GeForce MX230 vs Radeon R9 M290X

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 M290X and GeForce MX230, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 M290X
2014
4 GB GDDR5, 100 Watt
8.44
+77.7%

R9 M290X outperforms MX230 by an impressive 78% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking494638
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency6.0934.27
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameNeptuneGP108
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date9 January 2014 (10 years ago)21 February 2019 (5 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 cores1280256
Compute units20no data
Core clock speed850 MHz1519 MHz
Boost clock speed900 MHz1582 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million1,800 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)100 Watt10 Watt
Texture fill rate72.0025.31
Floating-point processing power2.304 TFLOPS0.81 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs8016

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 sizelargemedium sized
Bus supportPCIe 3.0 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectorsNoneNone

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 amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz1502 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s48.06 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 ConnectorsNo outputsNo outputs
Eyefinity+-

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+-
Optimus-+

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1112 (12_1)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCLNot Listed1.2
Vulkan-1.2.131
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 8.44
+77.7%
GeForce MX230 4.75

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 3256
+77.6%
GeForce MX230 1833

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
+103%
GeForce MX230 3364

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 M290X 5294
+115%
GeForce MX230 2468

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

R9 M290X 33147
+110%
GeForce MX230 15797

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 HD44
+120%
20
−120%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21−24
+61.5%
13
−61.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+140%
5−6
−140%
Battlefield 5 24−27
+36.8%
19
−36.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
+21.4%
14
−21.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+35.7%
14
−35.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+41.2%
17
−41.2%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
−5.4%
59
+5.4%
Hitman 3 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
+54.8%
30−35
−54.8%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+44.4%
18
−44.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+76.9%
12−14
−76.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
+21.7%
23
−21.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+28.9%
45−50
−28.9%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21−24
+31.3%
16
−31.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+140%
5−6
−140%
Battlefield 5 24−27
+100%
13
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
+30.8%
13
−30.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+58.3%
12
−58.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+100%
12
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+5.7%
53
−5.7%
Hitman 3 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
+54.8%
30−35
−54.8%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+100%
13
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+76.9%
12−14
−76.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
+64.7%
16−18
−64.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+41.2%
16−18
−41.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+28.9%
45−50
−28.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21−24
+250%
6
−250%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+140%
5−6
−140%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
+88.9%
9
−88.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+171%
7
−171%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+367%
12
−367%
Hitman 3 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
+54.8%
30−35
−54.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
+64.7%
16−18
−64.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+167%
9
−167%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+28.9%
45−50
−28.9%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+76.9%
12−14
−76.9%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 16−18
+77.8%
9−10
−77.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+85.7%
7−8
−85.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+100%
5−6
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+240%
10−11
−240%
Hitman 3 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+63.6%
10−12
−63.6%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+80%
30−33
−80%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 8−9
+167%
3−4
−167%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Hitman 3 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+540%
5−6
−540%
Metro Exodus 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 10−11
+150%
4−5
−150%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%

This is how R9 M290X and GeForce MX230 compete in popular games:

  • R9 M290X is 120% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the R9 M290X is 540% faster.
  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GeForce MX230 is 5% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • R9 M290X is ahead in 67 tests (99%)
  • GeForce MX230 is ahead in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 8.44 4.75
Recency 9 January 2014 21 February 2019
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 10 Watt

R9 M290X has a 77.7% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

GeForce MX230, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 5 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 900% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 M290X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce MX230 in performance tests.


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

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon R9 M290X
Radeon R9 M290X
NVIDIA GeForce MX230
GeForce MX230

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.


3.2 12 votes

Rate Radeon R9 M290X on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.4 1364 votes

Rate GeForce MX230 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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