Radeon RX 480 vs R9 290
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon R9 290 and Radeon RX 480, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
RX 480 outperforms R9 290 by a small 5% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 324 | 314 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 7.13 | 13.77 |
| Power efficiency | 5.48 | 10.57 |
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 (2013−2017) | GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) |
| GPU code name | Hawaii | Ellesmere |
| GCN generation | no data | 4th Gen |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | no data | reference |
| Release date | 5 November 2013 (12 years ago) | 29 June 2016 (10 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | $229 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
RX 480 has 93% better value for money than R9 290.
Performance to price scatter graph
Currently popular graphics cards are shown for comparison.
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Real power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially if overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 2560 | 2304 |
| Compute units | no data | 36 |
| Core clock speed | 947 MHz | 1120 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1266 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 6,200 million | 5,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 275 Watt | 150 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 151.5 | 182.3 |
| Floating-point processing power | 4.849 TFLOPS | 5.834 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 64 | 32 |
| TMUs | 160 | 144 |
| L1 Cache | 640 KB | 576 KB |
| L2 Cache | 1024 KB | 2 MB |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | no data | n/a |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 275 mm | 240 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |
| Bridgeless CrossFire | - | + |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory bus width | 512 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1250 MHz | 8000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 320.0 GB/s | 224 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| Eyefinity | - | + |
| HDMI | + | 2.0 |
| DisplayPort support | - | 1.4HDR |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| AppAcceleration | - | n/a |
| CrossFire | - | + |
| Enduro | - | n/a |
| FRTC | - | + |
| FreeSync | - | + |
| HD3D | - | n/a |
| LiquidVR | - | + |
| PowerTune | - | + |
| TressFX | - | + |
| TrueAudio | - | n/a |
| ZeroCore | - | + |
| UVD | - | + |
| VCE | - | + |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | DirectX® 12 |
| Shader Model | 6.3 | 6.7 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | + |
| Mantle | - | n/a |
Synthetic benchmarks
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 70−75 | 77
+10%
|
| 1440p | 45−50 | 51
+13.3%
|
| 4K | 30−35 | 36
+20%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 5.70 | 2.97
+47.8%
|
| 1440p | 8.87 | 4.49
+49.4%
|
| 4K | 13.30 | 6.36
+52.2%
|
- RX 480 has 48% lower cost per frame in 1080p
- RX 480 has 49% lower cost per frame in 1440p
- RX 480 has 52% lower cost per frame in 4K
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low
| Atomic Heart | 55−60 | 55−60 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 110−120 | 110−120 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| Resident Evil 4 Remake | 45−50 | 45−50 |
Full HD
Medium
| Atomic Heart | 55−60 | 55−60 |
| Battlefield 5 | 85−90 | 85−90 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 110−120 | 110−120 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| Far Cry 5 | 65−70 | 65−70 |
| Fortnite | 207 | 207 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 100 | 100 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 80−85 | 80−85 |
| Valorant | 150−160 | 150−160 |
Full HD
High
| Atomic Heart | 55−60 | 55−60 |
| Battlefield 5 | 85−90 | 85−90 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 110−120 | 110−120 |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 285 | 285 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| Dota 2 | 110−120 | 110−120 |
| Far Cry 5 | 65−70 | 65−70 |
| Fortnite | 79 | 79 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 93 | 93 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 78 | 78 |
| Metro Exodus | 41 | 41 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 80−85 | 80−85 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 78 | 78 |
| Valorant | 150−160 | 150−160 |
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 85−90 | 85−90 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| Dota 2 | 110−120 | 110−120 |
| Far Cry 5 | 65−70 | 65−70 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 77 | 77 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45 | 45 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 44 | 44 |
| Valorant | 150−160 | 150−160 |
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 65 | 65 |
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 40−45 | 40−45 |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 150−160 | 150−160 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 37 | 37 |
| Metro Exodus | 27−30 | 27−30 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 170−180 | 170−180 |
| Valorant | 241 | 241 |
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60 | 55−60 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 20−22 | 20−22 |
| Far Cry 5 | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55 | 50−55 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35 | 30−35 |
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 39 | 39 |
4K
High
| Atomic Heart | 16−18 | 16−18 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 18−20 | 18−20 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 36 | 36 |
| Metro Exodus | 15 | 15 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 27 | 27 |
| Valorant | 120 | 120 |
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 30−35 | 30−35 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 18−20 | 18−20 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 8−9 | 8−9 |
| Dota 2 | 88 | 88 |
| Far Cry 5 | 24−27 | 24−27 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 35−40 | 35−40 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 16 | 16 |
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 18 | 18 |
This is how R9 290 and RX 480 compete in popular games:
- RX 480 is 10% faster in 1080p
- RX 480 is 13% faster in 1440p
- RX 480 is 20% faster in 4K
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 62 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 19.39 | 20.42 |
| Recency | 5 November 2013 | 29 June 2016 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 275 Watt | 150 Watt |
RX 480 has a 5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 50% more advanced lithography process, and 45% lower power consumption.
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 290 and Radeon RX 480.
Other comparisons
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