AMD Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M

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Combined performance score

GTX 960M
8.77

Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire outperforms GeForce GTX 960M by 14% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking454413
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money1.418.65
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameN16P-GXBlackcomb XTX
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date12 March 2015 (9 years old)12 July 2011 (12 years old)
Current price$799 $170
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6990M Crossfire has 513% better value for money than GTX 960M.

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 cores6402240
CUDA cores640no data
Core clock speed1096 MHz715 MHz
Boost clock speed1202 MHzno data
Number of transistors1,870 million2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Wattno data
Texture fill rate47.04no data
Floating-point performance1,505 gflopsno data

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 960M and Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizemedium sizedlarge
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)no data
SLI options+no data

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 amount4 GB2x2 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed2500 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth80 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

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 ConnectorsNo outputsno data
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI+no data

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 Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+no data
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+no data
Optimus+no data
BatteryBoost+no data
Ansel+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (11_0)11
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.5no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan1.1.126no data
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 960M 8.77
HD 6990M Crossfire 9.98
+13.8%

Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire outperforms GeForce GTX 960M by 14% in our combined benchmark results.


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 960M 5278
HD 6990M Crossfire 6422
+21.7%

Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire outperforms GeForce GTX 960M by 22% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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:

900p95
−4.2%
99
+4.2%
Full HD36
−200%
108
+200%
1440p15
−6.7%
16−18
+6.7%
4K13
−7.7%
14−16
+7.7%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 25
+19%
21−24
−19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Battlefield 5 38
+11.8%
30−35
−11.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−12.5%
27−30
+12.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Far Cry 5 28
+12%
24−27
−12%
Far Cry New Dawn 27
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35
+0%
35−40
+0%
Hitman 3 21−24
−18.2%
24−27
+18.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
−11.1%
20−22
+11.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
−13.3%
16−18
+13.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24
+14.3%
21−24
−14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
−20%
18−20
+20%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 19
−10.5%
21−24
+10.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Battlefield 5 31
−9.7%
30−35
+9.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−12.5%
27−30
+12.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Far Cry 5 25
+0%
24−27
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 25
−8%
27−30
+8%
Forza Horizon 4 31
−12.9%
35−40
+12.9%
Hitman 3 21−24
−18.2%
24−27
+18.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
−11.1%
20−22
+11.1%
Metro Exodus 12
−25%
14−16
+25%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
−13.3%
16−18
+13.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 19
−10.5%
21−24
+10.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24
+20%
20−22
−20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
−20%
18−20
+20%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 11
−90.9%
21−24
+90.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Battlefield 5 26
−30.8%
30−35
+30.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Far Cry 5 23
−8.7%
24−27
+8.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 23
−17.4%
27−30
+17.4%
Forza Horizon 4 25
−40%
35−40
+40%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14
−42.9%
20−22
+42.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
−20%
18−20
+20%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Hitman 3 14−16
−14.3%
16−18
+14.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−6.7%
16−18
+6.7%
Metro Exodus 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 11
−18.2%
12−14
+18.2%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Battlefield 5 17
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
Far Cry 5 15
−6.7%
16−18
+6.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 15
−6.7%
16−18
+6.7%
Forza Horizon 4 18
+0%
18−20
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Hitman 3 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Metro Exodus 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10
+25%
8−9
−25%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Battlefield 5 3
−167%
8−9
+167%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 7
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 6
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%
Forza Horizon 4 10−11
−20%
12−14
+20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%

This is how GTX 960M and HD 6990M Crossfire compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 6990M Crossfire is 4.2% faster than GTX 960M

1080p resolution:

  • HD 6990M Crossfire is 200% faster than GTX 960M

1440p resolution:

  • HD 6990M Crossfire is 6.7% faster than GTX 960M

4K resolution:

  • HD 6990M Crossfire is 7.7% faster than GTX 960M

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960M is 25% faster than the HD 6990M Crossfire.
  • in Battlefield 5, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 6990M Crossfire is 167% faster than the GTX 960M.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 960M is ahead in 6 tests (9%)
  • HD 6990M Crossfire is ahead in 54 tests (79%)
  • there's a draw in 8 tests (12%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 8.77 9.98
Recency 12 March 2015 12 July 2011
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm

The Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 960M 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

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
GeForce GTX 960M
AMD Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire
Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire

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Questions and comments

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