GeForce Go 7800 vs Radeon HD 7290M

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

GeForce Go 7800

2013

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 256 MB vs 512 MB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 256 MB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌150% higher power demand at 250W vs 100W.

Radeon HD 7290M

2012

Why buy it

✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (512 MB vs 256 MB).
✅Draws 100W instead of 250W, a 150W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2012-era hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

GeForce Go 7800

2013

Radeon HD 7290M

2012

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Why buy it

✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (512 MB vs 256 MB).
✅Draws 100W instead of 250W, a 150W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 256 MB vs 512 MB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 256 MB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌150% higher power demand at 250W vs 100W.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2012-era hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon HD 7290M better than GeForce Go 7800?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 115 vs 123 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Radeon HD 7290M is the overall package: you are getting FSR upscaling, plus much lower power draw (100W vs 250W).

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce Go 7800 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2013 generation instead of 2012 and the stronger feature stack with no meaningful modern upscaling stack instead of FSR upscaling. That broader feature stack should age better as more games lean on modern upscaling and frame-generation support.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Radeon HD 7290M can still make sense if you find it at the right price, especially around Unknown MSRP. Radeon HD 7290M is still the smarter buy for most people, though, because the raw performance is close while the overall package is cleaner. Radeon HD 7290M is priced in an unclear MSRP range at an unclear MSRP versus an unclear MSRP, and you are getting 7.0% higher G3D Mark. GeForce Go 7800 is the newer 2013 card, so it still has a real case if you care more about newer architecture and future-proofing than about squeezing out the strongest gaming value today.

When does GeForce Go 7800 make more sense than Radeon HD 7290M?

Yes. GeForce Go 7800 is still an excellent gaming GPU in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. It makes more sense if your priority is newer architecture, future-proofing, and staying closer to an unclear MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Radeon HD 7290M. The trade-off is that Radeon HD 7290M currently gives you 7.0% higher G3D Mark. G3D-per-dollar is basically tied between them.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

GeForce Go 7800 Benchmark Check

Radeon HD 7290M Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
1080p
low	5 FPS	6 FPS
medium	4 FPS	4 FPS
high	3 FPS	4 FPS
ultra	3 FPS	3 FPS
1440p
low	4 FPS	4 FPS
medium	3 FPS	3 FPS
high	3 FPS	3 FPS
ultra	2 FPS	2 FPS
4K
low	3 FPS	3 FPS
medium	2 FPS	2 FPS
high	2 FPS	2 FPS
ultra	1 FPS	1 FPS

Open GeForce Go 7800 Open Radeon HD 7290M

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
1080p
low	5 FPS	6 FPS
medium	4 FPS	4 FPS
high	3 FPS	4 FPS
ultra	3 FPS	3 FPS
1440p
low	4 FPS	4 FPS
medium	3 FPS	3 FPS
high	3 FPS	3 FPS
ultra	2 FPS	2 FPS
4K
low	3 FPS	3 FPS
medium	2 FPS	2 FPS
high	2 FPS	2 FPS
ultra	1 FPS	1 FPS

Open GeForce Go 7800 Open Radeon HD 7290M

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
1080p
low	5 FPS	6 FPS
medium	4 FPS	4 FPS
high	3 FPS	4 FPS
ultra	3 FPS	3 FPS
1440p
low	4 FPS	4 FPS
medium	3 FPS	3 FPS
high	3 FPS	3 FPS
ultra	2 FPS	2 FPS
4K
low	3 FPS	3 FPS
medium	2 FPS	2 FPS
high	2 FPS	2 FPS
ultra	1 FPS	1 FPS

Open GeForce Go 7800 Open Radeon HD 7290M

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
1080p
low	5 FPS	6 FPS
medium	4 FPS	4 FPS
high	3 FPS	4 FPS
ultra	3 FPS	3 FPS
1440p
low	4 FPS	4 FPS
medium	3 FPS	3 FPS
high	3 FPS	3 FPS
ultra	2 FPS	2 FPS
4K
low	3 FPS	3 FPS
medium	2 FPS	2 FPS
high	2 FPS	2 FPS
ultra	1 FPS	1 FPS

Open GeForce Go 7800 Open Radeon HD 7290M

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of GeForce Go 7800 and Radeon HD 7290M

GeForce Go 7800

The GeForce Go 7800 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 23 2013. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock ranges from 863 MHz to 900 MHz. It has 2304 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 250W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 115 points. Launch price was $649.

Radeon HD 7290M

The Radeon HD 7290M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 24 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 850 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 123 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

In G3D Mark, the GeForce Go 7800 scores 115 versus the Radeon HD 7290M's 123 — the Radeon HD 7290M leads by 7%. The GeForce Go 7800 is built on Kepler while the Radeon HD 7290M uses GCN 1.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 2,304 (GeForce Go 7800) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD 7290M). Raw compute: 4.156 TFLOPS (GeForce Go 7800) vs 2.176 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 7290M).

Feature	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
G3D Mark Score	115	123+7%
Architecture	Kepler	GCN 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	2304+80%	1280
Compute (TFLOPS)	4.156 TFLOPS+91%	2.176 TFLOPS
ROPs	48+50%	32
TMUs	192+140%	80
L1 Cache	192 KB	320 KB+67%
L2 Cache	1.5 MB+200%	0.5 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce Go 7800 gives access to NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), widely regarding as the superior upscaling method for image quality. The Radeon HD 7290M relies on FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which is capable but generally slightly noisier than DLSS in motion.

Feature	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The GeForce Go 7800 comes with 256 MB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 7290M has 512 MB. The Radeon HD 7290M offers 100% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Bus width: 128-bit vs System. L2 Cache: 1.5 MB (GeForce Go 7800) vs 0.5 MB (Radeon HD 7290M) — the GeForce Go 7800 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
VRAM Capacity	0.25 GB	0.5 GB+100%
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	128-bit	System
L2 Cache	1.5 MB+200%	0.5 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 9.0c (GeForce Go 7800) vs 11.2 (11_0) (Radeon HD 7290M). OpenGL: 2.1 vs 4.4. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 2.

Feature	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
DirectX	9.0c	11.2 (11_0)+24%
OpenGL	2.1	4.4+110%
Max Displays	2	2

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (GeForce Go 7800) vs UVD 3 (Radeon HD 7290M). Decoder: PureVideo vs UVD 3. Supported codecs: MPEG-2 (GeForce Go 7800) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX,Xvid (Radeon HD 7290M).

Feature	GeForce Go 7800	Radeon HD 7290M
Encoder	None	UVD 3
Decoder	PureVideo	UVD 3
Codecs	MPEG-2	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX,Xvid

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce Go 7800 draws 250W versus the Radeon HD 7290M's 100W — a 85.7% difference. The Radeon HD 7290M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce Go 7800) vs 350W (Radeon HD 7290M). Power connectors: Legacy vs 1x 6-pin. Typical load temperature: 80 vs 75°C.