Radeon RX 590 vs R9 M295X

Place in the ranking	382	228
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	25.32
Power efficiency	3.70	9.63
Architecture	GCN 3.0 (2014−2019)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Amethyst	Polaris 30
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	23 November 2014 (9 years ago)	15 November 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$279

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	2048	2304
Core clock speed	723 MHz	1469 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1545 MHz
Number of transistors	5,000 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	92.54	222.5
Floating-point processing power	2.961 TFLOPS	7.119 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	128	144

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	no data
Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 8-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	Not Listed	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	0 MB	8 GB
Memory bus width	Not Listed	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	160.0 GB/s	256.0 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	No outputs	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

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	Not Listed	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	6.3	6.4
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	Not Listed	2.0
Vulkan	-	1.2.131
Mantle	+	-

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 M295X 13.35

RX 590 24.34
+82.3%

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 M295X 5150

RX 590 9389
+82.3%

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 M295X 8851

RX 590 23363
+164%

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 M295X 29972

RX 590 48454
+61.7%

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 M295X 6591

RX 590 16814
+155%

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 M295X 38132

RX 590 86825
+128%

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	48 −106%	99 +106%
1440p	30−35 −86.7%	56 +86.7%
4K	27 −33.3%	36 +33.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	2.82
1440p	no data	4.98
4K	no data	7.75

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24

−90.5%

40−45
+90.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −110%	65 +110%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 −310%	86 +310%
Battlefield 5	40−45 −216%	136 +216%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 −156%	69 +156%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 −90.5%	40−45 +90.5%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −190%	90 +190%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 −143%	90 +143%
Forza Horizon 4	85−90 −211%	274 +211%
Hitman 3	24−27 −96%	45−50 +96%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 −336%	301 +336%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −176%	124 +176%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 −146%	91 +146%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −226%	140 +226%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 −273%	272 +273%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −265%	113 +265%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 −248%	73 +248%
Battlefield 5	40−45 −184%	122 +184%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 −137%	64 +137%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 −90.5%	40−45 +90.5%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −139%	74 +139%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 −91.9%	71 +91.9%
Forza Horizon 4	85−90 −194%	259 +194%
Hitman 3	24−27 −96%	45−50 +96%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 −316%	287 +316%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −116%	97 +116%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 −100%	74 +100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −165%	114 +165%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	68 +28.3%	50−55 −28.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 −258%	261 +258%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −25.8%	39 +25.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 −195%	62 +195%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 −70.4%	46 +70.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 −90.5%	40−45 +90.5%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −77.4%	55 +77.4%
Forza Horizon 4	85−90 −3.4%	91 +3.4%
Hitman 3	24−27 −96%	45−50 +96%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 −39.1%	96 +39.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −133%	100 +133%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	17 −200%	51 +200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +109%	35 −109%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

−73%

64
+73%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 −76.9%	45−50 +76.9%
Far Cry New Dawn	20−22 −85%	35−40 +85%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 −92.3%	24−27 +92.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −450%	55 +450%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −171%	38 +171%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −114%	14−16 +114%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −86.7%	27−30 +86.7%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −107%	130−140 +107%
Hitman 3	16−18 −81.3%	27−30 +81.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 −167%	72 +167%
Metro Exodus	21−24 −164%	58 +164%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −218%	70 +218%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 −114%	30−33 +114%
Watch Dogs: Legion	80−85 −145%	203 +145%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

−95.5%

43
+95.5%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −200%	39 +200%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−11 −160%	26 +160%
Hitman 3	9−10 −111%	18−20 +111%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 +14%	57 −14%
Metro Exodus	12−14 −200%	36 +200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14 −129%	32 +129%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 −138%	19 +138%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7 −600%	42 +600%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −186%	20 +186%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −200%	6−7 +200%
Far Cry 5	7−8 −143%	17 +143%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 −156%	46 +156%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −233%	40 +233%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 −160%	13 +160%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14

−150%

30
+150%

This is how R9 M295X and RX 590 compete in popular games:

RX 590 is 106% faster in 1080p
RX 590 is 87% faster in 1440p
RX 590 is 33% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M295X is 109% faster.
in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 590 is 600% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

R9 M295X is ahead in 3 tests (4%)
RX 590 is ahead in 69 tests (96%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	13.35	24.34
Recency	23 November 2014	15 November 2018
Chip lithography	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	175 Watt

RX 590 has a 82.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 133.3% more advanced lithography process, and 42.9% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 590 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 M295X in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 M295X is a notebook card while Radeon RX 590 is a desktop one.

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