GeForce RTX 4050 vs Radeon R9 290X

Place in the ranking	285	120
Place by popularity	not in top-100	36
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.82	no data
Power efficiency	4.79	26.98
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	Ada Lovelace (2022−2024)
GPU code name	Hawaii	AD107
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	24 October 2013 (11 years ago)	2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	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 cores	2816	2560
Core clock speed	no data	2505 MHz
Boost clock speed	947 MHz	2640 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	18,900 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	100 Watt
Texture fill rate	176.0	211.2
Floating-point processing power	5.632 TFLOPS	13.52 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	32
TMUs	176	80
Tensor Cores	no data	120
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	18

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 4.0 x8
Length	275 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	1x 12-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 type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	96 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	2250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320 GB/s	216.0 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 Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	-

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

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.3	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	3.0
Vulkan	+	1.3
CUDA	-	8.9

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 19.24

RTX 4050 37.39
+94.3%

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

RTX 4050 14429
+94.3%

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	83 −92.8%	160−170 +92.8%
4K	51 −86.3%	95−100 +86.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−33

−83.3%

55−60
+83.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −86%	80−85 +86%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −87.5%	60−65 +87.5%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −90.5%	120−130 +90.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −92.3%	75−80 +92.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −83.3%	55−60 +83.3%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −88.9%	85−90 +88.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −92.3%	100−105 +92.3%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −91.7%	230−240 +91.7%
Hitman 3	35−40 −89.2%	70−75 +89.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −93.5%	180−190 +93.5%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −81.8%	120−130 +81.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −92.3%	100−105 +92.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −90.5%	120−130 +90.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −88.9%	170−180 +88.9%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −86%	80−85 +86%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −87.5%	60−65 +87.5%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −90.5%	120−130 +90.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −92.3%	75−80 +92.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −83.3%	55−60 +83.3%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −88.9%	85−90 +88.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −92.3%	100−105 +92.3%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −91.7%	230−240 +91.7%
Hitman 3	35−40 −89.2%	70−75 +89.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −93.5%	180−190 +93.5%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −81.8%	120−130 +81.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −92.3%	100−105 +92.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −90.5%	120−130 +90.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	137 −89.8%	260−270 +89.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −88.9%	170−180 +88.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −86%	80−85 +86%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −87.5%	60−65 +87.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −92.3%	75−80 +92.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −83.3%	55−60 +83.3%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −88.9%	85−90 +88.9%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −91.7%	230−240 +91.7%
Hitman 3	35−40 −89.2%	70−75 +89.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −93.5%	180−190 +93.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −90.5%	120−130 +90.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 −89.7%	55−60 +89.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 −88.9%	170−180 +88.9%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

50−55
−92.3%

100−105

+92.3%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 −89.2%	70−75 +89.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −89.7%	55−60 +89.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 −75%	35−40 +75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −76.5%	30−33 +76.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −90.5%	40−45 +90.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −90.9%	21−24 +90.9%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −81.8%	40−45 +81.8%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 −88.7%	200−210 +88.7%
Hitman 3	21−24 −73.9%	40−45 +73.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −92.3%	75−80 +92.3%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −80.6%	65−70 +80.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 −92.3%	75−80 +92.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −81.8%	40−45 +81.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	110−120 −93%	220−230 +93%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

−87.5%

60−65
+87.5%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −84.2%	35−40 +84.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −80%	27−30 +80%
Hitman 3	14−16 −80%	27−30 +80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100 −91.9%	190−200 +91.9%
Metro Exodus	20−22 −75%	35−40 +75%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 −78.6%	50−55 +78.6%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −90.9%	21−24 +90.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −80%	18−20 +80%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −80%	18−20 +80%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −75%	7−8 +75%
Far Cry 5	10−11 −80%	18−20 +80%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −92.3%	50−55 +92.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −90.5%	40−45 +90.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 −75%	14−16 +75%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

−76.5%

30−33
+76.5%

This is how R9 290X and RTX 4050 compete in popular games:

RTX 4050 is 93% faster in 1080p
RTX 4050 is 86% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	19.24	37.39
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	100 Watt

RTX 4050 has a 94.3% higher aggregate performance score, a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 460% more advanced lithography process, and 150% lower power consumption.

The GeForce RTX 4050 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290X in performance tests.

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