Radeon RX 5700 XT vs R9 290

Place in performance ranking	244	75
Place by popularity	not in top-100	61
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	12.45	100.00
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	Navi / RDNA (2019−2020)
GPU code name	Hawaii	Navi 10
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	5 November 2013 (10 years ago)	7 July 2019 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$399	$399
Current price	$20 (0.1x MSRP)	$111 (0.3x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 5700 XT has 703% better value for money than R9 290.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2560	2560
Core clock speed	947 MHz	1605 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1905 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	10,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	225 Watt
Texture fill rate	151.5	304.8
Floating-point performance	4,849 gflops	no 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).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	275 mm	272 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 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 type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	5000 MHz	14000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320.0 GB/s	448.0 GB/s

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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

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

VR Ready	no data	+
Multi Monitor	no data	+

API compatibility

List of supported graphics 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	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 20.96

RX 5700 XT 43.06
+105%

RX 5700 XT outperforms R9 290 by 105% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

R9 290 8093

RX 5700 XT 16629
+105%

RX 5700 XT outperforms R9 290 by 105% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R9 290 11860

RX 5700 XT 26189
+121%

RX 5700 XT outperforms R9 290 by 121% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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	55−60 −122%	122 +122%
1440p	35−40 −111%	74 +111%
4K	21−24 −124%	47 +124%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

35−40

−123%

78
+123%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −117%	76 +117%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −120%	110 +120%
Battlefield 5	95−100 −109%	199 +109%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	55−60 −115%	118 +115%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 −123%	78 +123%
Far Cry 5	60−65 −108%	125 +108%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −115%	118 +115%
Forza Horizon 4	75−80 −107%	155 +107%
Hitman 3	40−45 −110%	84 +110%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 −108%	249 +108%
Metro Exodus	70−75 −106%	144 +106%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 −109%	115 +109%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	110−120 −113%	234 +113%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −120%	121 +120%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−33 −133%	70 +133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 −128%	91 +128%
Battlefield 5	80−85 −106%	165 +106%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 −114%	107 +114%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 −114%	75 +114%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −124%	101 +124%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −116%	108 +116%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 −118%	283 +118%
Hitman 3	40−45 −123%	89 +123%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 −110%	294 +110%
Metro Exodus	70−75 −110%	147 +110%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 −109%	115 +109%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	90−95 −114%	193 +114%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	70−75 −120%	154 +120%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 −107%	248 +107%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−33 −107%	62 +107%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 −123%	78 +123%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −129%	80 +129%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −123%	67 +123%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −109%	73 +109%
Forza Horizon 4	70−75 −111%	148 +111%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 −108%	135 +108%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 −114%	171 +114%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 −107%	93 +107%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−33 −123%	67 +123%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

50−55
−116%

108

+116%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	60−65 −110%	126 +110%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −113%	117 +113%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −121%	53 +121%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	27−30 −119%	59 +119%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −123%	78 +123%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −122%	40 +122%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −116%	97 +116%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −116%	119 +116%
Hitman 3	27−30 −119%	59 +119%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −108%	104 +108%
Metro Exodus	50−55 −108%	104 +108%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55−60 −116%	119 +116%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 −117%	65−70 +117%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 −119%	46 +119%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

−126%

79
+126%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −107%	56 +107%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −110%	44 +110%
Hitman 3	21−24 −114%	45 +114%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 −107%	55−60 +107%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 −117%	39 +117%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −125%	54 +125%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 −119%	35 +119%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −106%	33 +106%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −106%	33 +106%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −113%	17 +113%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −114%	30 +114%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −126%	79 +126%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−33 −110%	63 +110%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −107%	56 +107%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 −117%	13 +117%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20

−122%

40
+122%

This is how R9 290 and RX 5700 XT compete in popular games:

RX 5700 XT is 122% faster in 1080p
RX 5700 XT is 111% faster in 1440p
RX 5700 XT is 124% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	20.96	43.06
Recency	5 November 2013	7 July 2019
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	225 Watt