GeForce GTX 580 vs Radeon R9 290

Place in the ranking	264	408
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	8.06	2.09
Power efficiency	5.28	3.39
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code name	Hawaii	GF110
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	5 November 2013 (11 years ago)	9 November 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$399	$499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 290 has 286% better value for money than GTX 580.

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	2560	512
Core clock speed	947 MHz	772 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	244 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	97 °C
Texture fill rate	151.5	49.41
Floating-point processing power	4.849 TFLOPS	1.581 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	48
TMUs	160	64

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	PCI-E 2.0 x 16
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	275 mm	267 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
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	4 GB	1536 MB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	2004 MHz (4008 data rate)
Memory bandwidth	320.0 GB/s	192.4 GB/s

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	Mini HDMITwo Dual Link DVI
Multi monitor support	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	no data	Internal

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.3	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.2
OpenCL	2.0	1.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	+
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
+75.6%

GTX 580 11.99

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.

R9 290 8093
+75.5%

GTX 580 4611

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
+139%

GTX 580 4970

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

R9 290 1440
+73.7%

GTX 580 829

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	90−95 +66.7%	54 −66.7%
Full HD	160−170 +68.4%	95 −68.4%
1200p	130−140 +66.7%	78 −66.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

2.49
+111%

5.25

−111%

R9 290 has 111% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Elden Ring	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Valorant	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Dota 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Elden Ring	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Fortnite	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Valorant	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
World of Tanks	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Dota 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Valorant	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Elden Ring	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
World of Tanks	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Valorant	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Dota 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Elden Ring	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Dota 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Fortnite	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Valorant	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%

This is how R9 290 and GTX 580 compete in popular games:

R9 290 is 67% faster in 900p
R9 290 is 68% faster in 1080p
R9 290 is 67% faster in 1200p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	21.05	11.99
Recency	5 November 2013	9 November 2010
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1536 MB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	244 Watt

R9 290 has a 75.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

GTX 580, on the other hand, has 12.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 290 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 580 in performance tests.

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