Radeon R9 390X vs R9 290

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 and Radeon R9 390X, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 290
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
18.11

R9 390X outperforms R9 290 by a moderate 16% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking278246
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation6.958.69
Power efficiency5.216.04
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)
GPU code nameHawaiiGrenada
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date5 November 2013 (11 years ago)18 June 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 $429

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

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

R9 390X has 25% 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 cores25602816
Core clock speed947 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data1050 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt275 Watt
Texture fill rate151.5184.8
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPS5.914 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
Bridgeless CrossFire-+

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
High bandwidth memory (HBM)no data-
Maximum RAM amount4 GB0 MB
Memory bus width512 Bit512 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/s384 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-+
Number of Eyefinity displaysno data6
HDMI++
DisplayPort support-+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire-+
FreeSync-+
PowerTune-+
TrueAudio-+
VCE-+
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+
Mantle-+

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
R9 390X 20.99
+15.9%

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
R9 390X 9377
+15.9%

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
R9 390X 12389
+4.5%

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 HD75−80
−21.3%
91
+21.3%
4K40−45
−20%
48
+20%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.32
−12.8%
4.71
+12.8%
4K9.98
−11.6%
8.94
+11.6%
  • R9 390X has 13% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • R9 390X has 12% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 250−260
+0%
250−260
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Dota 2 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Metro Exodus 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 76
+0%
76
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Dota 2 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 41
+0%
41
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Metro Exodus 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Valorant 190−200
+0%
190−200
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 29
+0%
29
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Dota 2 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

This is how R9 290 and R9 390X compete in popular games:

  • R9 390X is 21% faster in 1080p
  • R9 390X is 20% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 66 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 18.11 20.99
Recency 5 November 2013 18 June 2015

R9 390X has a 15.9% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 1 year.

The Radeon R9 390X is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290 in performance tests.

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AMD Radeon R9 290
Radeon R9 290
AMD Radeon R9 390X
Radeon R9 390X

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.


4.1 588 votes

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4.3 270 votes

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Comments

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