GeForce GTX 965M vs Radeon R9 390

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 390 with GeForce GTX 965M, including specs and performance data.

R9 390
2015
0 MB GDDR5, 275 Watt
22.87
+133%

R9 390 outperforms GTX 965M by a whopping 133% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking252463
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation11.69no data
Power efficiency5.7713.60
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)
GPU code nameGrenadaGM206S
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date18 June 2015 (9 years ago)2016 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$329 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

no data

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 cores25601024
Core clock speedno data944 MHz
Boost clock speed1000 MHz1150 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million2,940 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Wattunknown
Texture fill rate160.073.60
Floating-point processing power5.12 TFLOPS2.355 TFLOPS
ROPs6432
TMUs16064

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).

Laptop sizeno datalarge
Bus supportPCIe 3.0PCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-A (3.0)
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin, 1 x 8-pinNone
SLI options-+
Bridgeless CrossFire+-

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
High bandwidth memory (HBM)-no data
Maximum RAM amount0 MB2 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHz2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth384 GB/s80 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPortPortable Device Dependent
Eyefinity+-
Number of Eyefinity displays6no data
VGA аnalog display supportno data+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) supportno data+
HDMI++
DisplayPort support+-
G-SYNC support-+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
PowerTune+-
TrueAudio+-
VCE+-
DDMA audio+no data
GameStream-+
GeForce ShadowPlay-+
GPU Boostno data2.0
GameWorks-+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder-+
Optimus-+
BatteryBoost-+
Ansel-+

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (12_1)
Shader Model6.36.7
OpenGL4.64.5
OpenCL2.01.1
Vulkan+1.3
Mantle+-
CUDA-+

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.

R9 390 22.87
+133%
GTX 965M 9.80

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 390 8899
+134%
GTX 965M 3811

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 390 12730
+130%
GTX 965M 5536

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

R9 390 1520
+165%
GTX 965M 574

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 HD100−110
+117%
46
−117%
1440p55−60
+120%
25
−120%
4K45−50
+114%
21
−114%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.29no data
1440p5.98no data
4K7.31no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Battlefield 5 52
+0%
52
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 38
+0%
38
+0%
Fortnite 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 47
+0%
47
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 46
+0%
46
+0%
Valorant 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Battlefield 5 43
+0%
43
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 140−150
+0%
140−150
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Dota 2 84
+0%
84
+0%
Far Cry 5 35
+0%
35
+0%
Fortnite 34
+0%
34
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 41
+0%
41
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Metro Exodus 15
+0%
15
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 38
+0%
38
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 31
+0%
31
+0%
Valorant 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35
+0%
35
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Dota 2 77
+0%
77
+0%
Far Cry 5 32
+0%
32
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 28
+0%
28
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 26
+0%
26
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18
+0%
18
+0%
Valorant 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 34
+0%
34
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Metro Exodus 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Far Cry 5 22
+0%
22
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 19
+0%
19
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Metro Exodus 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 13
+0%
13
+0%
Valorant 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Dota 2 44
+0%
44
+0%
Far Cry 5 10
+0%
10
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 14
+0%
14
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 4
+0%
4
+0%

This is how R9 390 and GTX 965M compete in popular games:

  • R9 390 is 117% faster in 1080p
  • R9 390 is 120% faster in 1440p
  • R9 390 is 114% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 22.87 9.80

R9 390 has a 133.4% higher aggregate performance score.

The Radeon R9 390 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 965M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 390 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 965M is a notebook one.

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon R9 390
Radeon R9 390
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
GeForce GTX 965M

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.2 592 votes

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4.1 111 votes

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