NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 vs AMD Radeon R9 290X

VS
Performance
GeForce RTX 306076% better
28,37527% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X
16,167.515% of 104,598

The GeForce RTX 3060 has 76% better performance than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce RTX 3060193% better
86.2553% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 3060 has 193% 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 RTX 3060 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q1 2021 with a MSRP of $329. It is built on the Ampere GPU microarchitecture (codename GA106) and is manufactured on a 8 nm process.

Memory

The RTX 3060 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 1,875 MHz memory clock and a 192 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 360 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 RTX 3060 includes 3,584 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,320 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,777 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 112 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 48 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 112 tensor cores optimized for AI-accelerated workloads and 28 RT cores dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RTX 3060 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 170 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RTX 3060 has the 83rd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 27.13% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 28,375 score and $329 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 86.25. This is the 29th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureAmpereGCN 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2021Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$329$549
Production StatusActiveEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

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Riders Republic
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Ghostwire: Tokyo
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ELEX 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 Riders Republic
Riders Republic
GeForce RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
Low - 720p
198 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
124 FPS
--
High - 1080p
102 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
79 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
64 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
36 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 RTX 3060 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 RTX 3060 orRadeon R9 290X

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce RTX 306076% better
28,37527% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X
16,167.515% of 104,598

The GeForce RTX 3060 has 76% better performance than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce RTX 3060 is ranked 83rd with a score of 28,375, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 137th with a score of 16,167.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce RTX 3060193% better
86.2553% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 3060 has 193% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce RTX 3060 is ranked 29th with a performance per dollar of 86.25, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 80th 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 RTX 3060 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 108029,263+3%
Radeon RX Vega 5629,086+3%
GeForce RTX 306028,375
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti27,503-3%
GeForce RTX 206027,162.5-4%
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401-39%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282-39%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5-43%
GeForce GTX 97016,033-43%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619-45%

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 RTX 3060 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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
8,559
(+113.81%)
4,003
3DMark Time Spy Score
8,721
(+111.98%)
4,114
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
120,745
(+63.2%)
73,987
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
21,379
(+82.46%)
11,717
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
96,914
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
25,149
(+87.47%)
13,415
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
246.6
(+73.66%)
142
PassMark G3D Mark
17,001
(+97.16%)
8,623
PassMark G2D Mark
963
(+25.88%)
765
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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
CodenameGA106Hawaii
ArchitectureAmpereGCN 2.0
Process Size8 nm28 nm
Transistors12,000 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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
Memory Size12 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth360 Gb/s320 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,875 MHz1,250 MHz
Memory Interface192 bit512 bit
L1 Cache128 KB16 KB
L2 Cache3 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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)170 W290 W
Suggested PSU450 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 12-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsHDMI 2.1, 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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,816
CUDA Cores3,584--
Compute Units (CU)--44
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)28--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)112176
Render Output Units (ROP)4864
Tensor Cores112--
Ray Tracing Cores28--
Core Clock Speed1,320 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,777 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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
Pixel Fill Rate85.3 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate199 GTexel/s176 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance12.74 TFLOPS5.63 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance199 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 RTX 3060Radeon R9 290X
DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.5

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