GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon R9 290

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 and GeForce GTX 970, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 290
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
21.05

GTX 970 outperforms R9 290 by a moderate 19% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking265219
Place by popularitynot in top-10078
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.9413.65
Power efficiency5.2811.68
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)
GPU code nameHawaiiGM204
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 November 2013 (11 years ago)19 September 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 $329

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970 has 72% 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 cores25601664
Core clock speed947 MHz1050 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1178 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million5,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt148 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data98 °C
Texture fill rate151.5122.5
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPS3.92 TFLOPS
ROPs6456
TMUs160104

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 supportno dataPCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length275 mm267 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)no data500 Watt
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin2x 6-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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB4 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz7.0 GB/s
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/s224 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 DisplayPortDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2
Multi monitor supportno data4 displays
HDMI++
HDCP-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
G-SYNC support-+
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

Supported technologies

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

GameStream-+
GeForce ShadowPlay-+
GPU Boostno data2.0
GameWorks-+

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
OpenGL4.64.4
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.1.126
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
GTX 970 25.06
+19%

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
GTX 970 9636
+19.1%

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
GTX 970 11954
+0.8%

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
GTX 970 1543
+7.2%

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 HD65−70
−23.1%
80
+23.1%
1440p40−45
−30%
52
+30%
4K30−35
−33.3%
40
+33.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.14
−49.3%
4.11
+49.3%
1440p9.98
−57.7%
6.33
+57.7%
4K13.30
−61.7%
8.23
+61.7%
  • GTX 970 has 49% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 970 has 58% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • GTX 970 has 62% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Elden Ring 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Metro Exodus 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Dota 2 47
+0%
47
+0%
Elden Ring 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Fortnite 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 71
+0%
71
+0%
Metro Exodus 16
+0%
16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 63
+0%
63
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 70
+0%
70
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
World of Tanks 250−260
+0%
250−260
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 60
+0%
60
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Dota 2 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 47
+0%
47
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Elden Ring 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
World of Tanks 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Metro Exodus 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Valorant 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Dota 2 46
+0%
46
+0%
Elden Ring 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 46
+0%
46
+0%
Metro Exodus 13
+0%
13
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 61
+0%
61
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 46
+0%
46
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Dota 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Fortnite 25
+0%
25
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Valorant 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

This is how R9 290 and GTX 970 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 970 is 23% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 970 is 30% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 970 is 33% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 21.05 25.06
Recency 5 November 2013 19 September 2014
Power consumption (TDP) 275 Watt 148 Watt

GTX 970 has a 19% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 months, and 85.8% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290 in performance tests.


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

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AMD Radeon R9 290
Radeon R9 290
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
GeForce GTX 970

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

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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Questions & comments

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