Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 260

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.

Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 260 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.

Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 260: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

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

Radeon HD 6990

2011

Why buy it

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

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon R9 260 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2011 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌
402.9% HIGHER MSRP
$699 MSRPvs$139 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 4.3 vs 21.9 G3D/$ ($699 MSRP vs $139 MSRP).
❌36.4% higher power demand at 375W vs 275W.

Radeon R9 260

2013

Why buy it

✅22.0% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Costs $560 less on MSRP ($139 MSRP vs $699 MSRP).
✅Delivers 408.6% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 21.9 vs 4.3 G3D/$ ($139 MSRP vs $699 MSRP).
✅Draws 275W instead of 375W, a 100W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon R9 260 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 22.0% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 1.1% in PassMark G3D (3,048 vs 3,014), so the answer here is pretty clean.

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

Radeon HD 6990 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?

Radeon R9 260 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $560 cheaper on MSRP at $139 vs $699, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 408.6% (21.9 vs 4.3), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R9 260 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Radeon HD 6990 has the stronger long-term case.

Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 260 Technical Specifications

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

Radeon HD 6990

The Radeon HD 6990 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in March 8 2011. It features the TeraScale 3 architecture. The core clock speed is 830 MHz. It has 1536 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 375W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,014 points. Launch price was $699.

Radeon R9 260

The Radeon R9 260 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 5 2013. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 947 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 275W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,048 points. Launch price was $399.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 6990 scores 3,014 and the Radeon R9 260 reaches 3,048 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.1% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 6990 is built on TeraScale 3 while the Radeon R9 260 uses GCN 2.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 1,536 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 2,560 (Radeon R9 260). Raw compute: 2.55 TFLOPS ×2 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 4.849 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 260).

Feature	Radeon HD 6990	Radeon R9 260
G3D Mark Score	3,014	3,048+1%
Architecture	TeraScale 3	GCN 2.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	1536 ×2	2560+67%
Compute (TFLOPS)	2.55 TFLOPS ×2	4.849 TFLOPS+90%
ROPs	32 ×2	64+100%
TMUs	96 ×2	160+67%
L1 Cache	384 KB	640 KB+67%
L2 Cache	0.5 MB	1 MB+100%
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 6990	Radeon R9 260
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

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Radeon HD 6990 and 128-bit on the Radeon R9 260. L2 Cache: 0.5 MB (Radeon HD 6990) vs 1 MB (Radeon R9 260) — the Radeon R9 260 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon HD 6990	Radeon R9 260
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	Unknown
Bus Width	128-bit	128-bit
L2 Cache	0.5 MB	1 MB+100%

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 6990 draws 375W versus the Radeon R9 260's 275W — a 30.8% difference. The Radeon R9 260 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 750W (Radeon HD 6990) vs 450W (Radeon R9 260). Power connectors: 2x 8-pin vs 1x 6-pin.

Feature	Radeon HD 6990	Radeon R9 260
TDP	375W	275W-27%
Recommended PSU	750W	450W-40%
Power Connector	2x 8-pin	1x 6-pin
Length	310mm	—
Height	115mm	—
Slots	2	—
Temp (Load)	85	—
Perf/Watt	8.0	11.1+39%

💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Radeon HD 6990 came in at $699, while the Radeon R9 260 launched at $139. On MSRP, Radeon R9 260 was 80.1% cheaper ($560 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.3 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 21.9 (Radeon R9 260) — the Radeon R9 260 offers 409.3% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R9 260 (2013 vs 2011).

Feature	Radeon HD 6990	Radeon R9 260
MSRP	$699	$139-80%
Performance per Dollar	4.3	21.9+409%
Codename	Antilles	Hawaii
Release	March 8 2011	November 5 2013
Ranking	#583	#316

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