Radeon 860M vs R9 290
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon R9 290 with Radeon 860M, including specs and performance data.
R9 290 outperforms 860M by an impressive 69% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 308 | 444 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 6.70 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 5.36 | 57.94 |
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 (2013−2017) | RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) |
| GPU code name | Hawaii | Krackan Point |
| Market segment | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 5 November 2013 (11 years ago) | March 2025 (recently) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
Performance to price scatter graph
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 | 600 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 3000 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 6,200 million | 34,000 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 4 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 275 Watt | 15 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 151.5 | 96.00 |
| Floating-point processing power | 4.849 TFLOPS | 3.072 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 64 | 8 |
| TMUs | 160 | 32 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 8 |
| L0 Cache | no data | 128 KB |
| L1 Cache | 640 KB | 64 KB |
| L2 Cache | 1024 KB | 1024 KB |
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 size | no data | medium sized |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |
| 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 | System Shared |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | System Shared |
| Memory bus width | 512 Bit | System Shared |
| Memory clock speed | 1250 MHz | System Shared |
| Memory bandwidth | 320.0 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | - | + |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort | Portable Device Dependent |
| HDMI | + | - |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 6.3 | 6.8 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | 1.3 |
Synthetic benchmarks
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.
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.
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.
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 | 70−75
+66.7%
| 42
−66.7%
|
| 1440p | 30−35
+66.7%
| 18
−66.7%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 5.70 | no data |
| 1440p | 13.30 | no data |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50
+0%
|
50
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 45
+0%
|
45
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 44
+0%
|
44
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 46
+0%
|
46
+0%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 42
+0%
|
42
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 28
+0%
|
28
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 85−90
+0%
|
85−90
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Valorant | 120−130
+0%
|
120−130
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Valorant | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
This is how R9 290 and Radeon 860M compete in popular games:
- R9 290 is 67% faster in 1080p
- R9 290 is 67% faster in 1440p
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 60 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 18.30 | 10.80 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 4 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 275 Watt | 15 Watt |
R9 290 has a 69.4% higher aggregate performance score.
Radeon 860M, on the other hand, has a 600% more advanced lithography process, and 1733.3% lower power consumption.
The Radeon R9 290 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 860M in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon R9 290 is a desktop graphics card while Radeon 860M is a notebook one.
Other comparisons
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