Radeon HD 6990M vs Radeon R9 280X

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing Radeon HD 6990M and Radeon R9 280X. 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 6990M and Radeon R9 280X. 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 6990M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 6990M 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 6990M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6990M Radeon R9 280X
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 250 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 3 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 280X has 150% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6990M.
  • Radeon HD 6990M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon R9 280X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon R9 280X has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6990M.
  • Radeon HD 6990M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 280X - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 6990M is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon R9 280X - with GCN.
  • Radeon HD 6990M is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 280X - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 14−16 35−40
ultra / 1080p 8−9 21−24
QHD / 1440p 3−4 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 30−33 60−65
medium / 1080p 16−18 40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 140% more, than Radeon HD 6990M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6990M Radeon R9 280X
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN
Code name Blackcomb XTX Thaiti XTL
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 12 July 2011 8 October 2013
Pipelines 1120 2048
Core clock speed 715 MHz
Boost Clock 1000 MHz
Transistor count 1,700 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 40.04 128.0
Floating-point performance 1,601.6 gflops 4,096 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 900 MHz
Memory bandwidth 115.2 GB/s 288 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan N/A +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.5 kh/s
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 494 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 14.42 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 285 Sol/s
AppAcceleration +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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