GeForce GT 420M vs Radeon HD 6490M

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.

GeForce GT 420M vs Radeon HD 6490M FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

GeForce GT 420M vs Radeon HD 6490M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GT 420M

2012

Why buy it

✅Draws 32W instead of 75W, a 43W reduction.
✅More future proof: Kepler (2012−2018) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 6490M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2012 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Radeon HD 6490M

2011

Why buy it

✅48.2% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

❌2011 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌134.4% higher power demand at 75W vs 32W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 6490M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 48.2% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward GeForce GT 420M instead at 392 vs 378, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce GT 420M is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 28nm process instead of 40nm and a newer 2012 generation instead of 2011. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

GeForce GT 420M makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. Radeon HD 6490M still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

GeForce GT 420M vs Radeon HD 6490M Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

GeForce GT 420M

The GeForce GT 420M is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 22 2012. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock ranges from Up to 625 MHz to 645 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 32W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 392 points.

Radeon HD 6490M

The Radeon HD 6490M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 4 2011. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 680 MHz. It has 960 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 378 points.

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Graphics Performance

The GeForce GT 420M scores 392 and the Radeon HD 6490M reaches 378 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3.7% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GT 420M is built on Kepler while the Radeon HD 6490M uses TeraScale 2, both on 28 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 384 (GeForce GT 420M) vs 960 (Radeon HD 6490M). Raw compute: 0.48 TFLOPS (GeForce GT 420M) vs 1.306 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 6490M).

Feature	GeForce GT 420M	Radeon HD 6490M
G3D Mark Score	392+4%	378
Architecture	Kepler	TeraScale 2
Process Node	28 nm	40 nm
Shading Units	384	960+150%
Compute (TFLOPS)	0.48 TFLOPS	1.306 TFLOPS+172%
ROPs	16	32+100%
TMUs	32	48+50%
L1 Cache	32 KB	192 KB+500%
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GT 420M gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 6490M leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

Feature	GeForce GT 420M	Radeon HD 6490M
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

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 512 MB of video memory. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GT 420M and System on the Radeon HD 6490M. L2 Cache: 256 KB (GeForce GT 420M) vs 512 KB (Radeon HD 6490M) — the Radeon HD 6490M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce GT 420M	Radeon HD 6490M
VRAM Capacity	0.5 GB	0.5 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	128-bit	System
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%

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Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GT 420M draws 32W versus the Radeon HD 6490M's 75W — a 80.4% difference. The GeForce GT 420M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GT 420M) vs 350W (Radeon HD 6490M). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin.