G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

GeForce GTX 690

2012

Why buy it

✅Draws 300W instead of 375W, a 75W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 2 GB vs 3 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2012-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Radeon HD 7990

2013

Why buy it

✅50% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (3 GB vs 2 GB).
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 3 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌25% higher power demand at 375W vs 300W.

GeForce GTX 690

2012

Radeon HD 7990

2013

Why buy it

✅Draws 300W instead of 375W, a 75W reduction.

Why buy it

✅50% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (3 GB vs 2 GB).
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 2 GB vs 3 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2012-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 3 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌25% higher power demand at 375W vs 300W.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon HD 7990 better than GeForce GTX 690?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 5,536 vs 5,566 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Radeon HD 7990 is the overall package: you are getting a newer generation, FSR upscaling.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce GTX 690 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting the stronger feature stack with no meaningful modern upscaling stack instead of FSR upscaling. That broader feature stack should age better as more games lean on modern upscaling and frame-generation support.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Radeon HD 7990 is the smarter buy by a wide margin. Radeon HD 7990 is in basically the same MSRP band at $999 MSRP versus $999 MSRP, and you are getting 0.5% higher G3D Mark. GeForce GTX 690 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does GeForce GTX 690 make more sense than Radeon HD 7990?

Yes. GeForce GTX 690 is still an excellent gaming GPU in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. It makes more sense if your priority is lower power draw (300W vs 375W), future-proofing, and staying closer to $999 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Radeon HD 7990. The trade-off is that Radeon HD 7990 currently gives you 0.5% higher G3D Mark. It only holds a slight 0.5% edge in G3D-per-dollar, so the value lead is real but narrow.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

GeForce GTX 690 Benchmark Check

Radeon HD 7990 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
1080p
low	99 FPS	100 FPS
medium	81 FPS	82 FPS
high	62 FPS	64 FPS
ultra	37 FPS	38 FPS
1440p
low	83 FPS	83 FPS
medium	69 FPS	70 FPS
high	47 FPS	48 FPS
ultra	27 FPS	28 FPS
4K
low	27 FPS	27 FPS
medium	25 FPS	26 FPS
high	16 FPS	16 FPS
ultra	14 FPS	14 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 690 Open Radeon HD 7990

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
1080p
low	126 FPS	155 FPS
medium	94 FPS	128 FPS
high	72 FPS	106 FPS
ultra	48 FPS	78 FPS
1440p
low	69 FPS	94 FPS
medium	47 FPS	71 FPS
high	35 FPS	53 FPS
ultra	24 FPS	39 FPS
4K
low	24 FPS	39 FPS
medium	16 FPS	29 FPS
high	13 FPS	22 FPS
ultra	9 FPS	17 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 690 Open Radeon HD 7990

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
1080p
low	249 FPS	250 FPS
medium	199 FPS	200 FPS
high	166 FPS	167 FPS
ultra	125 FPS	125 FPS
1440p
low	187 FPS	188 FPS
medium	149 FPS	150 FPS
high	125 FPS	125 FPS
ultra	93 FPS	94 FPS
4K
low	125 FPS	125 FPS
medium	100 FPS	100 FPS
high	83 FPS	83 FPS
ultra	62 FPS	63 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 690 Open Radeon HD 7990

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
1080p
low	126 FPS	179 FPS
medium	99 FPS	145 FPS
high	85 FPS	130 FPS
ultra	70 FPS	101 FPS
1440p
low	96 FPS	127 FPS
medium	78 FPS	105 FPS
high	67 FPS	94 FPS
ultra	50 FPS	69 FPS
4K
low	57 FPS	75 FPS
medium	43 FPS	58 FPS
high	34 FPS	47 FPS
ultra	24 FPS	31 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 690 Open Radeon HD 7990

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of GeForce GTX 690 and Radeon HD 7990

GeForce GTX 690

The GeForce GTX 690 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 3 2012. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock ranges from 915 MHz to 1019 MHz. It has 3072 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 300W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,536 points. Launch price was $999.

Radeon HD 7990

The Radeon HD 7990 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 24 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 950 MHz to 1000 MHz. It has 2048 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 375W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,566 points. Launch price was $999.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 690 scores 5,536 and the Radeon HD 7990 reaches 5,566 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.5% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 690 is built on Kepler while the Radeon HD 7990 uses GCN 1.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 3,072 (GeForce GTX 690) vs 2,048 (Radeon HD 7990). Raw compute: 3.13 TFLOPS ×2 (GeForce GTX 690) vs 4.096 TFLOPS ×2 (Radeon HD 7990). Boost clocks: 1019 MHz vs 1000 MHz.

Feature	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
G3D Mark Score	5,536	5,566
Architecture	Kepler	GCN 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	3072 ×2+50%	2048 ×2
Compute (TFLOPS)	3.13 TFLOPS ×2	4.096 TFLOPS ×2+31%
Boost Clock	1019 MHz+2%	1000 MHz
ROPs	32 ×2	32 ×2
TMUs	128 ×2	128 ×2
L1 Cache	128 KB	512 KB+300%
L2 Cache	512 KB	768 KB+50%

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 690 gives access to NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), widely regarding as the superior upscaling method for image quality. The Radeon HD 7990 relies on FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which is capable but generally slightly noisier than DLSS in motion.

Feature	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The GeForce GTX 690 comes with 2 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 7990 has 3 GB. The Radeon HD 7990 offers 50% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Memory bandwidth: 192.2 GB/s x2 (GeForce GTX 690) vs 288 GB/s x2 (Radeon HD 7990) — a 1399.3% advantage for the Radeon HD 7990. Bus width: 256-bit x2 vs 384-bit x2. L2 Cache: 512 KB (GeForce GTX 690) vs 768 KB (Radeon HD 7990) — the Radeon HD 7990 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	3 GB+50%
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	192.2 GB/s x2	288 GB/s x2+50%
Bus Width	256-bit x2	384-bit x2+50%
L2 Cache	512 KB	768 KB+50%

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12_0 (GeForce GTX 690) vs 12 (11_1) (Radeon HD 7990). Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 5.

Feature	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
DirectX	12_0	12 (11_1)
Max Displays	4	5+25%

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 1st Gen (GeForce GTX 690) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 7990). Decoder: VP5 vs UVD 3.2.

Feature	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
Encoder	NVENC 1st Gen	VCE 1.0
Decoder	VP5	UVD 3.2
Codecs	—	H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 690 draws 300W versus the Radeon HD 7990's 375W — a 22.2% difference. The GeForce GTX 690 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 650W (GeForce GTX 690) vs 750W (Radeon HD 7990). Power connectors: 2x 8-pin vs 2x 8-pin. Card length: 279mm vs 305mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots.

Feature	GeForce GTX 690	Radeon HD 7990
TDP	300W-20%	375W
Recommended PSU	650W-13%	750W
Power Connector	2x 8-pin	2x 8-pin
Length	279mm	305mm
Height	—	111mm
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	—	85
Perf/Watt	18.5+25%	14.8

💰

Value Analysis

The GeForce GTX 690 launched at $999 MSRP, while the Radeon HD 7990 launched at $999. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 5.5 (GeForce GTX 690) vs 5.6 (Radeon HD 7990) — the Radeon HD 7990 offers 1.8% better value. The Radeon HD 7990 is the newer GPU (2013 vs 2012).