Radeon RX 5600M vs R9 290

Place in the ranking	259	244
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	7.90	no data
Power efficiency	5.30	10.57
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020)
GPU code name	Hawaii	Navi 10
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	5 November 2013 (11 years ago)	7 July 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$399	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	2304
Core clock speed	947 MHz	1035 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1265 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	10,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	151.5	182.2
Floating-point processing power	4.849 TFLOPS	5.829 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	64
TMUs	160	144

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 x16
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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320.0 GB/s	288.0 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 Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	No outputs
HDMI	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.3	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2

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 20.98

RX 5600M 22.80
+8.7%

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

RX 5600M 8795
+8.7%

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

RX 5600M 17653
+48.8%

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	75−80 −12%	84 +12%
1440p	55−60 −9.1%	60 +9.1%
4K	27−30 −14.8%	31 +14.8%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	5.32	no data
1440p	7.25	no data
4K	14.78	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	67 +0%	67 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	70 +0%	70 +0%
Battlefield 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	76 +0%	76 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	67 +0%	67 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Metro Exodus	137 +0%	137 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	76 +0%	76 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	221 +0%	221 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	58 +0%	58 +0%
Battlefield 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	68 +0%	68 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	64 +0%	64 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Metro Exodus	107 +0%	107 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	70 +0%	70 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	217 +0%	217 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	49 +0%	49 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	45 +0%	45 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50 +0%	50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	58 +0%	58 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	101 +0%	101 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	64 +0%	64 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	32 +0%	32 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24 +0%	24 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Hitman 3	38 +0%	38 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	73 +0%	73 +0%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	197 +0%	197 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Hitman 3	20 +0%	20 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14 +0%	14 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	13 +0%	13 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20−22

+0%

20−22

+0%

This is how R9 290 and RX 5600M compete in popular games:

RX 5600M is 12% faster in 1080p
RX 5600M is 9% faster in 1440p
RX 5600M is 15% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	20.98	22.80
Recency	5 November 2013	7 July 2020
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	150 Watt

RX 5600M has a 8.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 83.3% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 290 and Radeon RX 5600M.

Be aware that Radeon R9 290 is a desktop card while Radeon RX 5600M is a notebook one.

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