AMD Radeon HD 7490M

Who Should Consider It

The AMD Radeon HD 7490M occupies a narrow but distinct position in the mobile graphics landscape. With a 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs, this part sits at the exact midpoint of the performance distribution — neither a clear-cut entry-level option nor a capable midrange solution. The data indicates that this is a part for users whose primary workloads are legacy 2D applications, basic media playback, and very light 3D acceleration at reduced resolutions.

Benchmark results suggest that the HD 7490M is best suited for 720p or lower resolutions with minimal graphical fidelity settings. The 1024 MB frame buffer, paired with a 64-bit memory interface, creates a hard ceiling on texture-heavy workloads. Users attempting modern titles at 1080p will encounter significant bottlenecks, as the 30.40 GB/s memory bandwidth and 3.200 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for sustained high-resolution rendering. The 256.0 GFLOPS FP32 throughput further confirms that this GPU is intended for casual, non-competitive gaming scenarios.

For productivity tasks, the HD 7490M handles spreadsheet applications, word processing, and web browsing without issue, as these workloads rarely stress the 160 shading units or 8 texture mapping units. The 4 ROPs, however, limit fill-rate-dependent operations, making the card unsuitable for multi-monitor setups with high refresh rates. Mobile users with older software titles that predate DirectX 11 will find the TeraScale 2 architecture perfectly adequate, as the 11.2 (11_0) DirectX support covers legacy APIs comprehensively.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The HD 7490M does not include dedicated ray tracing cores, nor does it feature tensor cores for AI-accelerated workloads. This is a pure rasterization part built on the TeraScale 2 architecture, which predates the hardware-accelerated ray tracing era. The absence of these specialized units means that any ray tracing effects in modern games would require software-based implementations, which would severely tax the 160 shading units and produce playable frame rates only at minimal settings and low resolutions.

The API support is limited to DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4. Notably, the FACT PACK lists no Vulkan support, which restricts compatibility with contemporary titles that rely on Vulkan for low-level hardware access. This omission places the HD 7490M at a significant disadvantage in the current software ecosystem, where many cross-platform engines have deprecated DirectX 11 support in favor of Vulkan or DirectX 12. The 11_0 feature level indicates that the hardware supports DirectX 11 class shaders but does not extend to the higher feature levels found in later architectures.

The 40 nm process node from TSMC, with 370 million transistors on a 67 mm² die, gives a transistor density of 5.5M per mm². This manufacturing technology, while modest by contemporary standards, was appropriate for the 2012 release timeframe. The memory subsystem consists of GDDR5 operating at 950 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective), which provides the 30.40 GB/s bandwidth across the 64-bit bus. This configuration was adequate for the resolution targets of its era but falls short of modern requirements.

Power and Cooling

The HD 7490M carries a thermal design power of just 9 W, making it one of the most power-efficient GPUs in its class. This extremely low TDP means that the cooling solution required is minimal — a simple passive heatsink or a slim active cooler would suffice in most laptop chassis. The data shows no power connector requirements, indicating that the card draws all necessary power from the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, which provides up to 75 W — far exceeding the 9 W draw.

The FACT PACK provides no suggested PSU rating, which is consistent with a mobile GPU that does not require an external power supply. For desktop implementations (if any exist), a standard 300 W unit would be more than adequate, though such configurations are not documented in the data. The low power envelope also translates to reduced thermal output, which is beneficial for thin-and-light laptop designs where cooling headroom is limited. The 40 nm process node, while not cutting-edge even at launch, contributes to the efficiency by limiting leakage currents at the modest clock speeds required by this part.

Portable device dependency is noted for display outputs, meaning the actual connectivity options depend entirely on the laptop manufacturer's implementation. This is typical for mobile GPUs, where the OEM decides between HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, or proprietary connectors. The PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the GPU's needs, as the 30.40 GB/s memory bandwidth is well below the theoretical 8 GB/s per-lane throughput of PCIe 2.0.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK lists no nearest rivals for the HD 7490M, which is notable given its 50th percentile ranking. This absence of comparative data suggests that the GPU sits in a performance tier where no direct competitors were captured in the benchmark database, or that the available benchmarks were insufficient to generate meaningful comparisons. The 0 average benchmark score further complicates direct analysis, as there are no empirical results to differentiate it from adjacent products.

Without named rivals, the HD 7490M's position must be inferred from its architectural characteristics. The TeraScale 2 design, with 160 shaders and 8 TMUs, places it in the same performance envelope as other entry-level mobile GPUs of its generation. However, the lack of comparative scores means that relative performance claims cannot be substantiated with the required precision. The 50th percentile ranking, while indicating a median position, does not reveal how far above or below specific competitors the card sits.

The production status of end-of-life, with a release date of January 2012, suggests that this GPU was a transitional product. Its predecessor, Vancouver, and successor, Solar System, bracket its position in the AMD mobile lineup. The "London" generation designation (HD 7400M) confirms that this was part of a broader family refresh rather than a flagship offering. Users seeking comparative performance data should consider that the HD 7490M's closest analogues would be other 40 nm TeraScale 2 parts, but the FACT PACK provides no quantitative basis for such comparisons.

Benchmark Performance

The HD 7490M presents a challenging case for benchmark analysis due to the complete absence of benchmark scores in the FACT PACK. The average benchmark score of 0, combined with an empty benchmarks array, means that no empirical performance data is available for this GPU. The 50th percentile ranking, however, provides a single data point that situates this card at the median of all GPUs in the database — a position that suggests half of all tracked GPUs are slower and half are faster.

This percentile ranking must be interpreted cautiously, as the database likely includes a wide range of integrated and discrete GPUs across multiple generations. A 50th percentile placement among all GPUs indicates that the HD 7490M outperforms many older integrated solutions and low-end discrete parts, while falling well short of contemporary midrange and high-end offerings. The theoretical peak performance figures — 256.0 GFLOPS FP32, 6.400 GTexel/s, and 3.200 GPixel/s — provide a ceiling on what the hardware can achieve, but real-world benchmarks would likely show lower sustained performance due to thermal throttling and driver overhead.

The 64-bit memory bus is a significant limiting factor. With 30.40 GB/s bandwidth, the HD 7490M can only feed the 160 shading units at modest rates. Memory-bound workloads, such as high-resolution textures or anti-aliasing, would see disproportionate performance degradation compared to compute-bound tasks. The 1024 MB frame buffer, while adequate for 720p gaming at lower settings, becomes a constraint at higher resolutions where larger framebuffers are required for smooth rendering.

Without rival comparison data, the benchmark analysis must rely on architectural inference. The 9 W TDP suggests that this GPU was designed for power-constrained environments, which typically correlates with reduced clock stability under sustained load. The 40 nm process, while efficient for its time, cannot match the density or power characteristics of later nodes. The HD 7490M's legacy lies in its role as a low-power solution for basic mobile computing, rather than as a performance-oriented part. Its 50th percentile ranking, while unremarkable, does indicate that it remains functional for a subset of legacy applications and light workloads.