NVIDIA GeForce 940M vs AMD Radeon R9 290X

VS
Performance
GeForce 940M
2,405.52% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X572% better
16,167.515% of 104,598

The Radeon R9 290X has 572% better performance than the GeForce 940M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce 940M
No data available
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 290X has 18% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

Shop GeForce 940M
Shop Radeon R9 290X
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce 940M GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce 940M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q1 2015. It is built on the Maxwell GPU microarchitecture (codename GM108S) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The 940M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory, with a 900 MHz memory clock and a 64 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 14.4 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 940M includes 384 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,072 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,176 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 24 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 8 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 33 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The 940M has the 332nd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 2.30% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q4 2013 with a MSRP of $549. It is built on the GCN 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Hawaii) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The R9 290X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,250 MHz memory clock and a 512 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 320 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 290X includes 2,816 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,000 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 176 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The R9 290X occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 290 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The R9 290X has the 137th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 15.46% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 16,167.5 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 29.45. This is the 80th 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.

InfoGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwellGCN 2.0
Market SegmentMobileDesktop
Release DateQ1 2015Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)--$549
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

#

Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Display FPS for Need for Speed Heat
NFS Heat
Display FPS for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Display FPS for Control
Control
Display FPS for F1 2019
F1 2019
Display FPS for Total War: Three Kingdoms
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Display FPS for Rage 2
Rage 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 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
GeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
Low - 720p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
14 FPS
--
High - 1080p
11 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
10 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:GeForce 940M orRadeon R9 290X
GPUFrames Per Second
Our database does not have enough FPS data to compare with other GPUs.

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:GeForce 940M orRadeon R9 290X
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce 940M
2,405.52% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X572% better
16,167.515% of 104,598

The Radeon R9 290X has 572% better performance than the GeForce 940M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce 940M is ranked 332nd with a score of 2,405.5, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 137th with a score of 16,167.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce 940M
No data available
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 290X has 45% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon R9 290X's 29.45 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:GeForce 940M or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401+623%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282+618%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5+572%
GeForce GTX 97016,033+567%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619+549%
Quadro K3000M2,427+1%
FirePro M60002,422+1%
GeForce 940M2,405.5
GeForce GTX 570M2,399-0%
Quadro K2100M2,393.5-0%

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:GeForce 940M orRadeon R9 290X
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Radeon R9 280X36.09+23%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53+21%
GeForce GTX 98032.07+9%
GeForce GTX 76031.98+9%
Radeon R9 FURY31.95+9%
Radeon R9 290X29.45
GeForce GTX 660 Ti28.14-4%
Radeon R9 Nano26.63-10%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti22.34-24%
GeForce GTX 68020.47-30%

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
BenchmarkGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
4,003
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
4,114
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
8,818.5
73,987
(+739%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
1,622
11,717
(+622.38%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
2,485
13,415
(+439.84%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
52.4
142
(+170.99%)
PassMark G3D Mark
1,126
8,623
(+665.81%)
PassMark G2D Mark
155
765
(+393.55%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
140
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
111
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.

SpecGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
CodenameGM108SHawaii
ArchitectureMaxwellGCN 2.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors1,020 million6,200 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.

SpecGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
Memory Size2 GB4 GB
Memory TypeDDR3GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth14.4 Gb/s320 Gb/s
Memory Clock900 MHz1,250 MHz
Memory Interface64 bit512 bit
L1 Cache64 KB16 KB
L2 Cache1,024 KB1,024 KB

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.

SpecGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
Slots--2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x8PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)33 W290 W
Suggested PSU--600 W
Power Connectors--1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDevice DependentDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

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.

SpecGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,816
CUDA Cores384--
Compute Units (CU)--44
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)24176
Render Output Units (ROP)864
Core Clock Speed1,072 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,176 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.

SpecGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
Pixel Fill Rate9.41 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate28.22 GTexel/s176 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance903.2 GFLOPS5.63 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance28.22 GFLOPS704 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.

SpecGeForce 940MRadeon R9 290X
DirectX12 (11_0)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.7 (5.1)6.5

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.