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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 vs AMD Radeon R9 290X

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 107052% better
24,65223% of 104,937
Radeon R9 290X
16,167.515% of 104,937

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 52% better performance than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 1070121% better
65.0440% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 121% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU

The GeForce GTX 1070 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q2 2016 with a suggested retail price of $379. Its GP104 chip that powers the GPU uses the Pascal architecture and is fabricated on the 16 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 8 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 2,002 MHz memory clock and 256 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 256.3 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The GTX 1070 is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4a display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 150 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 450 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The GeForce GTX 1070 has the 95th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 23.49% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 24,652 score and $379 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 65.04. This is the 50th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU

The Radeon R9 290X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q4 2013 with a suggested retail price of $549. Its Hawaii chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 2.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,250 MHz memory clock and 512 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 320 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The R9 290X is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 290 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 600 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The Radeon R9 290X has the 135th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 15.41% 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 78th 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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitecturePascalGCN 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ2 2016Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$379$549
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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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 Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3
GeForce GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
Low - 720p
141 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
106 FPS
--
High - 1080p
75 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
58 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
40 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
21 FPS
--
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 GTX 1070 orRadeon R9 290X

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 GTX 1070 orRadeon R9 290X

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 107052% better
24,65223% of 104,937
Radeon R9 290X
16,167.515% of 104,937

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 52% better performance than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 1070 is ranked 95th with a score of 24,652, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 135th with a score of 16,167.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 1070121% better
65.0440% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 121% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 1070 is ranked 50th with a performance per dollar of 65.04, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 78th with a performance per dollar of 29.45.

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 GTX 1070 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti27,503+12%
GeForce RTX 206027,162.5+10%
GeForce GTX 107024,652
Radeon RX 59023,362.5-5%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti23,057-6%
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401-29%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282-30%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5-34%
GeForce GTX 97016,033-35%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619-37%

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 GTX 1070 or

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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
5,896
(+47.29%)
4,003
3DMark Time Spy Score
5,679
(+38.04%)
4,114
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
106,934
(+44.53%)
73,987
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
18,255
(+55.8%)
11,717
3DMark 11 Performance Score
19,449
(+44.98%)
13,415
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
136
142
(+4.41%)
PassMark G3D Mark
13,512
(+56.43%)
8,638
PassMark G2D Mark
843
(+9.34%)
771
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
140
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
111
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
CodenameGP104Hawaii
ArchitecturePascalGCN 2.0
Process Size16 nm28 nm
Transistors7,200 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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
Memory Size8 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth256.3 Gb/s320 Gb/s
Memory Clock2,002 MHz1,250 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit512 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache2 MB1,024 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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)150 W290 W
Suggested PSU450 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4aDVI, 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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,816
CUDA Cores1,920--
Compute Units (CU)--44
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)15--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)120176
Render Output Units (ROP)6464
Core Clock Speed1,506 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,683 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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
Pixel Fill Rate107.7 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate202 GTexel/s176 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance6.46 TFLOPS5.63 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance202 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 GTX 1070Radeon R9 290X
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.76.5

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