ATI Radeon HD 3690

Benchmark Performance

The ATI Radeon HD 3690 occupies a distinctive position in the hardware landscape, sitting at the 50th percentile among all GPUs cataloged in the database. This median placement indicates a card that delivers balanced, middle-tier performance rather than excelling at either extreme of the spectrum. The benchmark results show a GPU engineered for mainstream 1080p gaming at the time of its release, though the data suggests it handles demanding titles with noticeable compromises.

The HD 3690's raw compute capabilities are defined by its 320 shading units operating under the TeraScale architecture. This configuration yields a floating-point performance of 428.8 GFLOPS, a figure that places it firmly in the upper-midrange segment of its generation. The pixel rate of 10.72 GPixel/s and texture rate of 10.72 GTexel/s demonstrate a balanced design where pixel and texture throughput are perfectly matched, avoiding bottlenecks in either pipeline stage. This symmetry is noteworthy because it allows the card to maintain consistent frame pacing across varied scene complexity, from geometry-heavy environments to texture-dense surfaces.

The absence of nearest rivals in the benchmark data means direct percentage comparisons are unavailable, but the percentile ranking provides context. At the 50th percentile, the HD 3690 outperforms half of all GPUs in the database while trailing the other half. This is a classic mainstream positioning—capable enough for esports titles and older AAA games at medium settings, but not designed to push maximum detail at high resolutions. The data indicates that users should expect playable frame rates in most titles from 2007-2008, with settings adjustments required for the most demanding releases.

Power and Cooling

The HD 3690 presents a modest power profile that belies its dual-slot cooler design. The thermal design power is rated at 75 W, which is remarkably efficient for a card of this era, especially considering the 55 nm manufacturing process from TSMC. This low TDP means the card generates minimal heat, allowing the dual-slot cooler to operate quietly and effectively without aggressive fan curves. The cooling solution is more substantial than necessary for the thermal load, which provides headroom for sustained operation in poorly ventilated cases.

Power delivery requires a single 6-pin PCIe power connector, a standard configuration that ensures compatibility with most power supplies of the period. The suggested power supply rating is 250 W, a figure that accommodates the card's draw along with a typical system configuration without demanding a high-wattage unit. This low system power requirement makes the HD 3690 an attractive option for upgrading pre-built systems with modest power supplies, as the 250 W recommendation aligns with entry-level PSUs commonly found in office and home desktops from that era.

The PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface provides adequate bandwidth for the card's memory subsystem and data transfer needs. While PCIe 2.0 doubles the bandwidth of the original specification, the HD 3690's performance profile does not saturate even the older standard, meaning the bus interface imposes no practical bottleneck. The dual-slot form factor requires two expansion slots in the chassis, which is worth noting for small-form-factor builds, though the card's 75 W TDP means it does not require the additional cooling that typically accompanies larger dual-slot designs.

Memory Subsystem

The HD 3690 ships with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory across a 128-bit bus interface. This configuration yields a memory bandwidth of 26.56 GB/s, a figure that directly impacts performance at higher resolutions. The memory clock runs at 830 MHz, translating to an effective data rate of 1660 Mbps, which is competitive for the card's generation but modest by modern standards.

The 256 MB capacity is the most significant limitation of this card. At 1080p resolution, many games from the HD 3690's era required more than 256 MB of VRAM for maximum texture quality, forcing the card to rely on system memory over the PCIe bus. This spillover causes stuttering and frame rate drops in texture-heavy scenes, as the comparatively slow system memory access cannot match the speed of dedicated VRAM. The 128-bit bus width compounds this issue, limiting the amount of data that can be transferred per clock cycle.

The 26.56 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 720p gaming and lighter 1080p titles with reduced texture settings. At 1080p with high-resolution texture packs, the bandwidth becomes a bottleneck, particularly in open-world games where large texture streaming requirements overwhelm the memory subsystem. The data suggests that the HD 3690 performs optimally at 720p, where the memory capacity and bandwidth align with game requirements, delivering smoother frame times than at higher resolutions where memory pressure becomes critical.

How It Compares

The HD 3690's comparison landscape is defined by its generation peers, though specific rival data is not available in the benchmark dataset. Based on its 50th percentile ranking, the card sits in a competitive middle ground where slight architectural or clock speed differences determine the pecking order.

Against its direct predecessor from the Radeon R500 PCIe series, the HD 3690 represents a significant architectural leap. The TeraScale architecture introduces unified shaders, replacing the separate pixel and vertex pipelines of the older design. This unified approach allows dynamic allocation of processing resources based on workload, improving efficiency in modern games that mix pixel and vertex operations. The 55 nm process also enables higher clock speeds and lower power consumption than the older cards, though the HD 3690's 75 W TDP is comparable to some higher-end R500 parts.

The successor, Radeon R700, builds upon the TeraScale foundation with increased shader counts and memory bandwidth. The HD 3690's position between these generations shows a card that captures the benefits of the architectural transition without the full performance envelope of the next generation. The 50th percentile ranking reflects this intermediate status—better than the outgoing generation but clearly behind the incoming one.

Within its own generation, the HD 3690's 320 shading units and 16 texture units place it in the midrange tier. Cards with higher shader counts and wider memory buses would outperform it, while lower-tier parts with fewer resources would trail. The 128-bit memory bus is a clear differentiator, as higher-end cards in the same family typically used 256-bit interfaces, providing double the bandwidth. This memory interface limitation is the primary bottleneck that prevents the HD 3690 from punching above its weight class.

Who Should Consider It

The ATI Radeon HD 3690 is best suited for users targeting 720p gaming or 1080p with conservative settings. The 50th percentile ranking indicates that this card can handle the majority of games from its era at medium quality presets, delivering playable frame rates without requiring the highest-end hardware. For esports titles and older games, the HD 3690 provides smooth performance at 1080p with high settings, as these games are less demanding on memory bandwidth and capacity.

Users with 720p displays will find the HD 3690 particularly well-matched, as the 256 MB VRAM and 26.56 GB/s bandwidth align with the texture requirements of most games at that resolution. The card can maintain higher quality settings at 720p than at 1080p, making it a viable choice for budget gaming builds or secondary systems. The 75 W TDP and 250 W PSU requirement make it easy to integrate into existing systems without upgrading the power supply, reducing the total cost of adoption.

However, gamers seeking to play at 1080p with maximum texture quality will encounter the HD 3690's limitations. The 256 MB VRAM becomes a bottleneck in modern titles and even some games from the late 2000s that shipped with high-resolution texture packs. Users in this category should consider reducing resolution to 720p or lowering texture quality settings to maintain consistent frame rates. The card's dual-slot cooler and 2x DVI plus S-Video outputs provide flexible display connectivity for multi-monitor setups, though the memory limitations will affect performance when spanning games across multiple displays.

The HD 3690 occupies a specific niche: it is a capable entry-level card for retro gaming, LAN party builds, or systems where power efficiency and low heat output are priorities. Its 55 nm process and 75 W TDP make it an excellent choice for small form factor cases where thermal management is challenging. The data indicates that this card delivers solid performance for its intended resolution targets, with clear trade-offs at higher settings that users should weigh against their specific gaming preferences.