GPU Comparison

# Intel Arc A770M vs AMD Radeon HD 7790

The Intel Arc A770M and AMD Radeon HD 7790 represent two very different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects that gap clearly. The Arc A770M, built on TSMC's 6 nm process with the Xe-HPG architecture, posts an average benchmark score of 18,383 across ten tests, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. The Radeon HD 7790, a 28 nm GCN 2.0 part from 2013, manages a single Geekbench Metal score of 17,666, landing in the 61st percentile. While the average scores are closer than the hardware differences suggest, the Arc A770M only has one benchmark to compare directly against the HD 7790's lone Metal result, and the data shows the Intel part leads in that specific test. However, the HD 7790's percentile ranking of 61 against the Arc's 62 indicates that, despite being a decade older, the AMD card still holds its own in certain legacy workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A770M dominates in raw compute and modern API performance. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 89,494 and Vulkan score of 74,422 are the standout numbers in the entire dataset, reflecting a GPU designed for contemporary workloads like DX12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. The PassMark suite further reinforces this: the A770M scores 11,774 in G3D, 4,778 in GPU compute, and 711 in G2D. For DirectX 12, it posts 70, while DirectX 11 and DirectX 10 come in at 69 and 56 respectively. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 2,278 indicates strong sustained performance in modern game engines.

The AMD Radeon HD 7790, by contrast, has only one benchmark in the pack: Geekbench Metal, where it scores 17,666. That single data point makes it difficult to declare definitive wins, but the Metal score itself is notable, it shows the card can still execute modern Apple Metal workloads at a respectable level. The HD 7790's GCN 2.0 architecture, with 896 shading units and 16 ROPs, was designed for a different era of gaming, and its 96.00 GB/s memory bandwidth and 1.792 TFLOPS FP32 performance reflect that. Where the A770M wins is in sheer throughput and feature support; the HD 7790's only meaningful edge is its Metal benchmark presence, which the Intel card cannot contest because it has no Metal result in the data.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast. The Intel Arc A770M uses the DG2-512 chip built on TSMC's 6 nm process, packing 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die. That works out to a transistor density of 53.4M per mm². The HD 7790's Bonaire chip, by contrast, uses the older 28 nm process, with 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, a density of just 13.0M per mm². The Intel part has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, alongside 32 dedicated ray tracing cores. The AMD card has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with no ray tracing hardware at all.

Memory configurations differ just as dramatically. The Arc A770M ships with 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 16 Gbps effective. The HD 7790 has just 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth at 6 Gbps effective. Clock speeds tell the story of architectural efficiency: the Intel chip runs at 1650 MHz base and 2050 MHz boost, while the AMD card's memory runs at 1500 MHz. The compute throughput numbers are stark, the A770M delivers 16.79 TFLOPS FP32 and 33.59 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the HD 7790 manages 1.792 TFLOPS FP32 and has no listed FP16 capability.

The Arc A770M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7790 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Intel part also uses PCIe 4.0 x16, compared to the HD 7790's PCIe 3.0 x16. Power requirements differ too: the A770M is rated at 120 W TDP as an IGP, while the HD 7790 draws 85 W and requires a single 6-pin power connector with a 250 W suggested PSU. The HD 7790 is a dual-slot card measuring 183 mm (7.2 inches) in length, with display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the Intel Arc A770M is the superior GPU for almost any modern workload. Its average benchmark score of 18,383 is 4.1% higher than the HD 7790's 17,666, and it does so across ten different tests spanning DirectX 9 through 12, OpenCL, Vulkan, and compute workloads. The A770M's 62nd percentile ranking versus the HD 7790's 61st is close, but the Intel card achieves that with far more demanding modern tests. The Arc A770M also sits within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 460's average score of 18,373, and it is 1.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile's 18,159, a strong showing for a mobile IGP.

However, the HD 7790 is not without merit. Its Geekbench Metal score of 17,666 is the only benchmark it has, and it lands within 0.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060's 17,639 and 0.4% of the AMD Radeon 780M's 17,588. That suggests the HD 7790, despite its age and limited memory, can still handle Metal-based compute tasks reasonably well. For users running legacy applications or systems that require Metal support, the HD 7790 remains a viable option. But for anyone needing modern DirectX 12 Ultimate features, ray tracing, or high-bandwidth memory, the Arc A770M is the only choice in this comparison. The verdict is straightforward: pick the Arc A770M for contemporary gaming and compute, and consider the HD 7790 only if you specifically need Metal support or are working with very old software.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A770M has an average benchmark score of 18,383, while the AMD Radeon HD 7790 averages 17,666. That gives the Intel part a 4.1% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 7790 support ray tracing?

A: No. The HD 7790 has no ray tracing cores listed, whereas the Intel Arc A770M includes 32 dedicated ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two?

A: The Intel Arc A770M has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the AMD Radeon HD 7790 has 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. Bandwidth is 512.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in their nearest rival rankings?

A: The Arc A770M's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 460, with a delta of 0.1%. The HD 7790's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, with a delta of 0.2%.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor count?

A: The Intel Arc A770M has 21,700 million transistors, compared to the HD 7790's 2,080 million. The A770M also uses a 6 nm process versus the HD 7790's 28 nm process.

Q: What is the DirectX support difference?

A: The Arc A770M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the A770M has Vulkan 1.4 support versus the HD 7790's Vulkan 1.2.170.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct comparisons are limited because the two GPUs share no common benchmarks in the data. The Intel Arc A770M has ten benchmark results, while the AMD Radeon HD 7790 has just one. That makes a true head-to-head table impossible, but the available numbers reveal the performance hierarchy.

The Arc A770M's strongest results come in compute-oriented tests. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 89,494 is 81.6% higher than its own Vulkan score of 74,422, and both dwarf the HD 7790's Metal score of 17,666. In fact, the A770M's OpenCL result is 5.1 times higher than the HD 7790's Metal result. Even the A770M's PassMark G3D score of 11,774 is 66.7% lower than its OpenCL number, showing how compute-heavy the Intel architecture is. The HD 7790's 1.792 TFLOPS FP32 is a fraction of the A770M's 16.79 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate of 16.00 GPixel/s versus 262.4 GPixel/s tells the same story, the Intel part is over 16 times faster in pixel throughput.

The biggest wins for the Arc A770M are in modern API tests. Its DirectX 12 PassMark score of 70 and DirectX 11 score of 69 show strong scaling, while the DirectX 9 score of 178 and DirectX 10 score of 56 reflect its ability to handle legacy workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,278 is a solid result for a mobile GPU. For the HD 7790, the single Metal score of 17,666 is its only data point, but it does place the card within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro 560's 17,551 and within 0.2% of the RTX 4060's 17,639. This suggests that in Metal-specific workloads, the HD 7790 can keep pace with much newer hardware, even if its overall capabilities are limited by its 1 GB memory and 96.00 GB/s bandwidth.

The average benchmark scores further contextualize the gap. The A770M's 18,383 average puts it 0.1% above the RX 460's 18,373 and 1.2% above the RTX 3060 Mobile's 18,159. The HD 7790's 17,666 average lands 0.4% above the Radeon 780M's 17,588 and 0.7% below the Quadro RTX 4000's 17,789. These percentile and rival comparisons show that while the A770M edges out the HD 7790 in raw numbers, both cards sit in a similar performance band when normalized against their respective peers. The key difference is that the A770M has ten benchmarks proving its consistency, while the HD 7790's single Metal result leaves its broader performance profile undefined.