Radeon RX 7900M vs RX 590

Place in the ranking	224	39
Place by popularity	98	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	25.99	no data
Power efficiency	10.21	23.64
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	RDNA 3.0 (2022−2024)
GPU code name	Polaris 30	Navi 31
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	15 November 2018 (5 years ago)	19 October 2023 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$279	no data

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	2304	4608
Core clock speed	1469 MHz	1825 MHz
Boost clock speed	1545 MHz	2090 MHz
Number of transistors	5,700 million	57,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	180 Watt
Texture fill rate	222.5	601.9
Floating-point processing power	7.119 TFLOPS	38.52 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	192
TMUs	144	288
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	72

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	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	241 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 8-pin	None

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	8 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2000 MHz	2250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	256.0 GB/s	576.0 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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	Portable Device Dependent
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.3

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 590 24.35

RX 7900M 57.99
+138%

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.

RX 590 9390

RX 7900M 22365
+138%

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.

RX 590 23363

RX 7900M 59943
+157%

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 590 16814

RX 7900M 50241
+199%

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	104 −39.4%	145 +39.4%
1440p	62 −69.4%	105 +69.4%
4K	37 −116%	80 +116%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

40−45

−138%

95−100
+138%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	65 −83.1%	110−120 +83.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	86 −16.3%	100−105 +16.3%
Battlefield 5	136 −33.8%	180−190 +33.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	69 −56.5%	100−110 +56.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 −138%	95−100 +138%
Far Cry 5	90 −21.1%	100−110 +21.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	90 −53.3%	130−140 +53.3%
Forza Horizon 4	274 +22.3%	220−230 −22.3%
Hitman 3	45−50 −141%	110−120 +141%
Horizon Zero Dawn	301 +38.1%	210−220 −38.1%
Metro Exodus	124 −23.4%	150−160 +23.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	91 −25.3%	110−120 +25.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140 −63.6%	220−230 +63.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	272 +85%	140−150 −85%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	113 −5.3%	110−120 +5.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	73 −37%	100−105 +37%
Battlefield 5	122 −49.2%	180−190 +49.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	64 −68.8%	100−110 +68.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 −138%	95−100 +138%
Far Cry 5	74 −47.3%	100−110 +47.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	71 −94.4%	130−140 +94.4%
Forza Horizon 4	259 +15.6%	220−230 −15.6%
Hitman 3	45−50 −141%	110−120 +141%
Horizon Zero Dawn	287 +31.7%	210−220 −31.7%
Metro Exodus	97 −57.7%	150−160 +57.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	74 −54.1%	110−120 +54.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	114 −101%	220−230 +101%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50−55 −125%	110−120 +125%
Watch Dogs: Legion	261 +77.6%	140−150 −77.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	39 −205%	110−120 +205%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	62 −61.3%	100−105 +61.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	46 −135%	100−110 +135%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 −138%	95−100 +138%
Far Cry 5	55 −98.2%	100−110 +98.2%
Forza Horizon 4	91 −146%	220−230 +146%
Hitman 3	45−50 −141%	110−120 +141%
Horizon Zero Dawn	96 −127%	210−220 +127%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	100 −244%	344 +244%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	51 −229%	168 +229%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35 −320%	140−150 +320%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−78.1%

110−120
+78.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 −167%	120−130 +167%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 −141%	85−90 +141%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55 −25.5%	65−70 +25.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	38 −78.9%	65−70 +78.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −133%	35−40 +133%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −139%	65−70 +139%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 −94.2%	270−280 +94.2%
Hitman 3	27−30 −179%	80−85 +179%
Horizon Zero Dawn	72 −88.9%	130−140 +88.9%
Metro Exodus	58 −72.4%	100−105 +72.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	70 −256%	249 +256%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 −220%	95−100 +220%
Watch Dogs: Legion	203 −12.8%	220−230 +12.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−128%

95−100
+128%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	39 −64.1%	60−65 +64.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	26 −108%	50−55 +108%
Hitman 3	18−20 −153%	45−50 +153%
Horizon Zero Dawn	57 −282%	210−220 +282%
Metro Exodus	36 −131%	80−85 +131%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	32 −263%	116 +263%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	19 −132%	40−45 +132%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	42 +0%	40−45 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20 −105%	40−45 +105%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −133%	14−16 +133%
Far Cry 5	17 −124%	35−40 +124%
Forza Horizon 4	46 −91.3%	85−90 +91.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40 −228%	131 +228%
Watch Dogs: Legion	13 −154%	30−35 +154%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−86.7%

55−60
+86.7%

This is how RX 590 and RX 7900M compete in popular games:

RX 7900M is 39% faster in 1080p
RX 7900M is 69% faster in 1440p
RX 7900M is 116% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 590 is 85% faster.
in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 7900M is 320% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 590 is ahead in 6 tests (9%)
RX 7900M is ahead in 59 tests (89%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	24.35	57.99
Recency	15 November 2018	19 October 2023
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	180 Watt

RX 590 has 2.9% lower power consumption.

RX 7900M, on the other hand, has a 138.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 140% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 7900M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 590 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX 590 is a desktop card while Radeon RX 7900M is a notebook one.

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