Radeon R9 290X vs RX 470 Mobile

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon RX 470 Mobile with Radeon R9 290X, including specs and performance data.

RX 470 Mobile
2016
8 GB GDDR5, 85 Watt
18.20

R9 290X outperforms RX 470 Mobile by a small 6% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking303290
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation9.974.90
Power efficiency14.674.55
ArchitectureGCN 4.0 (2016−2020)GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)
GPU code nameEllesmereHawaii
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date4 August 2016 (8 years ago)24 October 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$549.99 $549

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 470 Mobile has 103% 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 cores20482816
Core clock speed926 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1074 MHz947 MHz
Number of transistors5,700 million6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)85 Watt250 Watt
Texture fill rate137.5176.0
Floating-point processing power4.399 TFLOPS5.632 TFLOPS
ROPs3264
TMUs128176

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 sizelargeno data
Bus supportno dataPCIe 3.0
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 3.0 x16
Lengthno data275 mm
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno data1 x 6-pin + 1 x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount8 GB4 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit512 Bit
Memory clock speed1750 MHz1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth224.0 GB/s320 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 ConnectorsNo outputs2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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 audiono data+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)DirectX® 12
Shader Model6.46.3
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.0
Vulkan1.2.131+

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.

RX 470 Mobile 18.20
R9 290X 19.27
+5.9%

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.

RX 470 Mobile 10715
R9 290X 11717
+9.4%

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 HD80−85
−7.5%
86
+7.5%
4K45−50
−8.9%
49
+8.9%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.876.38
4K12.2211.20

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
−2.4%
40−45
+2.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Battlefield 5 60−65
−1.6%
60−65
+1.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−2.6%
35−40
+2.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 50−55
−2%
50−55
+2%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−1.7%
120−130
+1.7%
Hitman 3 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 90−95
−1.1%
90−95
+1.1%
Metro Exodus 65−70
−1.5%
65−70
+1.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
−2%
50−55
+2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 60−65
−1.6%
60−65
+1.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−1.1%
90−95
+1.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
−2.4%
40−45
+2.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Battlefield 5 60−65
−1.6%
60−65
+1.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−2.6%
35−40
+2.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 50−55
−2%
50−55
+2%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−1.7%
120−130
+1.7%
Hitman 3 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 90−95
−1.1%
90−95
+1.1%
Metro Exodus 65−70
−1.5%
65−70
+1.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
−2%
50−55
+2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 60−65
−1.6%
60−65
+1.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
−219%
137
+219%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−1.1%
90−95
+1.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
−2.4%
40−45
+2.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−2.6%
35−40
+2.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−2.3%
45−50
+2.3%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−1.7%
120−130
+1.7%
Hitman 3 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 90−95
−1.1%
90−95
+1.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 60−65
−1.6%
60−65
+1.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
+48.3%
29
−48.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−1.1%
90−95
+1.1%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
−2%
50−55
+2%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
−2.8%
35−40
+2.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−5.3%
20−22
+5.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 100−110
−1.9%
100−110
+1.9%
Hitman 3 21−24
−4.5%
21−24
+4.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
−2.6%
35−40
+2.6%
Metro Exodus 35−40
−2.9%
35−40
+2.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
−2.6%
35−40
+2.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
−4.8%
21−24
+4.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 110−120
−0.9%
110−120
+0.9%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
−3.2%
30−35
+3.2%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Hitman 3 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 95−100
−2.1%
95−100
+2.1%
Metro Exodus 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
−47.4%
28
+47.4%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

This is how RX 470 Mobile and R9 290X compete in popular games:

  • R9 290X is 8% faster in 1080p
  • R9 290X is 9% faster in 4K

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 470 Mobile is 48% faster.
  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the R9 290X is 219% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • RX 470 Mobile is ahead in 1 test (1%)
  • R9 290X is ahead in 46 tests (64%)
  • there's a draw in 25 tests (35%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 18.20 19.27
Recency 4 August 2016 24 October 2013
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 4 GB
Chip lithography 14 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 85 Watt 250 Watt

RX 470 Mobile has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 194.1% lower power consumption.

R9 290X, on the other hand, has a 5.9% higher aggregate performance score.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon RX 470 Mobile and Radeon R9 290X.

Be aware that Radeon RX 470 Mobile is a notebook card while Radeon R9 290X is a desktop one.


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

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AMD Radeon RX 470 Mobile
Radeon RX 470 Mobile
AMD Radeon R9 290X
Radeon R9 290X

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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.


4.1 32 votes

Rate Radeon RX 470 Mobile on a scale of 1 to 5:

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4.1 454 votes

Rate Radeon R9 290X on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.