Radeon R9 280 vs R9 290X

Place in performance ranking	271	334
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	10.11	10.99
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code name	Hawaii XT	Tahiti
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	reference
Release date	24 October 2013 (10 years ago)	4 March 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$279
Current price	$20 (0x MSRP)	$91 (0.3x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 280 has 9% better value for money than R9 290X.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2816	1792
Boost clock speed	947 MHz	933 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	200 Watt
Texture fill rate	176.0	104.5
Floating-point performance	5,632 gflops	3,344 gflops

Size and 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	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	275 mm	275 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin

Memory

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	3 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	240 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

Video outputs and ports

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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	1
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	-

Technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	-
CrossFire	1	1
Enduro	-	-
FreeSync	1	1
HD3D	+	+
LiquidVR	1	1
PowerTune	-	-
TressFX	1	1
TrueAudio	+	+
ZeroCore	-	-
UVD	+	+
DDMA audio	+	+

API support

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	DirectX® 12
Shader Model	6.3	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	+	+
Mantle	-	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

R9 290X 19.17
+33.5%

R9 280 14.36

R9 290X outperforms R9 280 by 33% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

R9 290X 7425
+33.5%

R9 280 5562

R9 290X outperforms R9 280 by 33% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R9 290X 11717
+46.1%

R9 280 8020

R9 290X outperforms R9 280 by 46% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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	87 +33.8%	65−70 −33.8%
4K	50 +42.9%	35−40 −42.9%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−33
+42.9%

21−24

−42.9%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 +44.4%	27−30 −44.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Battlefield 5	60−65 +42.2%	45−50 −42.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 +42.9%	35−40 −42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +42.9%	21−24 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +42.9%	35−40 −42.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 +48.6%	35−40 −48.6%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +46.7%	45−50 −46.7%
Hitman 3	55−60 +37.5%	40−45 −37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 +36.7%	30−33 −36.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 +47.6%	21−24 −47.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +36.7%	30−33 −36.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +37%	27−30 −37%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 +44.4%	27−30 −44.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Battlefield 5	60−65 +42.2%	45−50 −42.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 +42.9%	35−40 −42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +42.9%	21−24 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +42.9%	35−40 −42.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 +48.6%	35−40 −48.6%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +46.7%	45−50 −46.7%
Hitman 3	55−60 +37.5%	40−45 −37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 +36.7%	30−33 −36.7%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +47.6%	21−24 −47.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 +47.6%	21−24 −47.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +36.7%	30−33 −36.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75 +36.4%	55−60 −36.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +37%	27−30 −37%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 +44.4%	27−30 −44.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Battlefield 5	60−65 +42.2%	45−50 −42.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +42.9%	21−24 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +42.9%	35−40 −42.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 +48.6%	35−40 −48.6%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +46.7%	45−50 −46.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 +38.1%	21−24 −38.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +37%	27−30 −37%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +38.1%	21−24 −38.1%
Hitman 3	30−35 +47.6%	21−24 −47.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 +44.4%	18−20 −44.4%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +50%	12−14 −50%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 +42.9%	14−16 −42.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +40%	30−33 −40%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +52.4%	21−24 −52.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +37%	27−30 −37%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +44.4%	27−30 −44.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +50%	14−16 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 +44.4%	9−10 −44.4%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Hitman 3	18−20 +50%	12−14 −50%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
Metro Exodus	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 +55.6%	18−20 −55.6%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Battlefield 5	21−24 +37.5%	16−18 −37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +50%	10−11 −50%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 +50%	12−14 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +50%	18−20 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%