GeForce GTX 295 vs Radeon R9 290X

Place in the ranking	286	753
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.89	0.14
Power efficiency	4.63	0.76
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code name	Hawaii	GT200B
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	24 October 2013 (11 years ago)	8 January 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$500

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 290X has 3393% better value for money than GTX 295.

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 cores	2816	480
CUDA cores per GPU	no data	240
Core clock speed	no data	576 MHz
Boost clock speed	947 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	6,200 million	1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	289 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	105 °C
Texture fill rate	176.0	46.08
Floating-point processing power	5.632 TFLOPS	0.5962 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	28
TMUs	176	80

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).

Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	275 mm	267 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
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 type	GDDR5	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1792 MB
Standard memory config per GPU	no data	896 MB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	896 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	999 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	223.8 GB/s
Memory interface width per GPU	no data	448 Bit
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 Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	Two Dual Link DVIHDMI
Multi monitor support	no data	+
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
DisplayPort support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	no data	S/PDIF

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	-
CrossFire	+	-
FreeSync	+	-
HD3D	+	-
LiquidVR	+	-
TressFX	+	-
TrueAudio	+	-
UVD	+	-
DDMA audio	+	no data
High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDRR)	no data	128bit

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	6.3	4.0
OpenGL	4.6	2.1
OpenCL	2.0	1.1
Vulkan	+	N/A
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.

R9 290X 19.25
+515%

GTX 295 3.13

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 290X 7425
+516%

GTX 295 1206

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 HD	86 +617%	12−14 −617%
4K	49 +600%	7−8 −600%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.38	41.67
4K	11.20	71.43

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−33

+650%

4−5
−650%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 +617%	6−7 −617%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +540%	5−6 −540%
Battlefield 5	60−65 +530%	10−11 −530%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +550%	6−7 −550%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +650%	4−5 −650%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +543%	7−8 −543%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 +550%	8−9 −550%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +567%	18−20 −567%
Hitman 3	35−40 +517%	6−7 −517%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 +564%	14−16 −564%
Metro Exodus	65−70 +560%	10−11 −560%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 +550%	8−9 −550%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 +530%	10−11 −530%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +543%	14−16 −543%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 +617%	6−7 −617%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +540%	5−6 −540%
Battlefield 5	60−65 +530%	10−11 −530%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +550%	6−7 −550%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +650%	4−5 −650%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +543%	7−8 −543%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 +550%	8−9 −550%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +567%	18−20 −567%
Hitman 3	35−40 +517%	6−7 −517%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 +564%	14−16 −564%
Metro Exodus	65−70 +560%	10−11 −560%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 +550%	8−9 −550%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 +530%	10−11 −530%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	137 +552%	21−24 −552%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +543%	14−16 −543%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 +617%	6−7 −617%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +540%	5−6 −540%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +550%	6−7 −550%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +650%	4−5 −650%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +543%	7−8 −543%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +567%	18−20 −567%
Hitman 3	35−40 +517%	6−7 −517%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 +564%	14−16 −564%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 +530%	10−11 −530%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 +625%	4−5 −625%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +543%	14−16 −543%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

50−55

+550%

8−9
−550%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 +517%	6−7 −517%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 +625%	4−5 −625%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 +567%	3−4 −567%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 +750%	2−3 −750%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +600%	3−4 −600%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +633%	3−4 −633%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 +563%	16−18 −563%
Hitman 3	21−24 +667%	3−4 −667%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +550%	6−7 −550%
Metro Exodus	35−40 +620%	5−6 −620%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 +550%	6−7 −550%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +633%	3−4 −633%
Watch Dogs: Legion	110−120 +533%	18−20 −533%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

+540%

5−6
−540%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +533%	3−4 −533%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +650%	2−3 −650%
Hitman 3	14−16 +650%	2−3 −650%
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100 +519%	16−18 −519%
Metro Exodus	20−22 +567%	3−4 −567%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 +600%	4−5 −600%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5	0−1
Far Cry 5	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +550%	4−5 −550%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +600%	3−4 −600%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

+750%

2−3
−750%

This is how R9 290X and GTX 295 compete in popular games:

R9 290X is 617% faster in 1080p
R9 290X is 600% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	19.25	3.13
Recency	24 October 2013	8 January 2009
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1792 MB
Chip lithography	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	289 Watt

R9 290X has a 515% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 128.6% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 96.4% more advanced lithography process, and 15.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 290X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 295 in performance tests.

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