Radeon R9 290X vs R9 290

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 and Radeon R9 290X, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 290
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
18.11
+9%

R9 290 outperforms R9 290X by a small 9% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking274301
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation6.954.25
Power efficiency5.204.52
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)
GPU code nameHawaiiHawaii
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date5 November 2013 (11 years ago)24 October 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 $549

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

R9 290 has 64% better value for money than R9 290X.

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 cores25602816
Core clock speed947 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data947 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt250 Watt
Texture fill rate151.5176.0
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPS5.632 TFLOPS
ROPs6464
TMUs160176

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 dataPCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length275 mm275 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin

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 Bit512 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/s320 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 DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity-+
HDMI++
DisplayPort support-+

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration-+
CrossFire-+
FreeSync-+
HD3D-+
LiquidVR-+
TressFX-+
TrueAudio-+
UVD-+
DDMA audiono data+

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)DirectX® 12
Shader Model6.36.3
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.0
Vulkan1.2.131+

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.

R9 290 18.11
+9%
R9 290X 16.61

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
+9%
R9 290X 7425

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
+1.2%
R9 290X 11717

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
R9 290X 1547
+7.4%

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 HD90−95
+4.7%
86
−4.7%
4K50−55
+0%
50
+0%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.43
+44%
6.38
−44%
4K7.98
+37.6%
10.98
−37.6%
  • R9 290 has 44% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • R9 290 has 38% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Battlefield 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Far Cry 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Fortnite 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Battlefield 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 280
+0%
280
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Dota 2 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Far Cry 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Fortnite 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 67
+0%
67
+0%
Metro Exodus 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 75
+0%
75
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Dota 2 136
+0%
136
+0%
Far Cry 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 44
+0%
44
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 29
+0%
29
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Valorant 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 52
+0%
52
+0%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 28
+0%
28
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Dota 2 84
+0%
84
+0%
Far Cry 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

This is how R9 290 and R9 290X compete in popular games:

  • R9 290 is 5% faster in 1080p
  • A tie in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 18.11 16.61
Power consumption (TDP) 275 Watt 250 Watt

R9 290 has a 9% higher aggregate performance score.

R9 290X, on the other hand, has 10% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 290 and Radeon R9 290X.

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AMD Radeon R9 290
Radeon R9 290
AMD Radeon R9 290X
Radeon R9 290X

Other comparisons

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

Community ratings

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4.1 585 votes

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4.2 459 votes

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