AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs AMD Radeon R9 370X Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database contains a single direct comparison between the AMD Radeon HD 7790 and the AMD Radeon R9 370X: the Geekbench Metal test. In this benchmark, the AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17,666, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 12,676. This produces a delta of 39.4% in favor of the HD 7790, a substantial margin for a single compute API test.

Looking at the averages, the picture shifts. The HD 7790 has an average benchmark score of 17,666 based solely on its Metal result, placing it at the 61st percentile among all GPUs in the database. The R9 370X, with three recorded benchmarks (Metal at 12,676, OpenCL at 25,893, and Vulkan at 9,018), averages 15,862, which lands at the 58th percentile. So while the HD 7790 wins the head-to-head Metal comparison outright, the R9 370X demonstrates a broader benchmark profile across multiple APIs.

The R9 370X's OpenCL score of 25,893 is notably higher than its Metal score, suggesting that its compute performance under OpenCL is significantly stronger than under Metal. Its Vulkan score of 9,018 is the lowest of its three recorded results. The HD 7790 has no OpenCL or Vulkan entries in the database, so a full cross-API comparison is not possible from the recorded data.

The delta of 39.4% in Metal is not a marginal difference. It indicates that for workloads leveraging Metal, the HD 7790 holds a clear advantage over the R9 370X, at least in the configuration recorded here. This is worth questioning: why would an older card, built on an older architecture, outperform a newer card with a larger die and more memory bandwidth in Metal? The answer likely lies in architectural differences discussed later, but the raw numbers are unambiguous in this test.

Nearest rival data for the HD 7790 shows it sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (average score 17,639, delta 0.2%), the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588, delta 0.4%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, delta 0.7%). It trails the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (17,789) by 0.7%. The R9 370X, meanwhile, sits near the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15,852, delta 0.1%), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, delta 1.2%), and trails the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014, delta 1%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129, delta 1.7%). The percentile gap between the two cards is small, only 3 percentile points, yet the Metal score gap is large.

The wins count is straightforward: the HD 7790 has 1 win in the head-to-head comparison, and the R9 370X has 0. There is no ambiguity in which card won the recorded direct matchup.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the recorded data, the AMD Radeon HD 7790 wins in the Metal API. Its score of 17,666 in Geekbench Metal is 39.4% higher than the R9 370X's 12,676. This is the only head-to-head benchmark in the database, so the HD 7790 claims victory in every direct comparison available. For users prioritizing Metal-based workloads, the data clearly favors the HD 7790.

The AMD Radeon R9 370X does not win any head-to-head benchmark against the HD 7790 in the database. However, it does show strengths in other API benchmarks that the HD 7790 does not have recorded entries for. Its OpenCL score of 25,893 is its strongest recorded result, far exceeding its Metal score of 12,676. The Vulkan score of 9,018 is its weakest. If the use case involves OpenCL compute, the R9 370X demonstrates a capability that the HD 7790 lacks any recorded data for, making direct comparison impossible but suggesting the R9 370X has a more versatile API footprint.

The R9 370X also offers a higher average benchmark score across all recorded metrics at 15,862, though this includes three separate tests averaging against the HD 7790's single Metal score. The HD 7790's average of 17,666 is higher, driven by its strong Metal performance. In terms of percentile rank, the HD 7790 at 61st percentile outperforms the R9 370X at 58th, a gap of 3 percentile points across all GPUs in the database.

For gaming-oriented use cases, note that the R9 370X has a higher pixel rate at 32.96 GPixel/s and texture rate at 82.40 GTexel/s, both significantly higher than the HD 7790's 16.00 GPixel/s and 56.00 GTexel/s. These are theoretical rates, not benchmark scores, but they suggest the R9 370X has higher raw throughput capabilities. The HD 7790 counters with a higher memory clock at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) versus the R9 370X's 1400 MHz (5.6 Gbps effective), though the R9 370X has a wider memory bus at 256 bit and higher bandwidth at 179.2 GB/s versus the HD 7790's 128 bit and 96.00 GB/s.

The compute throughput also favors the R9 370X: 2.637 TFLOPS FP32 versus 1.792 TFLOPS for the HD 7790. The R9 370X has more shading units at 1,280 versus 896, more TMUs at 80 versus 56, and more ROPs at 32 versus 16. These specifications point to the R9 370X being a more powerful card on paper, yet the benchmark data shows the HD 7790 winning the Metal test. This is an intriguing discrepancy that suggests architectural efficiency or driver optimizations may play a role.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear but narrow picture. The AMD Radeon HD 7790 wins the only head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench Metal, by 39.4%. Its score of 17,666 places it at the 61st percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, AMD Radeon 780M, AMD Radeon Pro 560, and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000, all within 0.7% of its score. The R9 370X, averaging 15,862 across three benchmarks, sits at the 58th percentile with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 7700 and AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

If the primary workload is Metal-based, the HD 7790 is the clear choice from the recorded data. Its 39.4% lead in Metal is not trivial. However, the R9 370X has a more complete benchmark profile, with OpenCL and Vulkan results that the HD 7790 lacks entirely. Its OpenCL score of 25,893 suggests strong compute performance in that API. Users who rely on OpenCL would find the R9 370X better documented in the database, though no direct comparison exists.

The R9 370X also has double the memory (2 GB versus 1024 MB), a wider memory bus (256 bit versus 128 bit), and nearly double the bandwidth (179.2 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s). Its FP32 throughput is 2.637 TFLOPS versus 1.792 TFLOPS. The HD 370X has a higher memory clock and a smaller die size (160 mm² versus 212 mm²). The data suggests the R9 370X is built for higher raw performance, yet the benchmark says otherwise for Metal. The data implies that the HD 7790 may be better optimized for Metal workloads specifically, while the R9 370X may be a more general-purpose card with diverse API support.

The answer depends on the use case. For Metal users, pick the HD 7790. For OpenCL or Vulkan users, the R9 370X offers recorded data that the database does not provide for the HD 7790, though its Vulkan score of 9,018 is low relative to its Metal score. There is no single winner across all APIs because the data lacks a full comparison matrix. The HD 7790 wins the only recorded contest.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the Geekbench Metal benchmark, and by how much?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7790 wins the Geekbench Metal test with a score of 17,666, versus the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 12,676, a delta of 39.4% in favor of the HD 7790.

Q: Does the R9 370X have any benchmark wins over the HD 7790?

A: In the recorded head-to-head comparisons, the R9 370X has 0 wins. The HD 7790 has 1 win. There are no other direct comparisons in the database.

Q: What is the R9 370X's best recorded benchmark score?

A: The R9 370X scores 25,893 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is its highest recorded result, compared to 12,676 in Metal and 9,018 in Vulkan.

Q: How do the two cards compare in percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The HD 7790 sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the R9 370X sits at the 58th percentile, a gap of 3 percentile points.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth, and what are the figures?

A: The R9 370X has higher memory bandwidth at 179.2 GB/s, with a 256 bit bus and 2 GB GDDR5 memory. The HD 7790 has 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, a 128 bit bus, and 1024 MB GDDR5 memory.

Q: What is the FP32 compute throughput for each card?

A: The R9 370X delivers 2.637 TFLOPS FP32, while the HD 7790 delivers 1.792 TFLOPS FP32, a difference of roughly 47% in favor of the R9 370X.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon HD 7790 is built on the Bonaire chip using GCN 2.0 architecture, belonging to the Southern Islands generation (HD 7700 series). The AMD Radeon R9 370X uses the Trinidad chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, from the Pirate Islands generation (R9 300 series). Both are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the transistor counts differ: the HD 7790 has 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.0M per mm², while the R9 370X has 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, with a density of 13.2M per mm². The R9 370X is physically larger and denser.

The API support differs notably. The HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the R9 370X supports DirectX 12 (11_1), indicating a lower feature level despite being a later release. Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170. The HD 7790's GCN 2.0 architecture is newer than the R9 370X's GCN 1.0, which may explain its superior Metal performance despite lower theoretical specs.

The R9 370X has a higher base clock of 980 MHz and boost clock of 1030 MHz, while the HD 7790's base and boost clocks are not listed in the database. The HD 7790 has a higher memory clock at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) versus the R9 370X's 1400 MHz (5.6 Gbps effective). Both use GDDR5 memory, but the R9 370X uses a 256 bit bus versus 128 bit on the HD 7790.

The R9 370X has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the HD 7790 has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The pixel rate is 32.96 GPixel/s for the R9 370X and 16.00 GPixel/s for the HD 7790. The texture rate is 82.40 GTexel/s versus 56.00 GTexel/s. The R9 370X is clearly a larger, more capable chip in raw hardware terms.

Display outputs differ: the HD 7790 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, while the R9 370X has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. The power consumption figures are listed as 85 W TDP for the HD 7790 and 180 W TDP for the R9 370X, with the R9 370X requiring 2x 6-pin power connectors and a 450 W suggested PSU versus 1x 6-pin and 250 W for the HD 7790.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several key specifications. The HD 7790 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory, while the R9 370X has 2 GB. The memory bus width is 128 bit for the HD 7790 and 256 bit for the R9 370X, and bandwidth is 96.00 GB/s versus 179.2 GB/s. Memory clocks are 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) for the HD 7790 and 1400 MHz (5.6 Gbps effective) for the R9 370X.

Shading units: 896 for the HD 7790, 1,280 for the R9 370X. TMUs: 56 versus 80. ROPs: 16 versus 32. FP32 compute: 1.792 TFLOPS for the HD 7790, 2.637 TFLOPS for the R9 370X. Pixel rate: 16.00 GPixel/s versus 32.96 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 56.00 GTexel/s versus 82.40 GTexel/s. TDP: 85 W for the HD 7790, 180 W for the R9 370X.

Power connectors: 1x 6-pin for the HD 7790, 2x 6-pin for the R9 370X. Suggested PSU: 250 W versus 450 W. Dimensions: the HD 7790 is 183 mm (7.2 inches) long, while the R9 370X is 221 mm (8.7 inches) long and 111 mm (4.4 inches) tall. The R9 370X has no recorded height for the HD 7790. Display outputs: the HD 7790 has 1x DVI, 1x 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2; the R9 370X has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2. The HD 7790 has 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die with 13.0M per mm² density; the R9 370X has 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die with 13.2M per mm² density. Both are dual-slot cards with PCIe 3.0 x16 interfaces.