GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB vs Radeon R9 290X

Place in performance ranking	274	204
Place by popularity	not in top-100	24
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	10.11	2.36
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code name	Hawaii XT	GP106
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	24 October 2013 (10 years ago)	18 August 2016 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$199
Current price	$20 (0x MSRP)	$1112 (5.6x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 290X has 328% better value for money than GTX 1060 3 GB.

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	2816	1152
Core clock speed	no data	1506 MHz
Boost clock speed	947 MHz	1708 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	120 Watt
Texture fill rate	176.0	123.0
Floating-point performance	5,632 gflops	3,935 gflops

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 support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	275 mm	250 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	1x 6-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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	3 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	8008 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	192.2 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

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 DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	no data
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	no data

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	no data
CrossFire	1	no data
Enduro	-	no data
FreeSync	1	no data
HD3D	+	no data
LiquidVR	1	no data
PowerTune	-	no data
TressFX	1	no data
TrueAudio	+	no data
ZeroCore	-	no data
UVD	+	no data
DDMA audio	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.3	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	+	+
Mantle	-	no data
CUDA	no data	6.1

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 290X 19.19

GTX 1060 3 GB 24.77
+29.1%

GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB outperforms Radeon R9 290X by 29% based on our aggregated 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 290X 7425

GTX 1060 3 GB 9588
+29.1%

GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB outperforms Radeon R9 290X by 29% in Passmark.

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	87 −26.4%	110−120 +26.4%
4K	50 −20%	60−65 +20%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−33

−16.7%

35−40
+16.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −28.2%	50−55 +28.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −21.2%	40−45 +21.2%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −25%	80−85 +25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 −20%	60−65 +20%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −16.7%	35−40 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −20%	60−65 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −25%	65−70 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −28.8%	85−90 +28.8%
Hitman 3	55−60 −27.3%	70−75 +27.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −22%	50−55 +22%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −29%	40−45 +29%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −22%	50−55 +22%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −21.6%	45−50 +21.6%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −28.2%	50−55 +28.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −21.2%	40−45 +21.2%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −25%	80−85 +25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 −20%	60−65 +20%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −16.7%	35−40 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −20%	60−65 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −25%	65−70 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −28.8%	85−90 +28.8%
Hitman 3	55−60 −27.3%	70−75 +27.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −22%	50−55 +22%
Metro Exodus	30−35 −29%	40−45 +29%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −29%	40−45 +29%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −22%	50−55 +22%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75 −26.7%	95−100 +26.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −21.6%	45−50 +21.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −28.2%	50−55 +28.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −21.2%	40−45 +21.2%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −25%	80−85 +25%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −16.7%	35−40 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −20%	60−65 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −25%	65−70 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −28.8%	85−90 +28.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 −20.7%	35−40 +20.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −21.6%	45−50 +21.6%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 −20.7%	35−40 +20.7%
Hitman 3	30−35 −29%	40−45 +29%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −15.4%	30−33 +15.4%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −28.6%	18−20 +28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −20%	30−33 +20%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 −20%	24−27 +20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −23.5%	21−24 +23.5%
Battlefield 5	40−45 −19%	50−55 +19%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −25%	40−45 +25%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 −25%	45−50 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −28.2%	50−55 +28.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −28.6%	27−30 +28.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −28.6%	18−20 +28.6%
Hitman 3	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
Metro Exodus	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 −20%	12−14 +20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 −25%	35−40 +25%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −20%	12−14 +20%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −22.7%	27−30 +22.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −20%	18−20 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%

This is how R9 290X and GTX 1060 3 GB compete in popular games:

GTX 1060 3 GB is 26.4% faster than R9 290X in 1080p
GTX 1060 3 GB is 20% faster than R9 290X in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	19.19	24.77
Recency	24 October 2013	18 August 2016
Cost	$549	$199
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	3 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	120 Watt