTX Strato-XT-M3
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 16 November 2012 16 June 2015
Pipelines 384 896
Core clock speed 850 MHz 1100 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 61.60
Floating-point performance 691.2 gflops 1,971 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 large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
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