GeForce GTX 480M vs Radeon R9 M290X

Place in the ranking	501	686
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	5.88	2.90
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	Neptune	GF100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	9 January 2014 (11 years ago)	25 May 2010 (14 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 cores	1280	352
Compute units	20	no data
Core clock speed	850 MHz	425 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,800 million	3,100 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	100 Watt
Texture fill rate	72.00	18.70
Floating-point processing power	2.304 TFLOPS	0.5984 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	80	44

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 size	large	large
Bus support	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors	None	None
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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	76.8 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	No outputs	No outputs
Eyefinity	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync	+	-
HD3D	+	-
PowerTune	+	-
DualGraphics	+	-
ZeroCore	+	-
Switchable graphics	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	12 API
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.5
OpenCL	Not Listed	1.1
Vulkan	-	N/A
Mantle	+	-
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 M290X 8.54
+103%

GTX 480M 4.21

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 M290X 3282
+103%

GTX 480M 1617

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 6817
+212%

GTX 480M 2185

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 23961
+170%

GTX 480M 8872

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:

900p	65−70 +97%	33 −97%
Full HD	46 +17.9%	39 −17.9%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +88.9%	9−10 −88.9%
Elden Ring	24−27 +140%	10−11 −140%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +133%	12−14 −133%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +88.9%	9−10 −88.9%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +88.9%	18−20 −88.9%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +156%	9−10 −156%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +64.3%	14−16 −64.3%
Valorant	30−33 +275%	8−9 −275%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +133%	12−14 −133%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +88.9%	9−10 −88.9%
Dota 2	30−33 +131%	12−14 −131%
Elden Ring	24−27 +140%	10−11 −140%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +71.4%	21−24 −71.4%
Fortnite	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +88.9%	18−20 −88.9%
Grand Theft Auto V	30−33 +131%	12−14 −131%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +156%	9−10 −156%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 +81.1%	35−40 −81.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +64.3%	14−16 −64.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35 +150%	14−16 −150%
Valorant	30−33 +275%	8−9 −275%
World of Tanks	120−130 +78.9%	70−75 −78.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +133%	12−14 −133%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +88.9%	9−10 −88.9%
Dota 2	30−33 +131%	12−14 −131%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +71.4%	21−24 −71.4%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +88.9%	18−20 −88.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 +81.1%	35−40 −81.1%
Valorant	30−33 +275%	8−9 −275%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
Elden Ring	10−12 +175%	4−5 −175%
Grand Theft Auto V	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 +44.8%	27−30 −44.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
World of Tanks	60−65 +107%	30−33 −107%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 +167%	6−7 −167%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +11.1%	9−10 −11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +100%	9−10 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +240%	5−6 −240%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +1400%	1−2 −1400%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 +100%	5−6 −100%
Valorant	21−24 +75%	12−14 −75%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Dota 2	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Elden Ring	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Metro Exodus	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 +108%	12−14 −108%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Counter-Strike 2	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Dota 2	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Far Cry 5	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
Fortnite	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
Valorant	8−9 +100%	4−5 −100%

This is how R9 M290X and GTX 480M compete in popular games:

R9 M290X is 97% faster in 900p
R9 M290X is 18% faster in 1080p

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

in Metro Exodus, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M290X is 1400% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, R9 M290X surpassed GTX 480M in all 60 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.54	4.21
Recency	9 January 2014	25 May 2010
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm

R9 M290X has a 102.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon R9 M290X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 480M in performance tests.

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