GeForce GTX 260 vs Radeon R9 M390

Place in the ranking	447	749
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	0.14
Power efficiency	no data	1.21
Architecture	GCN (2012−2015)	Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code name	Pitcairn	GT200
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	9 June 2015 (9 years ago)	16 June 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$449

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

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 cores	1024	192
Core clock speed	no data	576 MHz
Number of transistors	5000 Million	1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	no data	182 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	105 °C
Texture fill rate	no data	36.86
Floating-point processing power	no data	0.4769 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	28
TMUs	no data	64

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 size	large	no data
Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	no data	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	no data	267 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	2x 6-pin
SLI options	-	+

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	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	896 MB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	448 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	999 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	111.9 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	no data	Dual Link DVIHDTV
Multi monitor support	no data	+
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	-	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	no data	S/PDIF

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync	+	-
HD3D	+	-
PowerTune	+	-
DualGraphics	+	-
ZeroCore	+	-
Switchable graphics	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	no data	4.0
OpenGL	4.4	2.1
OpenCL	Not Listed	1.1
Vulkan	-	N/A
Mantle	+	-
CUDA	-	+

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	43 +258%	12−14 −258%
4K	20 +233%	6−7 −233%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	37.42
4K	no data	74.83

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

14−16

+275%

4−5
−275%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +243%	7−8 −243%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%
Battlefield 5	30−35 +244%	9−10 −244%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 +233%	6−7 −233%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +229%	7−8 −229%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 +250%	8−9 −250%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +267%	18−20 −267%
Hitman 3	18−20 +280%	5−6 −280%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +238%	16−18 −238%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +244%	9−10 −244%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 +238%	8−9 −238%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 +220%	10−11 −220%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +250%	18−20 −250%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +243%	7−8 −243%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%
Battlefield 5	30−35 +244%	9−10 −244%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 +233%	6−7 −233%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +229%	7−8 −229%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 +250%	8−9 −250%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +267%	18−20 −267%
Hitman 3	18−20 +280%	5−6 −280%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +238%	16−18 −238%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +244%	9−10 −244%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 +238%	8−9 −238%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 +220%	10−11 −220%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 +238%	8−9 −238%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +250%	18−20 −250%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +243%	7−8 −243%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 +233%	6−7 −233%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +229%	7−8 −229%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +267%	18−20 −267%
Hitman 3	18−20 +280%	5−6 −280%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +238%	16−18 −238%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 +220%	10−11 −220%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18 +260%	5−6 −260%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +250%	18−20 −250%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

27−30

+238%

8−9
−238%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +280%	5−6 −280%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +275%	4−5 −275%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Far Cry 5	10−12 +267%	3−4 −267%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +267%	12−14 −267%
Hitman 3	12−14 +225%	4−5 −225%
Horizon Zero Dawn	20−22 +233%	6−7 −233%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +250%	4−5 −250%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 +225%	4−5 −225%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +250%	18−20 −250%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

+220%

5−6
−220%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Far Cry New Dawn	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
Hitman 3	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 +250%	12−14 −250%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12 +300%	3−4 −300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2	0−1
Far Cry 5	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10
+350%

2−3

−350%

This is how R9 M390 and GTX 260 compete in popular games:

R9 M390 is 258% faster in 1080p
R9 M390 is 233% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	10.06	3.15
Recency	9 June 2015	16 June 2008
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	896 MB
Chip lithography	28 nm	65 nm

R9 M390 has a 219.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 128.6% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 132.1% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon R9 M390 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 260 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 M390 is a notebook card while GeForce GTX 260 is a desktop one.

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