Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) vs R9 290

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 290 with Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), including specs and performance data.

R9 290
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 275 Watt
21.00
+366%

R9 290 outperforms RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by a whopping 366% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking262660
Place by popularitynot in top-10038
Cost-effectiveness evaluation8.02no data
Power efficiency5.2420.61
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)Vega (2017−2020)
GPU code nameHawaiiVega Raven Ridge
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date5 November 2013 (11 years ago)26 October 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores2560512
Core clock speed947 MHz300 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1200 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million9,800 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)275 Watt15 Watt
Texture fill rate151.557.60
Floating-point processing power4.849 TFLOPS1.843 TFLOPS
ROPs648
TMUs16032

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 x16IGP
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinNone

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 typeGDDR5System Shared
Maximum RAM amount4 GBSystem Shared
Memory bus width512 BitSystem Shared
Memory clock speed1250 MHzSystem Shared
Memory bandwidth320.0 GB/sno data
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 DisplayPortNo outputs
HDMI+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 (12_1)
Shader Model6.36.4
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.1
Vulkan1.2.1311.2

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 21.00
+366%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 4.51

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
+366%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 1737

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
+398%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 2381

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 HD80−85
+344%
18
−344%
4K35−40
+338%
8
−338%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.99no data
4K11.40no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9
+0%
9
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 15
+0%
15
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10
+0%
10
+0%
Battlefield 5 18
+0%
18
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10
+0%
10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 9
+0%
9
+0%
Far Cry 5 18
+0%
18
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 18
+0%
18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 58
+0%
58
+0%
Hitman 3 9
+0%
9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Metro Exodus 22
+0%
22
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16
+0%
16
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 19
+0%
19
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65
+0%
65
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30
+0%
30
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Battlefield 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10
+0%
10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6
+0%
6
+0%
Far Cry 5 10
+0%
10
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 13
+0%
13
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 52
+0%
52
+0%
Hitman 3 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Metro Exodus 17
+0%
17
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10
+0%
10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16
+0%
16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 31
+0%
31
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55
+0%
55
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8
+0%
8
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7
+0%
7
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 5
+0%
5
+0%
Far Cry 5 7
+0%
7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 23
+0%
23
+0%
Hitman 3 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 15
+0%
15
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14
+0%
14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8
+0%
8
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10
+0%
10
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Hitman 3 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 0−1 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4
+0%
4
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 9
+0%
9
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

This is how R9 290 and RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) compete in popular games:

  • R9 290 is 344% faster in 1080p
  • R9 290 is 338% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 21.00 4.51
Recency 5 November 2013 26 October 2017
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 275 Watt 15 Watt

R9 290 has a 365.6% higher aggregate performance score.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 1733.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 290 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 290 is a desktop card while Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is a notebook one.


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

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AMD Radeon R9 290
Radeon R9 290
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

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.


4.2 558 votes

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Questions & comments

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