Notebookcheck

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 @ 1000 MHz512 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Radeon R9 280X (compare) 2048 @ 1000 MHz384 Bit @ 6000 MHz
Radeon R9 270X (compare) 1280 @ 1050 MHz256 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

3DMark - Time Spy Score 2560x1440
4114 Points (39%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Time Spy Graphics 2560x1440
4003 Points (31%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score 1280x720 offscreen
min: 250909     avg: 324392     median: 332042 (70%)     max: 382574 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Extreme Graphics 1920x1080
min: 264357     avg: 314724     median: 314724 (43%)     max: 365090 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Cloud Gate Standard Score 1280x720
min: 19397     avg: 22992     median: 22197 (45%)     max: 27382 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Cloud Gate Standard Graphics 1280x720
min: 71039     avg: 73934.7     median: 73987 (40%)     max: 76778 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Fire Strike Score 1920x1080
min: 9108     avg: 9768.8     median: 9835 (37%)     max: 10297 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Fire Strike Graphics 1920x1080
min: 11425     avg: 11714.2     median: 11717 (29%)     max: 11998 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Standard Graphics 1280x720
min: 289088     avg: 330583     median: 291067 (39%)     max: 411593 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance 1280x720
min: 12356     avg: 13376.5     median: 13415 (45%)     max: 14320 points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance GPU 1280x720
min: 15974     avg: 16166     median: 16167.5 (32%)     max: 16355 points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
P Result 1280x1024 +
P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024 +
3DMark 06 Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Valley 1.0 - Extreme HD DirectX 1920x1080
64.2 fps (45%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - DX 11, Normal Tessellation, High Shaders 1920x1080
140 fps (52%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - OpenGL, Normal Tessellation, High Shaders 1920x1080
111 fps (64%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit +
Cinebench R15
OpenGL 64Bit +
Ref. Match 64Bit +
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 1920x1080 +
GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Offscreen OGL off screen
min: 214     avg: 220     median: 220 (40%)     max: 226 fps
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - Room GPUs-only
1512 Samples/s (29%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - Sala GPUs-only
2974 Samples/s (29%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
ComputeMark v2.1 - Normal, Score 1024x600
8217 Points (37%)
+ 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 detailled 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
3820x2160
124  fps    + Compare
Ghost Recon Wildlands

Ghost Recon Wildlands

2017
high 1920x1080
60.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
30.5  fps    + Compare
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
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
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
3840x2160
47.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2

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

Farming Simulator 17

2016
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
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