Notebookcheck

AMD Radeon HD 6990M

AMD Radeon HD 6990M

The AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6990M (or sometimes called ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6990) is a high-end graphics card for large laptops (17" and up). It is based on the desktop HD 6870 graphics card and there supports UVD3 decoding and Eyefinity+, albeit with overall reduced clock rates.

The 1120 Stream processors are still based on the "old" 5D architecture similar to the 5000 series. Therefore, the number of shaders is not comparable to the 1D cores of current Nvidia GPUs. The Tessellation performance should be improved (like the desktop 6800 series) with the new cards. The Stream processors can be used with DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL. In particular, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL can both allow the cores to be used for general computations like video transcoding.

The 3D performance should be similar to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M in the high end class of notebook graphics cards. Therefore, as of 2011, most modern and demanding games should run in full HD with highest settings fluently. Only Metro 2033 and Crysis (DX11) may need reduced detail settings.

The new UVD3 video decoder supports the decoding of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, Flash and now also Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos on the graphics card.

Furthermore, the HD 6900M series integrates an HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g. für Blu-Ray videos).

The AMD HD3D Technology offers support for Blu-Ray 3D and 3D displays (integrated and external). However, the solution is not as mature as Nvidia's 3D Vision.

Thanks to Eyefinity, the graphics chip is able to theoretically drive up to 6 monitors simultaneously. However, this only works if the laptop features enough DisplayPort outputs.

The high power consumption of the chip limits its use only in large laptops with good cooling solutions (e.g. Alienware M18x or Clevo X7200).

ManufacturerAMD
Radeon HD 6900M Series
Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire compare 2240 @ 0.72 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire compare 1920 @ 0.68 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6990M 1120 @ 0.72 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6970M compare 960 @ 0.68 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6950M compare 960 @ 0.58 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
CodenameBlackcomb XTX
ArchitectureTerascale 2
Pipelines1120 - unified
Core Speed715 MHz
Memory Speed900 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory2048 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 11, Shader 5.0
Transistor Count1700 Million
technology40 nm
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement12.07.2011
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/...

Benchmarks

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 3529     avg: 3572     median: 3535 (9%)     max: 3653 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 3179     avg: 3238     median: 3227 (5%)     max: 3309 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
59748 Points (62%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
min: 62353     avg: 64035     median: 62835 (33%)     max: 66916 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 26106     avg: 26943     median: 26622 (39%)     max: 28100 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high
min: 36.6     avg: 41.9     median: 37.2 (7%)     max: 51.8 fps
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +
specvp11 tcvis-02 +
specvp11 sw-02 +
specvp11 proe-05 +
specvp11 maya-03 +
specvp11 lightwave-01 +
specvp11 ensight-04 +
specvp11 catia-03 +
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
min: 7.6     avg: 7.7     median: 7.7 (97%)     max: 7.7 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
min: 7.6     avg: 7.7     median: 7.7 (97%)     max: 7.7 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

F1 2012

F1 2012

2012
ultra 1920x1080
59  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3

2012
low 1024x768
58.3  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
65.1  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
38.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
29.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

2012
low 1024x768
81.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
62.7  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
60.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
35.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Diablo III

Diablo III

2012
low 1024x768
210.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
145  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
97.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
73  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Risen 2: Dark Waters

Risen 2: Dark Waters

2012
low 1024x768
98  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
78.7  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
59.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
27.9  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3

2012
low 1280x720
60  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
59.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
56.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Alan Wake

Alan Wake

2012
low 1024x768
92.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
59.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
30.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic

2011
low 1024x768
75.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
52.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
46.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Anno 2070

Anno 2070

2011
low 1024x768
220.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
108  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
65.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
34.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2011
low 1280x720
56.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
52.3  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
43.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
34.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
CoD: Modern Warfare 3

CoD: Modern Warfare 3

2011
low 1024x768
250  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
144.7  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
104.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
69.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3

2011
low 1024x768
93.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
66.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
52.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
21.9  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Fifa 12

Fifa 12

2011
low 800x600
471.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
265.8  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
217.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
156.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
F1 2011

F1 2011

2011
low 800x600
127  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
83  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
77  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
48  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Deus Ex Human Revolution

Deus Ex Human Revolution

2011
low 1024x768
205.7  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
110.6  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
50.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Dirt 3

Dirt 3

2011
low 800x600
209.5 fps  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
96.1 fps  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
75.6 fps