Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 360

AMD

Radeon HD 6990

2011Core: 830 MHz
Similar parts
·······
VS
AMD

Radeon R9 360

2015Core: 900 MHzBoost: 925 MHz
Similar parts
·······

Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 360 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.

Radeon HD 6990 vs Radeon R9 360 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 360: 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

  • 155.0% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

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.
  • 606.1% HIGHER MSRP
    $699 MSRPvs$99 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 4.3 vs 30.6 G3D/$ ($699 MSRP vs $99 MSRP).
  • 1150% higher power demand at 375W vs 30W.
  • 87.9% longer card at 310mm vs 165mm.

Radeon R9 360

2015

Why buy it

  • Costs $600 less on MSRP ($99 MSRP vs $699 MSRP).
  • Delivers 610.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 30.6 vs 4.3 G3D/$ ($99 MSRP vs $699 MSRP).
  • Draws 30W instead of 375W, a 345W reduction.
  • Measures 165mm instead of 310mm, a 145mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

  • Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 6990 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • 2015 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 HD 6990 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 155.0% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward Radeon R9 360 instead at 3,032 vs 3,014, 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?
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 360 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $600 cheaper on MSRP at $99 vs $699, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 610.3% (30.6 vs 4.3), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R9 360 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 360 Technical Specifications

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

AMD

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.

AMD

Radeon R9 360

The Radeon R9 360 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in May 5 2015. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 900 MHz to 925 MHz. It has 512 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,032 points.

Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 6990 scores 3,014 and the Radeon R9 360 reaches 3,032 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.6% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 6990 is built on TeraScale 3 while the Radeon R9 360 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 1,536 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 512 (Radeon R9 360). Raw compute: 2.55 TFLOPS ×2 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 0.9472 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 360).

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
G3D Mark Score
3,014
3,032
Architecture
TeraScale 3
GCN 1.0
Process Node
40 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
1536 ×2+200%
512
Compute (TFLOPS)
2.55 TFLOPS ×2+169%
0.9472 TFLOPS
ROPs
32 ×2+100%
16
TMUs
96 ×2+200%
32
L1 Cache
384 KB+200%
128 KB
L2 Cache
512 KB+100%
256 KB
Frame Generation
FSR upscaling
FSR upscaling

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
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 GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Radeon HD 6990 and 128-bit on the Radeon R9 360. L2 Cache: 512 KB (Radeon HD 6990) vs 256 KB (Radeon R9 360) — the Radeon HD 6990 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
VRAM Capacity
2 GB
2 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
128-bit
128-bit
L2 Cache
512 KB+100%
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.2 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 12 (12_0) (Radeon R9 360). Vulkan: None vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.4 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 5 vs 4.

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
DirectX
11.2
12 (12_0)+7%
Vulkan
None
1.2
OpenGL
4.4
4.6+5%
Max Displays
5+25%
4
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (Radeon HD 6990) vs VCE 2.0 (Radeon R9 360). Decoder: UVD 3.0 vs UVD 4.2. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 (Radeon HD 6990) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (Radeon R9 360).

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
Encoder
None
VCE 2.0
Decoder
UVD 3.0
UVD 4.2
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 6990 draws 375W versus the Radeon R9 360's 30W — a 170.4% difference. The Radeon R9 360 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 750W (Radeon HD 6990) vs 350W (Radeon R9 360). Power connectors: 2x 8-pin vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 310mm vs 165mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 85 vs 75.

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
TDP
375W
30W-92%
Recommended PSU
750W
350W-53%
Power Connector
2x 8-pin
PCIe-powered
Length
310mm
165mm
Height
115mm
110mm
Slots
2
2
Temp (Load)
85
75-12%
Perf/Watt
8.0
101.1+1164%
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Radeon HD 6990 came in at $699, while the Radeon R9 360 launched at $99. On MSRP, Radeon R9 360 was 85.8% cheaper ($600 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.3 (Radeon HD 6990) vs 30.6 (Radeon R9 360) — the Radeon R9 360 offers 611.6% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R9 360 (2015 vs 2011).

FeatureRadeon HD 6990Radeon R9 360
MSRP
$699
$99-86%
Performance per Dollar
4.3
30.6+612%
Codename
Antilles
Tropo
Release
March 8 2011
May 5 2015
Ranking
#583
#711

Affiliate Disclosure

ChipVERSUS is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through our links. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support our work in providing comprehensive PC building guides and tools.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.