Radeon HD 6790 vs GeForce GTX 960

Place in performance ranking	318	649
Place by popularity	52	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.21	0.34
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	GM206	Barts
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 January 2015 (9 years ago)	4 April 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$149
Current price	$440 (2.2x MSRP)	$184 (1.2x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 960 has 550% better value for money than HD 6790.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1024	800
CUDA cores	1024	no data
Core clock speed	1127 MHz	840 MHz
Boost clock speed	1178 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,940 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	72 billion/sec	33.60
Floating-point performance	2,413 gflops	1,344.0 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	9.5" (24.1 cm)	198 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	400 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pins	2x 6-pin
SLI options	+	no data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112 GB/s	134.4 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	no data
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	+	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream	+	no data
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	no data
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.0
OpenGL	4.4	4.4
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	+	N/A
CUDA	+	no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 960 15.72
+276%

HD 6790 4.18

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon HD 6790 by 276% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 960 6072
+276%

HD 6790 1616

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon HD 6790 by 276% in Passmark.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 960 10768
+273%

HD 6790 2887

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon HD 6790 by 273% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 960 30751
+125%

HD 6790 13637

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon HD 6790 by 125% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 960 7916
+268%

HD 6790 2150

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon HD 6790 by 268% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p	190−200 +265%	52 −265%
Full HD	65 +14%	57 −14%
4K	30 +329%	7−8 −329%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

24−27

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Battlefield 5	50−55	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Hitman 3	30−33	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Metro Exodus	50−55	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Battlefield 5	50−55	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Hitman 3	30−33	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Metro Exodus	50−55	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−33	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +333%	3−4 −333%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9	no data
Far Cry 5	24−27	no data
Forza Horizon 4	30−33	no data
Hitman 3	18−20	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35	no data
Metro Exodus	27−30	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +314%	7−8 −314%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−11	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14	no data
Hitman 3	10−12	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +400%	3−4 −400%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	no data
Far Cry 5	8−9	no data
Forza Horizon 4	21−24	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18	no data
Metro Exodus	14−16	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

no data

This is how GTX 960 and HD 6790 compete in popular games:

GTX 960 is 265% faster in 900p
GTX 960 is 14% faster in 1080p
GTX 960 is 329% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	15.72	4.18
Recency	22 January 2015	4 April 2011
Cost	$199	$149
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	150 Watt