Radeon RX 7900 XT vs R9 290X

Place in the ranking	286	13
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.82	37.53
Power efficiency	4.61	17.33
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	RDNA 3.0 (2022−2024)
GPU code name	Hawaii	Navi 31
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	24 October 2013 (11 years ago)	3 November 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$899

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 7900 XT has 679% better value for money than R9 290X.

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	5376
Core clock speed	no data	1387 MHz
Boost clock speed	947 MHz	2394 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	57,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	176.0	804.4
Floating-point processing power	5.632 TFLOPS	51.48 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	192
TMUs	176	336
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	84

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	276 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	2x 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	20 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	320 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	800.0 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	1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C
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 compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.3	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.2
Vulkan	+	1.3

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 290X 19.25

RX 7900 XT 74.78
+288%

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 290X 7425

RX 7900 XT 28851
+289%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

R9 290X 16168

RX 7900 XT 75896
+369%

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.

R9 290X 37284

RX 7900 XT 142489
+282%

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 290X 11717

RX 7900 XT 63712
+444%

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.

R9 290X 73987

RX 7900 XT 259707
+251%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

R9 290X 332042

RX 7900 XT 737404
+122%

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 −141%	207 +141%
1440p	35−40 −291%	137 +291%
4K	49 −81.6%	89 +81.6%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.38	4.34
1440p	15.69	6.56
4K	11.20	10.10

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−33

−690%

237
+690%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −256%	150−160 +256%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −322%	130−140 +322%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −281%	240−250 +281%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −208%	120−130 +208%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −607%	212 +607%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −162%	110−120 +162%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −256%	180−190 +256%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −103%	240−250 +103%
Hitman 3	35−40 −249%	120−130 +249%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −188%	260−270 +188%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −135%	150−160 +135%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −137%	120−130 +137%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −408%	300−350 +408%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −70%	150−160 +70%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −256%	150−160 +256%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −322%	130−140 +322%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −281%	240−250 +281%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −208%	120−130 +208%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −533%	190 +533%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −162%	110−120 +162%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −256%	180−190 +256%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −103%	240−250 +103%
Hitman 3	35−40 −249%	120−130 +249%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −188%	260−270 +188%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −135%	150−160 +135%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −137%	120−130 +137%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −681%	492 +681%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	137 −18.2%	160−170 +18.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −70%	150−160 +70%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −256%	150−160 +256%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −322%	130−140 +322%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −208%	120−130 +208%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −497%	179 +497%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −162%	110−120 +162%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −103%	240−250 +103%
Hitman 3	35−40 −249%	120−130 +249%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −276%	350 +276%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −573%	424 +573%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 −814%	265 +814%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −70%	150−160 +70%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

50−55

−137%

120−130
+137%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 −349%	160−170 +349%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −286%	110−120 +286%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 −345%	85−90 +345%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −471%	95−100 +471%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −290%	80−85 +290%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −1009%	122 +1009%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −282%	80−85 +282%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 −156%	270−280 +156%
Hitman 3	21−24 −374%	100−110 +374%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −610%	277 +610%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −292%	141 +292%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 −733%	325 +733%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −527%	130−140 +527%
Watch Dogs: Legion	110−120 −111%	240−250 +111%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

−275%

120−130
+275%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −363%	85−90 +363%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −360%	65−70 +360%
Hitman 3	14−16 −347%	65−70 +347%
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100 −128%	220−230 +128%
Metro Exodus	20−22 −510%	120−130 +510%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 −468%	159 +468%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −473%	60−65 +473%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −510%	60−65 +510%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −420%	50−55 +420%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −1400%	60 +1400%
Far Cry 5	10−11 −400%	50−55 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −423%	130−140 +423%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −724%	173 +724%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 −525%	50−55 +525%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

−394%

80−85
+394%

This is how R9 290X and RX 7900 XT compete in popular games:

RX 7900 XT is 141% faster in 1080p
RX 7900 XT is 291% faster in 1440p
RX 7900 XT is 82% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 7900 XT is 1400% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 7900 XT surpassed R9 290X in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	19.25	74.78
Recency	24 October 2013	3 November 2022
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	20 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	300 Watt

R9 290X has 20% lower power consumption.

RX 7900 XT, on the other hand, has a 288.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 400% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 7900 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290X in performance tests.

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