Radeon RX 5500 vs R9 290X

Place in performance ranking	272	225
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	10.11	10.08
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020)
GPU code name	Hawaii XT	Navi 14
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	24 October 2013 (10 years ago)	7 October 2019 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	no data
Current price	$20 (0x MSRP)	$444

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 290X and RX 5500 have a nearly equal value for money.

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	1408
Boost clock speed	947 MHz	1845 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	6,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	110 Watt
Texture fill rate	176.0	162.4
Floating-point performance	5,632 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).

Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	275 mm	180 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-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	4 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	14000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	224.0 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 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	12.0 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.3	no data
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	no data
Vulkan	+	no data
Mantle	-	no data

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 19.21

RX 5500 22.81
+18.7%

RX 5500 outperforms R9 290X by 19% 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 290X 7425

RX 5500 8818
+18.8%

RX 5500 outperforms R9 290X by 19% 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	90 −11.1%	100−110 +11.1%
4K	52 −15.4%	60−65 +15.4%

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 −15.4%	45−50 +15.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −6.1%	35−40 +6.1%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −16.7%	35−40 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −12.2%	55−60 +12.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −13.2%	60−65 +13.2%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Hitman 3	45−50 −8.7%	50−55 +8.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Metro Exodus	55−60 −12.1%	65−70 +12.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −13.2%	60−65 +13.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55−60 −18.2%	65−70 +18.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −11.1%	40−45 +11.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −15.4%	45−50 +15.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −6.1%	35−40 +6.1%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −16.7%	35−40 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −12.2%	55−60 +12.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −13.2%	60−65 +13.2%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Hitman 3	45−50 −8.7%	50−55 +8.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Metro Exodus	55−60 −12.1%	65−70 +12.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −13.2%	60−65 +13.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55−60 −18.2%	65−70 +18.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75 −13.3%	85−90 +13.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −11.1%	40−45 +11.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40 −15.4%	45−50 +15.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −6.1%	35−40 +6.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 −7.1%	45−50 +7.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −16.7%	35−40 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −12.2%	55−60 +12.2%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −11.1%	70−75 +11.1%
Metro Exodus	55−60 −12.1%	65−70 +12.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 −3.4%	30−33 +3.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −11.1%	40−45 +11.1%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

50−55

−13.2%

60−65
+13.2%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 −8.1%	40−45 +8.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 −18.4%	45−50 +18.4%
Hitman 3	27−30 −7.1%	30−33 +7.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −14.3%	16−18 +14.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 −5%	21−24 +5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −5.9%	18−20 +5.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 −8%	27−30 +8%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −9.1%	12−14 +9.1%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −9.4%	35−40 +9.4%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −8.1%	40−45 +8.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −15.4%	45−50 +15.4%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −11.1%	40−45 +11.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 −15.4%	45−50 +15.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 −7.7%	14−16 +7.7%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry 5	35−40 −18.4%	45−50 +18.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Hitman 3	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −7.7%	14−16 +7.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 −7.1%	30−33 +7.1%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −9.1%	24−27 +9.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −14.3%	16−18 +14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −15.4%	30−33 +15.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −14.3%	24−27 +14.3%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%