Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) vs AMD A10-6790K

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD A10-6790K
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) AMD A10-6790K

CPU comparison

Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) or AMD A10-6790K - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has 12 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. Up to 96 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) was released in Q1/2023.

The AMD A10-6790K has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.30 GHz. The CPU supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD A10-6790K was released in Q4/2013.
Apple M series (25) Family AMD A (112)
Apple M2 (8) CPU group AMD A10-6000 (4)
2 Generation 3
M2 Architecture Richland (Piledriver)
Mobile Segment Desktop / Server
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) is a 12 core processor with a clock frequency of 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz). The AMD A10-6790K has 4 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 4.10 GHz (4.30 GHz).
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Characteristic AMD A10-6790K
12 Cores 4
12 Threads 4
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? Yes
0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz)
8x Avalanche		 A-Core 4.10 GHz (4.30 GHz)
0.60 GHz (2.42 GHz)
4x Blizzard		 B-Core --

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Characteristic AMD A10-6790K
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.
Apple M2 Max (38 Core) GPU AMD Radeon HD 8670D
0.45 GHz GPU frequency 0.84 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
2 GPU Generation 5
5 nm Technology 32 nm
5 Max. displays 2
608 Compute units 6
4864 Shader 384
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
96 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 11.2

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
Apple M2 Max (38 Core) GPU AMD Radeon HD 8670D
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) supports a maximum of 96 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The AMD A10-6790K can connect up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Characteristic AMD A10-6790K
LPDDR5-6400 Memory DDR3-1866
96 GB Max. Memory
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
409.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 29.9 GB/s
No ECC No
36.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 4.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version --
32 PCIe lanes --
63.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has a TDP of 40 W, that of the AMD A10-6790K is 100 W.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Characteristic AMD A10-6790K
40 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 100 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has a 36.00 MB cache, while the AMD A10-6790K cache has a total of 4.00 MB.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Characteristic AMD A10-6790K
5 nm Technology 32 nm
Chiplet Chip design Unknown
Armv8.5-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, FMA3, FMA4
-- Socket FM2
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization AMD-V
Yes AES-NI Yes
macOS, iPadOS Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q1/2023 Release date Q4/2013
-- Release price 110 $
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (56 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) (100%)
AMD A10-6790K (28%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) (100%)
AMD A10-6790K (14%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
1874 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
522 (28%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
15506 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
1419 (9%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
Apple M2 Max (38 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
13490 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
AMD Radeon HD 8670D @ 0.84 GHz
648 (5%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
26310 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
4724 (18%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
121 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
1025 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
1695 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
14855 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
2689 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
14207 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
69 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.30 GHz
260 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
14,855 CB R23 MC @ 40 W
371 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4.10 GHz
0 (0%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz
15.8 (100%)
AMD A10-6790K AMD A10-6790K
4C 4T @ 4.10 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) AMD A10-6790K
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) Unknown

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