Radeon HD 6790 vs R9 270X

Place in performance ranking	367	649
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.60	0.34
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Curacao XT	Barts
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	8 October 2013 (10 years ago)	4 April 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$149
Current price	$136 (0.7x MSRP)	$184 (1.2x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 270X has 1253% 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	1280	800
Core clock speed	no data	840 MHz
Boost clock speed	1050 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,800 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	180 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	84.00	33.60
Floating-point performance	2,688 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	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	no data	198 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2 x 6-pin	2x 6-pin

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	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth	179.2 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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	no data
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	no data

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	no data
CrossFire	1	no data
Enduro	-	no data
FreeSync	1	no data
HD3D	+	no data
LiquidVR	1	no data
PowerTune	-	no data
TressFX	1	no data
TrueAudio	+	no data
ZeroCore	-	no data
UVD	+	no data
DDMA audio	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.1	5.0
OpenGL	4.6	4.4
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	+	N/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.

R9 270X 12.66
+203%

HD 6790 4.18

R9 270X outperforms HD 6790 by 203% 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%

R9 270X 4889
+203%

HD 6790 1616

R9 270X outperforms HD 6790 by 203% in Passmark.

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%

R9 270X 6560
+205%

HD 6790 2150

R9 270X outperforms HD 6790 by 205% 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	150−160 +188%	52 −188%
Full HD	170−180 +198%	57 −198%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

20−22

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22	no data
Battlefield 5	40−45	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22	no data
Far Cry 5	30−33	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40	no data
Forza Horizon 4	60−65	no data
Hitman 3	24−27	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55	no data
Metro Exodus	40−45	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22	no data
Battlefield 5	40−45	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22	no data
Far Cry 5	30−33	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40	no data
Forza Horizon 4	60−65	no data
Hitman 3	24−27	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55	no data
Metro Exodus	40−45	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22	no data
Far Cry 5	30−33	no data
Forza Horizon 4	60−65	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7	no data
Far Cry 5	20−22	no data
Forza Horizon 4	24−27	no data
Hitman 3	16−18	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27	no data
Metro Exodus	21−24	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +250%	6−7 −250%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	7−8	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10	no data
Hitman 3	9−10	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +267%	3−4 −267%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3	no data
Far Cry 5	7−8	no data
Forza Horizon 4	16−18	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14	no data
Metro Exodus	12−14	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14

no data

This is how R9 270X and HD 6790 compete in popular games:

R9 270X is 188% faster in 900p
R9 270X is 198% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	12.66	4.18
Recency	8 October 2013	4 April 2011
Cost	$199	$149
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	180 Watt	150 Watt