Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire vs R9 M290X Crossfire

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire and Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 M290X Crossfire
2014
2x 4 GB GDDR5, 200 Watt
18.98
+18.6%

R9 M290X Crossfire outperforms HD 7970M Crossfire by a moderate 19% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking289331
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency6.855.78
ArchitectureGCN (2012−2015)GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code nameNeptune CFWimbledon XT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date1 March 2014 (10 years ago)1 May 2012 (12 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 cores25602560
Core clock speed850 MHz850 MHz
Boost clock speed900 MHzno data
Number of transistors2x 2800 Millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt200 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

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 GBno data
Memory bus width2x 256 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed4800 MHz4800 MHz
Shared memory--

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (FL 11_1)11.1

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 M290X Crossfire 18.98
+18.6%
HD 7970M Crossfire 16.01

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

R9 M290X Crossfire 32792
+5.3%
HD 7970M Crossfire 31127

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.

R9 M290X Crossfire 14147
+27.2%
HD 7970M Crossfire 11119

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:

900p150−160
+13.6%
132
−13.6%
Full HD61
−55.7%
95
+55.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+24%
24−27
−24%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
+22.2%
35−40
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
Battlefield 5 65−70
+22.6%
50−55
−22.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+25%
30−35
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+24%
24−27
−24%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+21.1%
35−40
−21.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 50−55
+20.5%
40−45
−20.5%
Forza Horizon 4 120−130
+18.4%
100−110
−18.4%
Hitman 3 35−40
+25.8%
30−35
−25.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 95−100
+17.3%
80−85
−17.3%
Metro Exodus 65−70
+23.6%
55−60
−23.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
+20.5%
40−45
−20.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 65−70
+22.6%
50−55
−22.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 90−95
+12.3%
80−85
−12.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
+22.2%
35−40
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
Battlefield 5 65−70
+22.6%
50−55
−22.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+25%
30−35
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+24%
24−27
−24%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+21.1%
35−40
−21.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 50−55
+20.5%
40−45
−20.5%
Forza Horizon 4 120−130
+18.4%
100−110
−18.4%
Hitman 3 35−40
+25.8%
30−35
−25.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 95−100
+17.3%
80−85
−17.3%
Metro Exodus 65−70
+23.6%
55−60
−23.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
+20.5%
40−45
−20.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 65−70
+22.6%
50−55
−22.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
+15.8%
35−40
−15.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 90−95
+12.3%
80−85
−12.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
+22.2%
35−40
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+25%
30−35
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+24%
24−27
−24%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+21.1%
35−40
−21.1%
Forza Horizon 4 120−130
+18.4%
100−110
−18.4%
Hitman 3 35−40
+25.8%
30−35
−25.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 95−100
+17.3%
80−85
−17.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 65−70
+22.6%
50−55
−22.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
+15.8%
35−40
−15.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 90−95
+12.3%
80−85
−12.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
+20.5%
40−45
−20.5%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+22.6%
30−35
−22.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−33
+20%
24−27
−20%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 20−22
+25%
16−18
−25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+38.5%
12−14
−38.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
+29.4%
16−18
−29.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+21.1%
18−20
−21.1%
Forza Horizon 4 110−120
+27.9%
85−90
−27.9%
Hitman 3 21−24
+21.1%
18−20
−21.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+21.2%
30−35
−21.2%
Metro Exodus 35−40
+27.6%
27−30
−27.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
+33.3%
30−33
−33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+35.3%
16−18
−35.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 110−120
+19.4%
95−100
−19.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
Hitman 3 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 100−110
+25.9%
80−85
−25.9%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+31.3%
16−18
−31.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20−22
+33.3%
14−16
−33.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+22.7%
21−24
−22.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 21−24
+37.5%
16−18
−37.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%

This is how R9 M290X Crossfire and HD 7970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

  • R9 M290X Crossfire is 14% faster in 900p
  • HD 7970M Crossfire is 56% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M290X Crossfire is 38% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, R9 M290X Crossfire surpassed HD 7970M Crossfire in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 18.98 16.01
Recency 1 March 2014 1 May 2012

R9 M290X Crossfire has a 18.6% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 1 year.

The Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire in performance tests.


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 M290X Crossfire
Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire
AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 7970M 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.


2.7 11 votes

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2.1 19 votes

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Questions & comments

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