Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire vs GeForce GTX 965M SLI

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 965M SLI and Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 965M SLI
2015
2x 4 GB GDDR5
17.34

R9 M290X Crossfire outperforms GTX 965M SLI by a moderate 10% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking311288
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiencyno data6.79
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code nameno dataNeptune CF
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date5 January 2015 (9 years ago)1 March 2014 (10 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores20482560
Core clock speed924 MHz850 MHz
Boost clock speed950 MHz900 MHz
Number of transistors2x 5200 Million2x 2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data200 Watt

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizelargelarge
SLI options+-

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2x 4 GB2x 4 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed5000 MHz4800 MHz
Shared memory--

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Optimus+-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12_112 (FL 11_1)
CUDA+-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 965M SLI 17.34
R9 M290X Crossfire 19.00
+9.6%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 965M SLI 14428
+2%
R9 M290X Crossfire 14147

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 965M SLI 10207
R9 M290X Crossfire 10551
+3.4%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 965M SLI 51182
R9 M290X Crossfire 71977
+40.6%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD71
+16.4%
61
−16.4%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
−14.8%
30−35
+14.8%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35−40
−12.8%
40−45
+12.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
−13.8%
30−35
+13.8%
Battlefield 5 55−60
−14%
65−70
+14%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
−14.8%
30−35
+14.8%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−15%
45−50
+15%
Far Cry New Dawn 45−50
−12.8%
50−55
+12.8%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−10.9%
120−130
+10.9%
Hitman 3 30−35
−18.2%
35−40
+18.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 85−90
−10.5%
95−100
+10.5%
Metro Exodus 55−60
−15.3%
65−70
+15.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 45−50
−12.8%
50−55
+12.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60
−14%
65−70
+14%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−7.1%
90−95
+7.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35−40
−12.8%
40−45
+12.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
−13.8%
30−35
+13.8%
Battlefield 5 55−60
−14%
65−70
+14%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
−14.8%
30−35
+14.8%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−15%
45−50
+15%
Far Cry New Dawn 45−50
−12.8%
50−55
+12.8%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−10.9%
120−130
+10.9%
Hitman 3 30−35
−18.2%
35−40
+18.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 85−90
−10.5%
95−100
+10.5%
Metro Exodus 55−60
−15.3%
65−70
+15.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 45−50
−12.8%
50−55
+12.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60
−14%
65−70
+14%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
−10%
40−45
+10%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−7.1%
90−95
+7.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35−40
−12.8%
40−45
+12.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
−13.8%
30−35
+13.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
−14.8%
30−35
+14.8%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−15%
45−50
+15%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
−10.9%
120−130
+10.9%
Hitman 3 30−35
−18.2%
35−40
+18.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 85−90
−10.5%
95−100
+10.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60
−14%
65−70
+14%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
−10%
40−45
+10%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−7.1%
90−95
+7.1%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 45−50
−12.8%
50−55
+12.8%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 30−35
−15.2%
35−40
+15.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 16−18
−17.6%
20−22
+17.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
−20%
18−20
+20%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
−15.8%
21−24
+15.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
−22.2%
10−12
+22.2%
Far Cry 5 20−22
−15%
21−24
+15%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
−17%
110−120
+17%
Hitman 3 20−22
−15%
21−24
+15%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%
Metro Exodus 30−35
−19.4%
35−40
+19.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
−21.2%
40−45
+21.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
−21.1%
21−24
+21.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 100−110
−12.5%
110−120
+12.5%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
−17.9%
30−35
+17.9%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 16−18
−11.8%
18−20
+11.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Hitman 3 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 85−90
−14.6%
100−110
+14.6%
Metro Exodus 18−20
−16.7%
21−24
+16.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
−17.6%
20−22
+17.6%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
−20%
12−14
+20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
−25%
10−11
+25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
−22.2%
10−12
+22.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Far Cry 5 9−10
−22.2%
10−12
+22.2%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
−17.4%
27−30
+17.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
−22.2%
21−24
+22.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
−13.3%
16−18
+13.3%

This is how GTX 965M SLI and R9 M290X Crossfire compete in popular games:

  • GTX 965M SLI is 16% faster in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M290X Crossfire is 33% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, R9 M290X Crossfire surpassed GTX 965M SLI in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 17.34 19.00
Recency 5 January 2015 1 March 2014

GTX 965M SLI has an age advantage of 10 months.

R9 M290X Crossfire, on the other hand, has a 9.6% higher aggregate performance score.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTX 965M SLI and Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI
GeForce GTX 965M SLI
AMD Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire
Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3 2 votes

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2.7 11 votes

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Questions & comments

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