Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire vs R9 290

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 with Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire, including specs and performance data.

R9 290
2013, $399
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
19.35
+127%

R9 290 outperforms HD 6970M Crossfire by a whopping 127% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

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R9 290 R9 290
HD 6970M Crossfire HD 6970M Crossfire

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking318544
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.03no data
Power efficiency5.42no data
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameHawaiiBlackcomb XT
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date5 November 2013 (12 years ago)6 January 2011 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

no data

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 cores25601920
Core clock speed947 MHz680 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Wattno data
Texture fill rate151.5no data
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPSno data
ROPs64no data
TMUs160no data
L1 Cache640 KBno data
L2 Cache1024 KBno data

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
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
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 GB2x2 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/sno 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPortno data
HDMI+-

API and SDK support

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

DirectX12 (12_0)11
Shader Model6.3no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL2.0no data
Vulkan1.2.131-

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:

900p210−220
+123%
94
−123%
Full HD230−240
+125%
102
−125%

Cost per frame, $

1080p1.73no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Resident Evil 4 Remake 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

Full HD
Medium

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Fortnite 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Valorant 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%

Full HD
High

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Dota 2 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Fortnite 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Dota 2 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Metro Exodus 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Valorant 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

4K
High

Counter-Strike 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Valorant 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Dota 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

This is how R9 290 and HD 6970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

  • R9 290 is 123% faster in 900p
  • R9 290 is 125% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 60 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 19.35 8.53
Recency 5 November 2013 6 January 2011
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm

R9 290 has a 127% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 43% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon R9 290 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 290 is a desktop graphics card while Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire is a notebook one.

Other comparisons

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

R9 290 Radeon R9 290
vs
RX 470 Radeon RX 470
HD 6970M Crossfire Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire
vs
GTX 870M GeForce GTX 870M
R9 290 Radeon R9 290
vs
GTX TITAN GeForce GTX TITAN
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
R7 M440 R7 M440
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
R6 M340DX R6 M340DX
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
GeForce 820M GeForce 820M
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
HD 8610G HD 8610G
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
GTX 570 GTX 570
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
Go 7950 GTX Go 7950 GTX
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
R9 370 R9 370
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
R9 280 R9 280
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
HD 7950 Boost HD 7950 Boost
R9 290 AMD Radeon R9 290
vs
ATI HD 5470 HD 5470

Community ratings

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

4.1 625 votes

Rate Radeon R9 290 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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2.3 4 votes

Rate Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
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  • 5

Comments

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