Radeon R9 M390 vs GeForce GTX 970M

Place in the ranking	355	454
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	12.56	no data
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)	GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code name	GM204	Pitcairn
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	7 October 2014 (10 years ago)	9 June 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$2,560.89	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1280	1024
Core clock speed	924 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1038 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,200 million	5000 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	unknown	no data
Texture fill rate	83.04	no data
Floating-point processing power	2.657 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	48	no data
TMUs	80	no data

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).

Laptop size	large	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data
SLI options	+	-

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	3 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz	no data
Memory bandwidth	120 GB/s	no data
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	No outputs	no data
Eyefinity	-	+
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	-
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

FreeSync	-	+
HD3D	-	+
PowerTune	-	+
DualGraphics	-	+
ZeroCore	-	+
Switchable graphics	-	+
GameStream	+	-
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	-
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	-
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	-
Optimus	+	-
BatteryBoost	+	-
Ansel	+	-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	DirectX® 12
Shader Model	6.4	no data
OpenGL	4.5	4.4
OpenCL	1.1	Not Listed
Vulkan	1.1.126	-
Mantle	-	+
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

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. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 970M 14.83
+49.8%

R9 M390 9.90

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 970M 9878
+44.9%

R9 M390 6819

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:

900p	136 +51.1%	90−95 −51.1%
Full HD	56 +33.3%	42 −33.3%
1440p	27 +50%	18−20 −50%
4K	21 +5%	20 −5%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	45.73	no data
1440p	94.85	no data
4K	121.95	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24
+53.3%

14−16

−53.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	42 +75%	24−27 −75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +60%	14−16 −60%
Battlefield 5	52 +67.7%	30−35 −67.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−33 +50%	20−22 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +53.3%	14−16 −53.3%
Far Cry 5	50 +117%	21−24 −117%
Far Cry New Dawn	48 +71.4%	27−30 −71.4%
Forza Horizon 4	144 +118%	65−70 −118%
Hitman 3	27−30 +47.4%	18−20 −47.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 +40.7%	50−55 −40.7%
Metro Exodus	53 +71%	30−35 −71%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 +51.9%	27−30 −51.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	81 +153%	30−35 −153%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 +23.8%	60−65 −23.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	53 +121%	24−27 −121%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +60%	14−16 −60%
Battlefield 5	44 +41.9%	30−35 −41.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−33 +50%	20−22 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +53.3%	14−16 −53.3%
Far Cry 5	41 +78.3%	21−24 −78.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	37 +32.1%	27−30 −32.1%
Forza Horizon 4	131 +98.5%	65−70 −98.5%
Hitman 3	27−30 +47.4%	18−20 −47.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 +40.7%	50−55 −40.7%
Metro Exodus	44 +41.9%	30−35 −41.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 +51.9%	27−30 −51.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +50%	30−35 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	101 +274%	27−30 −274%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 +23.8%	60−65 −23.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +60%	14−16 −60%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−33 +50%	20−22 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +53.3%	14−16 −53.3%
Far Cry 5	29 +26.1%	21−24 −26.1%
Forza Horizon 4	36 −83.3%	65−70 +83.3%
Hitman 3	27−30 +47.4%	18−20 −47.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80 +40.7%	50−55 −40.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +50%	30−35 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	26 +44.4%	18 −44.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 +23.8%	60−65 −23.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45
+51.9%

27−30

−51.9%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	26 +36.8%	18−20 −36.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	25 +66.7%	14−16 −66.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	17 +70%	10−11 −70%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +100%	6−7 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 +60%	10−11 −60%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
Far Cry 5	19 +72.7%	10−12 −72.7%
Forza Horizon 4	80 +81.8%	40−45 −81.8%
Hitman 3	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−33 +50%	20−22 −50%
Metro Exodus	25 +78.6%	14−16 −78.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +108%	12−14 −108%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +77.8%	9−10 −77.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +44.4%	60−65 −44.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27
+50%

16−18

−50%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	13 +85.7%	7−8 −85.7%
Hitman 3	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +76.2%	40−45 −76.2%
Metro Exodus	14 +75%	8−9 −75%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16 +33.3%	12 −33.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Far Cry 5	8 +60%	5−6 −60%
Forza Horizon 4	6 −100%	12−14 +100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14
+44.4%

9−10

−44.4%

This is how GTX 970M and R9 M390 compete in popular games:

GTX 970M is 51% faster in 900p
GTX 970M is 33% faster in 1080p
GTX 970M is 50% faster in 1440p
GTX 970M is 5% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 970M is 274% faster.
in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M390 is 100% faster.

All in all, in popular games: