Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB vs R9 290X
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon R9 290X and Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
RX 9060 XT 16GB outperforms R9 290X by a whopping 180% 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 | 330 | 69 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 4.24 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.58 | no data |
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 (2013−2017) | RDNA 4 (2025) |
| GPU code name | Hawaii | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | reference | no data |
| Release date | 24 October 2013 (11 years ago) | 2 January 2025 (less than a year 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 | 2048 |
| Boost clock speed | 947 MHz | 2530 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 6,200 million | no data |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 4 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 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory bus width | 512 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1250 MHz | no data |
| Memory bandwidth | 320 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | - | - |
| Resizable BAR | - | + |
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 | 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 | no data |
| 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 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.
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
−61.6%
| 139
+61.6%
|
| 1440p | 21−24
−210%
| 65
+210%
|
| 4K | 50
+16.3%
| 43
−16.3%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 6.38 | no data |
| 1440p | 26.14 | no data |
| 4K | 10.98 | no data |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
−158%
|
260−270
+158%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−218%
|
120−130
+218%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 70−75
−221%
|
230−240
+221%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
−100%
|
150−160
+100%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
−158%
|
260−270
+158%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−218%
|
120−130
+218%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 70−75
−221%
|
230−240
+221%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 60−65
−158%
|
150−160
+158%
|
| Fortnite | 95−100
−124%
|
210−220
+124%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
−159%
|
190−200
+159%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 55−60
−168%
|
150−160
+168%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
−156%
|
170−180
+156%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
−99.3%
|
270−280
+99.3%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
−100%
|
150−160
+100%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
−158%
|
260−270
+158%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 280
+0.7%
|
270−280
−0.7%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−218%
|
120−130
+218%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 70−75
−221%
|
230−240
+221%
|
| Dota 2 | 100−110
−176%
|
290−300
+176%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 60−65
−158%
|
150−160
+158%
|
| Fortnite | 95−100
−124%
|
210−220
+124%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
−159%
|
190−200
+159%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 55−60
−168%
|
150−160
+168%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 67
−124%
|
150−160
+124%
|
| Metro Exodus | 35−40
−226%
|
120−130
+226%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
−156%
|
170−180
+156%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 75
−247%
|
260
+247%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
−99.3%
|
270−280
+99.3%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 75−80
−100%
|
150−160
+100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−218%
|
120−130
+218%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 70−75
−221%
|
230−240
+221%
|
| Dota 2 | 136
−157%
|
350−400
+157%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 60−65
−158%
|
150−160
+158%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
−159%
|
190−200
+159%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 44
−295%
|
170−180
+295%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 29
−359%
|
133
+359%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
−154%
|
350−400
+154%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 95−100
−124%
|
210−220
+124%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 35−40
−276%
|
130−140
+276%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 130−140
−170%
|
350−400
+170%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 30−33
−250%
|
100−110
+250%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
−239%
|
75−80
+239%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 160−170
−169%
|
450−500
+169%
|
| Valorant | 170−180
−77.6%
|
300−350
+77.6%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 50−55
−139%
|
120−130
+139%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 16−18
−276%
|
60−65
+276%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 30−35
−266%
|
110−120
+266%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
−213%
|
120−130
+213%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
−242%
|
150−160
+242%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 27−30
−250%
|
98
+250%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 40−45
−237%
|
130−140
+237%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16
−320%
|
60−65
+320%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 18−20
−178%
|
50−55
+178%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 52
−125%
|
110−120
+125%
|
| Metro Exodus | 14−16
−243%
|
45−50
+243%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 28
−204%
|
85
+204%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
−187%
|
290−300
+187%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 27−30
−207%
|
80−85
+207%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16
−167%
|
40−45
+167%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
−329%
|
30−33
+329%
|
| Dead Island 2 | 18−20
−183%
|
50−55
+183%
|
| Dota 2 | 84
−174%
|
230−240
+174%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 20−22
−260%
|
70−75
+260%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 30−35
−234%
|
100−110
+234%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 18−20
−356%
|
80−85
+356%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 18−20
−300%
|
70−75
+300%
|
This is how R9 290X and RX 9060 XT 16GB compete in popular games:
- RX 9060 XT 16GB is 62% faster in 1080p
- RX 9060 XT 16GB is 210% faster in 1440p
- R9 290X is 16% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the R9 290X is 1% faster.
- in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 9060 XT 16GB is 359% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- R9 290X is ahead in 1 test (2%)
- RX 9060 XT 16GB is ahead in 58 tests (98%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 17.52 | 49.03 |
| Recency | 24 October 2013 | 2 January 2025 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 16 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 4 nm |
RX 9060 XT 16GB has a 179.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 600% more advanced lithography process.
The Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290X in performance tests.
Other comparisons
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