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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 @ 715 MHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire (compare) 1920 @ 680 MHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6990M 1120 @ 715 MHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6970M (compare) 960 @ 680 MHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
Radeon HD 6950M (compare) 960 @ 580 MHz256 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 - Performance 1280x720
min: 3529     avg: 3572.3     median: 3535 (12%)     max: 3653 points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance GPU 1280x720
min: 3179     avg: 3238.3     median: 3227 (6%)     max: 3309 points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
P Result 1280x1024 +
P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024 +
3DMark 2001SE - Standard 1024x768
59748 Points (62%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 03 - Standard 1024x768
min: 62353     avg: 64034.7     median: 62835 (35%)     max: 66916 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 05 - Standard 1024x768
min: 26106     avg: 26942.7     median: 26622 (57%)     max: 28100 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - high, Tesselation (normal), DirectX11 1280x1024
min: 36.6     avg: 41.9     median: 37.2 (17%)     max: 51.8 fps
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
SPECviewperf 11
Siemens NX 1920x1080 +
Tcvis 1920x1080 +
SolidWorks 1920x1080 +
Pro/ENGINEER 1920x1080 +
Maya 1920x1080 +
Lightwave 1920x1080 +
Ensight 1920x1080 +
Catia 1920x1080 +
Windows 7 Experience Index - 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 - Graphics
min: 7.6     avg: 7.7     median: 7.7 (97%)     max: 7.7 points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit +
- 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 detailled 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