AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 vs AMD Radeon HD 7790

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 and AMD Radeon HD 7790 represent two very different eras of GPU design, with the RTX 2070 launching in the GeForce 20-series generation and the HD 7790 belonging to AMD's Southern Islands family. The RTX 2070 carries an average benchmark score of 18,789 against the HD 7790's 17,666, a modest 6.4% overall gap that obscures massive differences in feature support and workload suitability. The RTX 2070 sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 7790 ranks at the 61st percentile, placing both in the mid-range tier of the database despite their generational separation.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2070 is the clear winner in modern, feature-rich workloads. Its Turing architecture brings dedicated RT cores and Tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-enhanced rendering that the HD 7790 cannot attempt at all. The RTX 2070's DirectX 12 Ultimate support with feature level 12_2 means it can run the latest DX12 titles with advanced rendering features, while the HD 7790 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_0) without those extensions. For Vulkan workloads, the RTX 2070 supports Vulkan 1.4 versus the HD 7790's Vulkan 1.2.170, providing better compatibility with newer Vulkan-based games and applications.

The HD 7790 wins in legacy and lightweight scenarios. Its 85 W TDP and 250 W recommended PSU make it far easier to integrate into older or lower-power systems, whereas the RTX 2070 demands 175 W and a 450 W PSU. The HD 7790's single 6-pin power connector contrasts with the RTX 2070's 8-pin requirement, simplifying installation in older power supplies. The HD 7790 also has a shorter physical footprint at 183 mm versus the RTX 2070's 229 mm, making it a better fit for compact cases. In pure compute density per watt, the HD 7790 delivers 1.792 TFLOPS at 85 W, while the RTX 2070 delivers 7.465 TFLOPS at 175 W — the RTX 2070 is more efficient per watt, but the HD 7790's absolute power draw is dramatically lower.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2070 scores 18,789 on average, which is 6.4% higher than the HD 7790's 17,666. The RTX 2070's nearest rival in the database is the NVIDIA Tesla K80 at 18,866 (0.4% higher), while the HD 7790's closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 at 17,639 (0.2% higher).

Q: Can the RTX 2070 handle ray tracing workloads?

A: Yes. The RTX 2070 includes 36 dedicated RT cores and 288 Tensor cores as part of its Turing architecture, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and tensor-based AI processing. The HD 7790 has no RT cores or Tensor cores, so it cannot perform these tasks in hardware.

Q: What memory configurations do these cards use?

A: The RTX 2070 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7790 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth — the RTX 2070 offers roughly 4.7 times the memory bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports higher DirectX versions?

A: The RTX 2070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). The RTX 2070 also supports Vulkan 1.4 versus the HD 7790's Vulkan 1.2.170, and both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How do these cards compare in raw pixel and texture throughput?

A: The RTX 2070 achieves 103.7 GPixel/s and 233.3 GTexel/s, while the HD 7790 manages 16.00 GPixel/s and 56.00 GTexel/s. The RTX 2070 is 6.5 times faster in pixel rate and 4.2 times faster in texture rate.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX 2070 has a 175 W TDP and recommends a 450 W PSU with a single 8-pin power connector. The HD 7790 has an 85 W TDP and recommends a 250 W PSU with a single 6-pin connector.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons are not available in the database, but the individual benchmark suites reveal the performance landscape. The RTX 2070 posts a PassMark G3D score of 16,094, which is its strongest single benchmark result. The HD 7790's only recorded benchmark is Geekbench Metal at 17,666, which happens to be its entire average score. This Geekbench Metal result is notable because it exceeds the RTX 2070's Geekbench OpenCL score of 79,966 by a significant margin on a percentage basis — but these are different APIs, so the comparison is not apples-to-apples.

The RTX 2070's benchmark portfolio spans ten tests: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (1,569), Geekbench OpenCL (79,966), Geekbench Vulkan (82,521), PassMark DirectX 10 (111), PassMark DirectX 11 (129), PassMark DirectX 12 (60), PassMark DirectX 9 (211), PassMark G2D (819), PassMark G3D (16,094), and PassMark GPU Compute (6,411). Its average score of 18,789 is pulled down by the low PassMark DirectX scores but buoyed by the strong Geekbench results.

Looking at the nearest rivals, the RTX 2070's average score of 18,789 is within 0.9% of the AMD Radeon RX 560X (18,626) and within 0.6% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT (18,685). The HD 7790's 17,666 average sits within 0.4% of the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588) and within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551). The performance clustering around both cards suggests that neither has a decisive lead over its immediate competitors in aggregate testing.

Specification Differences

The RTX 2070 and HD 7790 differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 2070 features 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, while the HD 7790 has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The RTX 2070's 8 GB GDDR6 memory at 448.0 GB/s dwarfs the HD 7790's 1024 MB GDDR5 at 96.00 GB/s. The memory clock speeds reflect this: the RTX 2070 runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the HD 7790 runs at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective).

Clock speeds differ as well, though the HD 7790 does not list base or boost clocks in the database. The RTX 2070 has a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1620 MHz. The RTX 2070's FP32 compute of 7.465 TFLOPS is 4.2 times the HD 7790's 1.792 TFLOPS, and its FP16 performance reaches 14.93 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) while the HD 7790 has no listed FP16 capability. The RTX 2070's pixel rate of 103.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 233.3 GTexel/s compare with the HD 7790's 16.00 GPixel/s and 56.00 GTexel/s.

Physical specifications also diverge. The RTX 2070 measures 229 mm in length, 113 mm in height, and 35 mm in width, while the HD 7790 is 183 mm long with no listed height or width. Both are dual-slot cards. The RTX 2070 offers display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C, while the HD 7790 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The RTX 2070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these GPUs is vast. The RTX 2070 uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on a 12 nm TSMC process, packing 10,800 million transistors into a 445 mm² die with a transistor density of 24.3M per mm². The HD 7790 uses AMD's GCN 2.0 architecture on a 28 nm TSMC process, with 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die at 13.0M per mm² density. The RTX 2070's die is 2.8 times larger and holds 5.2 times more transistors.

Turing introduces dedicated RT cores (36 on the RTX 2070) for ray tracing and Tensor cores (288) for AI acceleration — features entirely absent from GCN 2.0. The RTX 2070's memory subsystem uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the HD 7790 uses 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. The RTX 2070's memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus the HD 7790's 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) reflects the newer memory standard.

The RTX 2070 belongs to the GeForce 20-series with a predecessor in GeForce 10 and successor in GeForce 30, and it carries support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading. The HD 7790 is part of the Southern Islands generation (HD 7700 series), succeeding Northern Islands and preceding Sea Islands. Its GCN 2.0 architecture was designed for an era before ray tracing and tensor processing became mainstream, and its DirectX 12 (12_0) support reflects that earlier design period. The RTX 2070's 175 W TDP versus the HD 7790's 85 W TDP shows the power cost of that additional compute capability — 2.1 times the power draw for 4.2 times the FP32 throughput.