Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD 6990M

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire

2010Core: 700 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

Radeon HD 6990M

2011Core: 715 MHz
Similar parts
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Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD 6990M Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

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.

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD 6990M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

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

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire

2010

Why buy it

  • Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 4.1 vs 0 G3D/$ ($800 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

  • 2010 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 20% higher power demand at 120W vs 100W.

Radeon HD 6990M

2011

Why buy it

  • Draws 100W instead of 120W, a 20W reduction.
  • More future proof: TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) on 40nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • 2011 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 4.1 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $800 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.4% in PassMark G3D (3,311 vs 3,264), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs Radeon HD 6990M Technical Specifications

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

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 7 2010. It features the Terascale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 700 MHz. It has 1600 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 120W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,311 points.

AMD

Radeon HD 6990M

The Radeon HD 6990M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in July 12 2011. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 715 MHz. It has 1120 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,264 points.

Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire scores 3,311 and the Radeon HD 6990M reaches 3,264 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.4% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire is built on Terascale 2 while the Radeon HD 6990M uses TeraScale 2, both on a 40 nm process. Shader units: 1,600 (Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire) vs 1,120 (Radeon HD 6990M).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossfireRadeon HD 6990M
G3D Mark Score
3,311+1%
3,264
Architecture
Terascale 2
TeraScale 2
Process Node
40 nm
40 nm
Shading Units
1600+43%
1120
Frame Generation
FSR upscaling
FSR upscaling

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossfireRadeon HD 6990M
Upscaling Tech
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
AMD Anti-Lag
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire and System on the Radeon HD 6990M.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossfireRadeon HD 6990M
VRAM Capacity
2 GB
2 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
Shared
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
System
Bus Width
128-bit
System
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire draws 120W versus the Radeon HD 6990M's 100W — a 18.2% difference. The Radeon HD 6990M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire) vs 350W (Radeon HD 6990M). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin.

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossfireRadeon HD 6990M
TDP
120W
100W-17%
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
1x 6-pin
Temp (Load)
95°C
Perf/Watt
27.6
32.6+18%
💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon HD 6990M (2011 vs 2010).

FeatureMobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossfireRadeon HD 6990M
MSRP
$800
Codename
Broadway-XT
Blackcomb
Release
January 7 2010
July 12 2011
Ranking
#688
#691

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