HD 6790 vs HD 6870

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Combined performance score

HD 6870
5.72
+37.2%

HD 6870 outperforms HD 6790 by 37% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking560644
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.350.33
ArchitectureTerascale 2 (2009−2015)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameRV940 BartsBarts
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date22 October 2010 (13 years old)4 April 2011 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$239 $149
Current price$332 (1.4x MSRP)$184 (1.2x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6870 has 6% better value for money than HD 6790.

Technical specs

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 cores1120800
Core clock speedno data840 MHz
Boost clock speed900 MHzno data
Number of transistors1,700 million1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)151 Watt150 Watt
Texture fill rate50.4033.60
Floating-point performance2,016.0 gflops1,344.0 gflops

Size and 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 supportPCIe 2.0 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length220 mm198 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 6-pin

Memory

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1050 MHz1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth134.4 GB/s134.4 GB/s
Shared memory-no data

Video outputs and ports

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity1no data
HDMI++
DisplayPort support-no data

Technologies

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

AppAcceleration-no data
CrossFire1no data
Enduro-no data
HD3D-no data
PowerTune-no data
TrueAudio-no data
ZeroCore-no data

API support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1111.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.05.0
OpenGL4.44.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkanno dataN/A
Mantle-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.

HD 6870 5.72
+37.2%
HD 6790 4.17

HD 6870 outperforms HD 6790 by 37% in our combined 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%

HD 6870 2219
+37.3%
HD 6790 1616

HD 6870 outperforms HD 6790 by 37% in Passmark.

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%

HD 6870 17773
+30.3%
HD 6790 13637

HD 6870 outperforms HD 6790 by 30% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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%

HD 6870 4218
+46.1%
HD 6790 2887

HD 6870 outperforms HD 6790 by 46% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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%

HD 6870 3141
+46.1%
HD 6790 2150

HD 6870 outperforms HD 6790 by 46% 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:

900p57
+9.6%
52
−9.6%
Full HD63
+3.3%
61
−3.3%
1200p39
+44.4%
27−30
−44.4%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+50%
12−14
−50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+46.2%
12−14
−46.2%
Hitman 3 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+50%
12−14
−50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+46.2%
12−14
−46.2%
Hitman 3 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+50%
12−14
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+46.2%
12−14
−46.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Hitman 3 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Battlefield 5 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Far Cry 5 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Hitman 3 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Battlefield 5 1−2 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Forza Horizon 4 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

This is how HD 6870 and HD 6790 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 6870 is 9.6% faster than HD 6790

1080p resolution:

  • HD 6870 is 3.3% faster than HD 6790

1200p resolution:

  • HD 6870 is 44.4% faster than HD 6790

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Far Cry New Dawn, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 6870 is 200% faster than the HD 6790.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 6870 is ahead in 58 tests (97%)
  • there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 5.72 4.17
Recency 22 October 2010 4 April 2011
Cost $239 $149
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt 150 Watt

The Radeon HD 6870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6790 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

User ratings

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AMD Radeon HD 6870
Radeon HD 6870
AMD Radeon HD 6790
Radeon HD 6790

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