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.

Radeon HD 7990

2013

Why buy it

✅2.4% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅50% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (3 GB vs 2 GB).

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.
❌
402% HIGHER MSRP
$999 MSRPvs$199 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 5.6 vs 27.9 G3D/$ ($999 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
❌97.4% higher power demand at 375W vs 190W.
❌38% longer card at 305mm vs 221mm.

Radeon R9 285 / 380

2014

Why buy it

✅Costs $800 less on MSRP ($199 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Delivers 400.6% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 27.9 vs 5.6 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Draws 190W instead of 375W, a 185W reduction.
✅Measures 221mm instead of 305mm, a 84mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 7990 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌Less VRAM, with 2 GB vs 3 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Radeon HD 7990

2013

Radeon R9 285 / 380

2014

Why buy it

✅2.4% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅50% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (3 GB vs 2 GB).

Why buy it

✅Costs $800 less on MSRP ($199 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Delivers 400.6% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 27.9 vs 5.6 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Draws 190W instead of 375W, a 185W reduction.
✅Measures 221mm instead of 305mm, a 84mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

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.
❌
402% HIGHER MSRP
$999 MSRPvs$199 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 5.6 vs 27.9 G3D/$ ($999 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
❌97.4% higher power demand at 375W vs 190W.
❌38% longer card at 305mm vs 221mm.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 7990 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌Less VRAM, with 2 GB vs 3 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon HD 7990 better than Radeon R9 285 / 380?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. Radeon HD 7990 averages 2.4% more FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 5,566 vs 5,550 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Radeon HD 7990 is the overall package: you are getting FSR upscaling.

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

Radeon HD 7990 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting more VRAM at 3 GB instead of 2 GB. That extra memory headroom makes it the safer pick for newer games, heavier textures, and higher settings over time.

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 about 402.0% more expensive on MSRP at $999 MSRP versus $199 MSRP, and you are getting 2.4% more estimated average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and 0.3% higher G3D Mark. Radeon R9 285 / 380 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does Radeon R9 285 / 380 make more sense than Radeon HD 7990?

Yes. Radeon R9 285 / 380 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 newer architecture, lower power draw (190W vs 375W), and staying closer to $199 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Radeon HD 7990. The trade-off is that Radeon HD 7990 currently gives you 0.3% higher G3D Mark and 2.4% more estimated average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. Radeon R9 285 / 380 still holds the G3D-per-dollar lead, so the performance win comes with a real value premium.

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.

Radeon HD 7990 Benchmark Check

Radeon R9 285 / 380 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
1080p
low	77 FPS	80 FPS
medium	63 FPS	65 FPS
high	50 FPS	52 FPS
ultra	33 FPS	34 FPS
1440p
low	65 FPS	67 FPS
medium	54 FPS	56 FPS
high	38 FPS	40 FPS
ultra	24 FPS	25 FPS
4K
low	24 FPS	25 FPS
medium	23 FPS	23 FPS
high	14 FPS	15 FPS
ultra	12 FPS	13 FPS

Open Radeon HD 7990 Open Radeon R9 285 / 380

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
1080p
low	143 FPS	129 FPS
medium	118 FPS	98 FPS
high	97 FPS	78 FPS
ultra	71 FPS	52 FPS
1440p
low	88 FPS	73 FPS
medium	66 FPS	53 FPS
high	49 FPS	39 FPS
ultra	37 FPS	27 FPS
4K
low	37 FPS	27 FPS
medium	28 FPS	19 FPS
high	21 FPS	15 FPS
ultra	16 FPS	11 FPS

Open Radeon HD 7990 Open Radeon R9 285 / 380

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
1080p
low	250 FPS	250 FPS
medium	200 FPS	200 FPS
high	167 FPS	166 FPS
ultra	125 FPS	125 FPS
1440p
low	188 FPS	187 FPS
medium	150 FPS	150 FPS
high	125 FPS	125 FPS
ultra	94 FPS	94 FPS
4K
low	125 FPS	125 FPS
medium	100 FPS	100 FPS
high	83 FPS	83 FPS
ultra	63 FPS	62 FPS

Open Radeon HD 7990 Open Radeon R9 285 / 380

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
1080p
low	145 FPS	139 FPS
medium	116 FPS	113 FPS
high	100 FPS	97 FPS
ultra	83 FPS	80 FPS
1440p
low	107 FPS	103 FPS
medium	87 FPS	85 FPS
high	75 FPS	73 FPS
ultra	58 FPS	57 FPS
4K
low	63 FPS	61 FPS
medium	48 FPS	47 FPS
high	38 FPS	36 FPS
ultra	26 FPS	26 FPS

Open Radeon HD 7990 Open Radeon R9 285 / 380

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Radeon HD 7990 and Radeon R9 285 / 380

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.

Radeon R9 285 / 380

The Radeon R9 285 / 380 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in September 2 2014. It features the GCN 3.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 918 MHz. It has 1792 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 190W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,550 points. Launch price was $249.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 7990 scores 5,566 and the Radeon R9 285 / 380 reaches 5,550 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.3% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 7990 is built on GCN 1.0 while the Radeon R9 285 / 380 uses GCN 3.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 2,048 (Radeon HD 7990) vs 1,792 (Radeon R9 285 / 380). Raw compute: 4.096 TFLOPS ×2 (Radeon HD 7990) vs 3.29 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 285 / 380).

Feature	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
G3D Mark Score	5,566	5,550
Architecture	GCN 1.0	GCN 3.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	2048 ×2+14%	1792
Compute (TFLOPS)	4.096 TFLOPS ×2+24%	3.29 TFLOPS
ROPs	32 ×2	32
TMUs	128 ×2+14%	112
L1 Cache	512 KB+14%	448 KB
L2 Cache	768 KB+50%	512 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The Radeon HD 7990 comes with 3 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon R9 285 / 380 has 2 GB. The Radeon HD 7990 offers 50% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Memory bandwidth: 288 GB/s x2 (Radeon HD 7990) vs 176 GB/s (Radeon R9 285 / 380) — a 1537.5% advantage for the Radeon HD 7990. Bus width: 384-bit x2 vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 768 KB (Radeon HD 7990) vs 512 KB (Radeon R9 285 / 380) — the Radeon HD 7990 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
VRAM Capacity	3 GB+50%	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	288 GB/s x2+64%	176 GB/s
Bus Width	384-bit x2+50%	256-bit
L2 Cache	768 KB+50%	512 KB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (11_1) (Radeon HD 7990) vs 12 (Radeon R9 285 / 380). Vulkan: 1.2 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 5 vs 4.

Feature	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
DirectX	12 (11_1)	12
Vulkan	1.2	1.2
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
Max Displays	5+25%	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 7990) vs VCE 3.0 (Radeon R9 285 / 380). Decoder: UVD 3.2 vs UVD 5.0. Supported codecs: H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1 (Radeon HD 7990) vs H.264,HEVC,VP9 (Radeon R9 285 / 380).

Feature	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
Encoder	VCE 1.0	VCE 3.0
Decoder	UVD 3.2	UVD 5.0
Codecs	H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1	H.264,HEVC,VP9

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 7990 draws 375W versus the Radeon R9 285 / 380's 190W — a 65.5% difference. The Radeon R9 285 / 380 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 750W (Radeon HD 7990) vs 500W (Radeon R9 285 / 380). Power connectors: 2x 8-pin vs 2x 6-pin. Card length: 305mm vs 221mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots.

Feature	Radeon HD 7990	Radeon R9 285 / 380
TDP	375W	190W-49%
Recommended PSU	750W	500W-33%
Power Connector	2x 8-pin	2x 6-pin
Length	305mm	221mm
Height	111mm	111mm
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	85	—
Perf/Watt	14.8	29.2+97%

💰

Value Analysis

The Radeon HD 7990 launched at $999 MSRP, while the Radeon R9 285 / 380 launched at $199. The Radeon R9 285 / 380 costs 80.1% less ($800 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 5.6 (Radeon HD 7990) vs 27.9 (Radeon R9 285 / 380) — the Radeon R9 285 / 380 offers 398.2% better value. The Radeon R9 285 / 380 is the newer GPU (2014 vs 2013).