HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) vs Radeon R9 290X
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon R9 290X with HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge), including specs and performance data.
R9 290X outperforms HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) by a whopping 5270% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 331 | 1338 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 4.25 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.65 | no data |
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 (2013−2017) | Gen. 6 Sandy Bridge (2011) |
| GPU code name | Hawaii | Sandy Bridge |
| Market segment | Desktop | Laptop |
| Design | reference | no data |
| Release date | 24 October 2013 (11 years ago) | 1 May 2011 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $549 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
Performance to price scatter graph
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 | 2816 | 6 |
| Core clock speed | no data | 350 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 947 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 6,200 million | no data |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 250 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 176.0 | no data |
| Floating-point processing power | 5.632 TFLOPS | no data |
| ROPs | 64 | no data |
| TMUs | 176 | 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).
| Bus support | PCIe 3.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | no data |
| Length | 275 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin | no data |
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 | no data |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | no data |
| Memory bus width | 512 Bit | 64/128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1250 MHz | no data |
| Memory bandwidth | 320 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | - | + |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort | no data |
| 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 audio | + | no data |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | DirectX® 12 | 10.1 |
| Shader Model | 6.3 | no data |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | no data |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | no data |
| Vulkan | + | - |
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.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
3DMark Cloud Gate GPU
Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.
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 | 86
+1129%
| 7
−1129%
|
| 4K | 50 | 0−1 |
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 6.38 | no data |
| 4K | 10.98 | no data |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
+10100%
|
1−2
−10100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3700%
|
1−2
−3700%
|
| God of War | 35−40
+825%
|
4−5
−825%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
+7500%
|
1−2
−7500%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
+10100%
|
1−2
−10100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3700%
|
1−2
−3700%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+5800%
|
1−2
−5800%
|
| Fortnite | 95−100
+9600%
|
1−2
−9600%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+2367%
|
3−4
−2367%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 55−60
+5600%
|
1−2
−5600%
|
| God of War | 35−40
+825%
|
4−5
−825%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
+871%
|
7−8
−871%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+456%
|
24−27
−456%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
+7500%
|
1−2
−7500%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
+10100%
|
1−2
−10100%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 280
+2700%
|
10
−2700%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3700%
|
1−2
−3700%
|
| Dota 2 | 100−110
+950%
|
10−11
−950%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+5800%
|
1−2
−5800%
|
| Fortnite | 95−100
+9600%
|
1−2
−9600%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+2367%
|
3−4
−2367%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 55−60
+5600%
|
1−2
−5600%
|
| God of War | 35−40
+825%
|
4−5
−825%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 67
+6600%
|
1−2
−6600%
|
| Metro Exodus | 35−40 | 0−1 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
+871%
|
7−8
−871%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 75
+1400%
|
5−6
−1400%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+456%
|
24−27
−456%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
+7500%
|
1−2
−7500%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3700%
|
1−2
−3700%
|
| Dota 2 | 136
+1260%
|
10−11
−1260%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+5800%
|
1−2
−5800%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+2367%
|
3−4
−2367%
|
| God of War | 35−40
+825%
|
4−5
−825%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 44
+529%
|
7−8
−529%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 29
+480%
|
5−6
−480%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+456%
|
24−27
−456%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 95−100
+9600%
|
1−2
−9600%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 35−40
+1700%
|
2−3
−1700%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 130−140
+6500%
|
2−3
−6500%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 30−33 | 0−1 |
| Metro Exodus | 21−24 | 0−1 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 160−170
+4075%
|
4−5
−4075%
|
| Valorant | 170−180
+5633%
|
3−4
−5633%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 50−55 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 16−18 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+4400%
|
1−2
−4400%
|
| God of War | 21−24 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 27−30 | 0−1 |
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 40−45 | 0−1 |
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 52
+247%
|
14−16
−247%
|
| Metro Exodus | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 28 | 0−1 |
| Valorant | 100−110
+5000%
|
2−3
−5000%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 27−30 | 0−1 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8 | 0−1 |
| Dota 2 | 84
+8300%
|
1−2
−8300%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 20−22 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 30−35 | 0−1 |
| God of War | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 18−20
+1700%
|
1−2
−1700%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 18−20
+800%
|
2−3
−800%
|
This is how R9 290X and HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) compete in popular games:
- R9 290X is 1129% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Valorant, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the R9 290X is 5000% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, R9 290X surpassed HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in all 29 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 17.72 | 0.33 |
| Recency | 24 October 2013 | 1 May 2011 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 32 nm |
R9 290X has a 5269.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 14.3% more advanced lithography process.
The Radeon R9 290X is our recommended choice as it beats the HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon R9 290X is a desktop graphics card while HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) is a notebook one.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
