Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire vs HD 8970M Crossfire
Aggregated performance score
R9 M290X Crossfire outperforms HD 8970M Crossfire by 3% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 272 | 267 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 32.42 | no data |
| Architecture | GCN (2011−2017) | GCN (2011−2017) |
| GPU code name | Neptune CF | Neptune CF |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 May 2012 (11 years old) | 1 March 2014 (10 years old) |
| Current price | $170 | no data |
Value for money
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Technical specs
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 | 2560 | 2560 |
| Core clock speed | 850 MHz | 850 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 900 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Number of transistors | no data | 2x 2800 Million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 200 Watt |
Size and compatibility
Information on Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire and Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Laptop size | large | large |
Memory
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 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | no data | 2x 4 GB |
| Memory bus width | 2x 256 Bit | 2x 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4800 MHz | 4800 MHz |
| Shared memory | - | - |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 | 12 (FL 11_1) |
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 M290X Crossfire outperforms HD 8970M Crossfire by 3% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
HD 8970M Crossfire outperforms R9 M290X Crossfire by 4% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
R9 M290X Crossfire outperforms HD 8970M Crossfire by 14% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
R9 M290X Crossfire outperforms HD 8970M Crossfire by 2% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
R9 M290X Crossfire outperforms HD 8970M Crossfire by 3% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.
Unigine Heaven 3.0
This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark using Unigine, a 3D game engine by eponymous Russian company. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. Version 3.0 was released in 2012, and in 2013 it was superseded by Heaven 4.0, which introduced several slight improvements, including a newer version of Unigine.
Benchmark coverage: 4%
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 | 70
+12.9%
| 62
−12.9%
|
Performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
−3.3%
|
30−35
+3.3%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
−2.6%
|
40−45
+2.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−35
−3%
|
30−35
+3%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 60−65
−1.6%
|
65−70
+1.6%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 45−50
−4.1%
|
50−55
+4.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
−3.3%
|
30−35
+3.3%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50−55
−2%
|
50−55
+2%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 50−55
−3.9%
|
50−55
+3.9%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 65−70
−1.5%
|
65−70
+1.5%
|
| Hitman 3 | 50−55
−3.7%
|
55−60
+3.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 40−45
−2.5%
|
40−45
+2.5%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 30−35
−3.2%
|
30−35
+3.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 40−45
−5%
|
40−45
+5%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 35−40
−2.8%
|
35−40
+2.8%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
−2.6%
|
40−45
+2.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−35
−3%
|
30−35
+3%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 60−65
−1.6%
|
65−70
+1.6%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 45−50
−4.1%
|
50−55
+4.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
−3.3%
|
30−35
+3.3%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50−55
−2%
|
50−55
+2%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 50−55
−3.9%
|
50−55
+3.9%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 65−70
−1.5%
|
65−70
+1.5%
|
| Hitman 3 | 50−55
−3.7%
|
55−60
+3.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 40−45
−2.5%
|
40−45
+2.5%
|
| Metro Exodus | 30−33
−3.3%
|
30−35
+3.3%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 30−35
−3.2%
|
30−35
+3.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 40−45
−5%
|
40−45
+5%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 40−45
−2.4%
|
40−45
+2.4%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 35−40
−2.8%
|
35−40
+2.8%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
−2.6%
|
40−45
+2.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−35
−3%
|
30−35
+3%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 60−65
−1.6%
|
65−70
+1.6%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
−3.3%
|
30−35
+3.3%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50−55
−2%
|
50−55
+2%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 50−55
−3.9%
|
50−55
+3.9%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 65−70
−1.5%
|
65−70
+1.5%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 40−45
−2.4%
|
40−45
+2.4%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 35−40
−2.8%
|
35−40
+2.8%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
−3.6%
|
27−30
+3.6%
|
| Hitman 3 | 30−33
−3.3%
|
30−35
+3.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 24−27
−4%
|
24−27
+4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 18−20
−5.6%
|
18−20
+5.6%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 14−16
−7.1%
|
14−16
+7.1%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
−4.2%
|
24−27
+4.2%
|
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%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 40−45
−2.4%
|
40−45
+2.4%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
−3.1%
|
30−35
+3.1%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
−2.8%
|
35−40
+2.8%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 35−40
−2.6%
|
35−40
+2.6%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 12−14
−7.7%
|
14−16
+7.7%
|
4K
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Hitman 3 | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 12−14
−8.3%
|
12−14
+8.3%
|
| Metro Exodus | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 12−14
−8.3%
|
12−14
+8.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
−5.3%
|
20−22
+5.3%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 14−16
−6.7%
|
16−18
+6.7%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 18−20
−5.6%
|
18−20
+5.6%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 27−30
−3.7%
|
27−30
+3.7%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
This is how HD 8970M Crossfire and R9 M290X Crossfire compete in popular games:
1080p resolution:
- HD 8970M Crossfire is 12.9% faster than R9 M290X Crossfire
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the R9 M290X Crossfire is 8.3% faster than the HD 8970M Crossfire.
All in all, in popular games:
- R9 M290X Crossfire is ahead in 57 tests (84%)
- there's a draw in 11 tests (16%)
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 18.97 | 19.52 |
| Recency | 1 May 2012 | 1 March 2014 |
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire and Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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