GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB vs Radeon R9 290
Aggregate performance score
Radeon R9 290 outperforms GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by a substantial 37% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 244 | 328 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 12.45 | 5.46 |
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 (2013−2017) | Pascal (2016−2021) |
| GPU code name | Hawaii | N17P-G1 Max-Q |
| Market segment | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 5 November 2013 (10 years ago) | 30 May 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | no data |
| Current price | $20 (0.1x MSRP) | $1010 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
R9 290 has 128% better value for money than GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB.
Detailed specifications
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 | 2560 | 1280 |
| Core clock speed | 947 MHz | 1063 - 1265 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1341 - 1480 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 6,200 million | 4,400 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 16 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 275 Watt | 60 - 70 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 151.5 | 118.4 |
| Floating-point performance | 4,849 gflops | 3,789 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on Radeon R9 290 and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Laptop size | no data | large |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 275 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | None |
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 | 6.144 MB |
| Memory bus width | 512 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 5000 MHz | 8000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 320.0 GB/s | 192.2 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
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 | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort | No outputs |
| HDMI | + | no data |
| G-SYNC support | no data | + |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| VR Ready | no data | + |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12.0 |
| Shader Model | 6.3 | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | + |
| CUDA | no data | 6.1 |
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.
Radeon R9 290 outperforms GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 37% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
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%
Radeon R9 290 outperforms GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 14% 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 | 110−120
+32.5%
| 83
−32.5%
|
| 4K | 40−45
+33.3%
| 30
−33.3%
|
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 20.95 | 15.25 |
| Recency | 5 November 2013 | 30 May 2017 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 6.144 MB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 16 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 275 Watt | 60 Watt |
The Radeon R9 290 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon R9 290 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
