AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs AMD Radeon RX 480

VS
Performance
Radeon R9 M290X
6,8177% of 104,598
Radeon RX 480163% better
17,91917% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 480 has 163% better performance than the Radeon R9 M290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon R9 M290X
No data available
Radeon RX 480
78.2548% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 480 has 48% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

Shop Radeon R9 M290X
Shop Radeon RX 480
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Summary

#

About the AMD Radeon R9 M290X GPU

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q1 2014. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Neptune) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The R9 M290X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,200 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 153.6 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The R9 M290X includes 1,280 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 850 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 900 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 80 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 100 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The R9 M290X has the 221st best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 6.52% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon RX 480 GPU

The AMD Radeon RX 480 is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q2 2016 with a MSRP of $229. It is built on the GCN 4.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Ellesmere) and is manufactured on a 14 nm process.

Memory

The RX 480 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 2,000 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 256 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RX 480 includes 2,304 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,120 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,266 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 144 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RX 480 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 150 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RX 480 has the 124th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 17.13% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,919 score and $229 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 78.25. This is the 38th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureGCN 1.0GCN 4.0
Market SegmentMobileDesktop
Release DateQ1 2014Q2 2016
Launch Price (MSRP)--$229
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

#

Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Display FPS for Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3
Display FPS for Outriders
Outriders
Display FPS for Flight Simulator 2020
Flight Simulator 2020
Display FPS for Valorant
Valorant
Display FPS for Gears Tactics
Gears Tactics
Display FPS for Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Radeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
Low - 1080p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
--
--
High - 1080p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
--
29 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon R9 M290X orRadeon RX 480
GPUFrames Per Second
Arc A77083.2+192%
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER47.5+67%
GeForce GTX 166043.1+51%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER35.2+24%
Radeon RX 5500 XT34.5+21%
Radeon RX 48028.5
Radeon RX 6500 XT23.5-18%

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon R9 M290X orRadeon RX 480
GPUCost Per Frame
Arc A7703.95-51%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER4.52-44%
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER4.82-40%
Radeon RX 5500 XT4.9-39%
GeForce GTX 16605.08-37%
Radeon RX 4808.04
Radeon RX 6500 XT8.47+5%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon R9 M290X
6,8177% of 104,598
Radeon RX 480163% better
17,91917% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 480 has 163% better performance than the Radeon R9 M290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon R9 M290X is ranked 221st with a score of 6,817, and the Radeon RX 480 is ranked 124th with a score of 17,919.

Performance per dollar
Radeon R9 M290X
No data available
Radeon RX 480
78.2548% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 480 has 120% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon RX 480's 78.25 performance per dollar ranks it 0th among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon R9 M290X or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER18,224.5+167%
Radeon R9 390X17,944+163%
Radeon RX 48017,919+163%
Radeon RX 47017,624.5+159%
GeForce GTX 98017,604.5+158%
Radeon R9 M390 (Mac Edition)6,819+0%
Radeon HD 8970M6,818+0%
Radeon R9 M290X6,817
Radeon Pro 4606,749-1%
Radeon 660M6,743-1%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon R9 M290X orRadeon RX 480

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
3,882
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
4,001
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
33,147
72,213
(+117.86%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
5,294
12,186
(+130.19%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
6,859
15,476
(+125.63%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
--
166
PassMark G3D Mark
3,256
8,624
(+164.86%)
PassMark G2D Mark
427
786
(+84.07%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
62
132
(+112.9%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
105
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

#

Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
CodenameNeptuneEllesmere
ArchitectureGCN 1.0GCN 4.0
Process Size28 nm14 nm
Transistors2,800 million5,700 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
Memory Size4 GB8 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth153.6 Gb/s256 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,200 MHz2,000 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit256 bit
L1 Cache16 KB16 KB
L2 Cache512 KB2 MB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
Slots--2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)100 W150 W
Suggested PSU--450 W
Power Connectors--1x 6-pin
OutputsDevice DependentHDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
Stream Processors (SP)1,2802,304
Compute Units (CU)2036
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)80144
Render Output Units (ROP)3232
Core Clock Speed850 MHz1,120 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)900 MHz1,266 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
Pixel Fill Rate28.8 GPixel/s40.51 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate72 GTexel/s182.3 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance2.3 TFLOPS5.83 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance144 GFLOPS364.6 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon R9 M290XRadeon RX 480
DirectX12 (11_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL2.1 (1.2)2.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.5 (5.1)6.7

Check out these comparisons for similar GPUs:

Looking for alternatives? Check out these similar GPUs:

* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.