GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile vs Radeon R9 290

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Radeon R9 290 Radeon R9 290X Radeon R9 290X2 Radeon R9 295X2
VS
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GTX 1050 Mobile GTX 1050 3 GB Max-Q GTX 1050 Max-Q GTX 1050 Mobile 3 GB GTX 1050 Ti Mobile GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q GTX 1060 Mobile GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB GTX 1070 Mobile GTX 1070 Max-Q GTX 1070 SLI Mobile GTX 1080 Mobile GTX 1080 Max-Q GTX 1080 SLI Mobile

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 with GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, including specs and performance data.

R9 290
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
21.05
+6.7%

R9 290 outperforms GTX 1060 Mobile by a small 7% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

R9 290 R9 290
GTX 1060 Mobile GTX 1060 Mobile

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking264284
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation8.0627.58
Power efficiency5.2817.02
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameHawaiiGP106
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date5 November 2013 (11 years ago)15 August 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 $237.11

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1060 Mobile has 242% better value for money than R9 290.

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 cores25601280
Core clock speed947 MHz1506 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1708 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt80 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data94 °C
Texture fill rate151.5133.6
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPS4.275 TFLOPS
ROPs6448
TMUs16080

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 sizeno datalarge
Bus supportno dataPCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinno data

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB6 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz2002 MHz
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/s192 GB/s
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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPortDP 1.43, HDMI 2.0b, Dual Link-DVI
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI+-
HDCP-2.2
G-SYNC support-+

Supported technologies

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

GameStream-+
GPU Boostno data3.0
VR Readyno data+
Ansel-+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 (12_1)
Shader Model6.36.4
OpenGL4.64.5
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131
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.

R9 290 21.05
+6.7%
GTX 1060 Mobile 19.73

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.

R9 290 11860
+2.6%
GTX 1060 Mobile 11558

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 HD70−75
+2.9%
68
−2.9%
1440p45−50
+2.3%
44
−2.3%
4K30−35
+0%
30
+0%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.70
−63.5%
3.49
+63.5%
1440p8.87
−64.5%
5.39
+64.5%
4K13.30
−68.3%
7.90
+68.3%
  • GTX 1060 Mobile has 63% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 1060 Mobile has 65% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • GTX 1060 Mobile has 68% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 40
+0%
40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 37
+0%
37
+0%
Elden Ring 53
+0%
53
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 63
+0%
63
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 32
+0%
32
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 32
+0%
32
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 106
+0%
106
+0%
Metro Exodus 69
+0%
69
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 74
+0%
74
+0%
Valorant 86
+0%
86
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 73
+0%
73
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 27
+0%
27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 26
+0%
26
+0%
Dota 2 49
+0%
49
+0%
Elden Ring 65
+0%
65
+0%
Far Cry 5 70
+0%
70
+0%
Fortnite 94
+0%
94
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 80
+0%
80
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 74
+0%
74
+0%
Metro Exodus 49
+0%
49
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 204
+0%
204
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27
+0%
27
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 75
+0%
75
+0%
Valorant 53
+0%
53
+0%
World of Tanks 222
+0%
222
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 57
+0%
57
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 23
+0%
23
+0%
Dota 2 118
+0%
118
+0%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 68
+0%
68
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55
+0%
55
+0%
Valorant 72
+0%
72
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Elden Ring 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 17
+0%
17
+0%
World of Tanks 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 42
+0%
42
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Metro Exodus 45
+0%
45
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Valorant 46
+0%
46
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Dota 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Elden Ring 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 14
+0%
14
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 64
+0%
64
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 11
+0%
11
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 22
+0%
22
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Dota 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Fortnite 26
+0%
26
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Valorant 23
+0%
23
+0%

This is how R9 290 and GTX 1060 Mobile compete in popular games:

  • R9 290 is 3% faster in 1080p
  • R9 290 is 2% faster in 1440p
  • A tie in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 21.05 19.73
Recency 5 November 2013 15 August 2016
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 6 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 16 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 275 Watt 80 Watt

R9 290 has a 6.7% higher aggregate performance score.

GTX 1060 Mobile, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 243.8% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 290 and GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile.

Be aware that Radeon R9 290 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.

AMD Radeon R9 290
Radeon R9 290
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
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RTX A4500 RTX A4500
RX 560 Radeon RX 560
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RX 540 Radeon RX 540
GTX 1070 Mobile GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile
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ATI X800 GTO Radeon X800 GTO
GMA X4500 GMA X4500
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Arc A380M Arc A380M

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.

4.1 575 votes

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4 592 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.