Radeon RX 470 vs R9 290

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 and Radeon RX 470, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 290
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
20.79

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking268267
Place by popularitynot in top-10042
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.9617.76
Power efficiency5.2712.09
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameHawaiiEllesmere
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 November 2013 (11 years ago)4 August 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 $179

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 470 has 123% better value for money than R9 290.

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 cores25602048
Core clock speed947 MHz926 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1206 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt120 Watt
Texture fill rate151.5154.4
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPS4.94 TFLOPS
ROPs6432
TMUs160128

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).

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length275 mm241 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 6-pin

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 amount4 GB4 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz1650 MHz
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/s211.2 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI++

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync-+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 (12_0)
Shader Model6.36.4
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.0
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131

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.

R9 290 20.79
RX 470 20.80
+0%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

R9 290 8093
RX 470 8096
+0%

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.

R9 290 11860
RX 470 11885
+0.2%

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 HD70−75
−1.4%
71
+1.4%
1440p35−40
−11.4%
39
+11.4%
4K35−40
−8.6%
38
+8.6%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.70
−126%
2.52
+126%
1440p11.40
−148%
4.59
+148%
4K11.40
−142%
4.71
+142%
  • RX 470 has 126% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RX 470 has 148% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RX 470 has 142% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 105
+0%
105
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Metro Exodus 74
+0%
74
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Valorant 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Dota 2 48
+0%
48
+0%
Far Cry 5 52
+0%
52
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 88
+0%
88
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 73
+0%
73
+0%
Metro Exodus 34
+0%
34
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 71
+0%
71
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Valorant 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
World of Tanks 230−240
+0%
230−240
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Dota 2 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 67
+0%
67
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 59
+0%
59
+0%
Valorant 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 33
+0%
33
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 33
+0%
33
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
World of Tanks 140−150
+0%
140−150
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 51
+0%
51
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 46
+0%
46
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Valorant 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Dota 2 33
+0%
33
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 33
+0%
33
+0%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 62
+0%
62
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 33
+0%
33
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Dota 2 86
+0%
86
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Fortnite 25
+0%
25
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 25
+0%
25
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Valorant 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

This is how R9 290 and RX 470 compete in popular games:

  • RX 470 is 1% faster in 1080p
  • RX 470 is 11% faster in 1440p
  • RX 470 is 9% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 20.79 20.80
Recency 5 November 2013 4 August 2016
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 275 Watt 120 Watt

RX 470 has a 0% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 129.2% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 290 and Radeon RX 470.


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

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon R9 290
Radeon R9 290
AMD Radeon RX 470
Radeon RX 470

Other comparisons

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.


4.1 576 votes

Rate Radeon R9 290 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.2 4476 votes

Rate Radeon RX 470 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.