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AMD Radeon R9 290X

AMD Radeon R9 290X

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is a high-end single-GPU graphics card for desktop PCs, that has been presented in October 2013. It is based on the "Hawaii" GPU and manufactured in 28 nanometers. The card offers 2816 shader units and a 512-bit memory interface (4 GB GDDR5, 320 GB/s at 5000 MHz).

Architecture

The Hawaii chip is based on a slightly revised version of the GCN architecture. Among other things, the front-end has been doubled and optimized, size and speed of the L2 cache increased and the memory interface widened. Furthermore, the R9 290X offers more shaders (2816), TMUs (176) and ROPs (64) than the previous top model Radeon HD 7970. In addition to the higher performance, the 290X supports new features like DirectX 12 (FL 12_0).

Performance

Depending on game and settings, the performance of the Radeon R9 290X is similar to the Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan. Therefore, even the fastest mobile GPUs like the GeForce GTX 780M are outperformed by about 50 percent. Demanding games like Metro: Last Light can be played fluently in 2560 x 1600 pixels and maximum settings. In some cases, even the UltraHD resolution of 3840 x 2160 (4K) is possible.

Features

The R9 290X supports well-known features like Eyefinity, but also some innovations such as True Audio and a new turbo mode. Depending on power consumption and temperature, the core can be boosted up to 1000 MHz. However, there is no offical base clock respectively a lower limit.

Power Consumption

Thanks to dynamic clock adjustments and the Zero Core technology, the R9 290X is very energy efficient while idle. Under load, the card is rated at a typical power consumption of 250 watts.

ManufacturerAMD
R9 Series
Radeon R9 290X 2816 @ 1 GHz512 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Radeon R9 280X compare 2048 @ 1 GHz384 Bit @ 6000 MHz
Radeon R9 270X compare 1280 @ 1.05 GHz256 Bit @ 5600 MHz
CodenameHawaii XT
ArchitectureGCN
Pipelines2816 - unified
Core Speed1000 MHz
Memory Speed5000 MHz
Memory Bus Width512 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory4096 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 12 (FL 12_0)
Transistor Count6200 Million
technology28 nm
FeaturesMantle, Eyefinity, App Acceleration, CrossFire, PowerTune, ZeroCore, HD3D, TrueAudio
Date of Announcement24.10.2013
InformationPCI-E 3.0, HDMI with 4K support
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/g...

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
38.6 pt (42%)
Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) -97%
...
AMD Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire -6%
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop) -6%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q -5%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q -5%
AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire -5%
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q -4%
NVIDIA Quadro P5000 -3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) -2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH -1%
AMD Radeon R9 290X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q 1%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M SLI 2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M SLI 4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 6%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop) 6%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 10%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop) 10%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 11%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI 12%
...
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 137%
0%
100%
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Score
4114 Points (23%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Graphics
4003 Points (21%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics
min: 250909     avg: 324392     median: 332042 (52%)     max: 382574 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Graphics
min: 264357     avg: 314724     median: 314724 (43%)     max: 365090 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score
min: 19397     avg: 22992     median: 22197 (29%)     max: 27382 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
min: 71039     avg: 73935     median: 73987 (36%)     max: 76778 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score
min: 9108     avg: 9769     median: 9835 (29%)     max: 10297 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
min: 11425     avg: 11714     median: 11717 (27%)     max: 11998 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics
min: 289088     avg: 330583     median: 291067 (39%)     max: 411593 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 12356     avg: 13377     median: 13415 (35%)     max: 14320 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 15974     avg: 16166     median: 16167.5 (28%)     max: 16355 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Valley 1.0 - Unigine Valley 1.0 DX
64.2 fps (35%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 DX 11
140 fps (46%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
111 fps (49%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
GLBench 2.7 T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 +
GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen
min: 214     avg: 220     median: 220 (24%)     max: 226 fps
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen
210 fps (48%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Onscreen
61.9 fps (23%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Room GPU
1512 Samples/s (15%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Sala GPU
2974 Samples/s (20%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
ComputeMark v2.1 - ComputeMark v2.1 Result
8217 points (18%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)

2017
ultra 1920x1080
43.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

2017
4K 3820x2160
124  fps    + Compare
Ghost Recon Wildlands

Ghost Recon Wildlands

2017
high 1920x1080
60.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
30.5  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
24.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
For Honor

For Honor

2017
ultra 1920x1080
76.5  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
33.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Dishonored 2

Dishonored 2

2016
ultra 1920x1080
47.8  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
23.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Call of Duty Infinite Warfare

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare

2016
ultra 1920x1080
86  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
47.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2

2016
ultra 1920x1080
103  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
61  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Farming Simulator 17

Farming Simulator 17

2016
4K 3840x2160
95  fps    + Compare
Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1

2016
high 1920x1080
39.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
96  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Civilization VI

Civilization VI

2016
ultra 1920x1080
55  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
51  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Mafia 3

Mafia 3

2016
high 1920x1080
37  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Deus Ex Mankind Divided

Deus Ex Mankind Divided

2016
high 1920x1080
61.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
33.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Mirror's Edge Catalyst

Mirror's Edge Catalyst

2016
high 1920x1080
80.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
65.9  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
28.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Overwatch

Overwatch

2016
high 1920x1080
198  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
97  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
65.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Singularity

2016
med. 1920x1080
67.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
62.2  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
26.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Need for Speed 2016

Need for Speed 2016

2016
ultra 1920x1080
61  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
32.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Hitman 2016

Hitman 2016

2016
ultra 1920x1080
58  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
32.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
The Division

The Division

2016
ultra 1920x1080
50.7  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
29.9  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider

2016
low 1024x768
149  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
102  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
65  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
50.5  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
27.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Star Wars Battlefront

Star Wars Battlefront

2015
low 1024x768
186  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
159  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
118  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
104  fps    + Compare