Radeon R9 390 vs Vega Frontier Edition
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon Vega Frontier Edition with Radeon R9 390, including specs and performance data.
Vega Frontier Edition outperforms R9 390 by a considerable 48% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 149 | 237 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 20.38 | 11.63 |
| Power efficiency | 8.14 | 5.98 |
| Architecture | GCN 5.0 (2017−2020) | GCN 2.0 (2013−2017) |
| GPU code name | Vega 10 | Grenada |
| Market segment | Workstation | Desktop |
| Design | no data | reference |
| Release date | 27 June 2017 (7 years ago) | 18 June 2015 (9 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $329 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Vega Frontier Edition has 75% better value for money than R9 390.
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 | 4096 | 2560 |
| Core clock speed | 1382 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 1600 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 12,500 million | 6,200 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 275 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 409.6 | 160.0 |
| Floating-point processing power | 13.11 TFLOPS | 5.12 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 64 | 64 |
| TMUs | 256 | 160 |
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 | no data | PCIe 3.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 267 mm | 275 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 8-pin | 1 x 6-pin, 1 x 8-pin |
| Bridgeless CrossFire | - | + |
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 | HBM2 | GDDR5 |
| High bandwidth memory (HBM) | no data | - |
| Maximum RAM amount | 16 GB | 0 MB |
| Memory bus width | 2048 Bit | 512 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 945 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 483.8 GB/s | 384 GB/s |
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 | 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | - | + |
| Number of Eyefinity displays | no data | 6 |
| HDMI | + | + |
| DisplayPort support | - | + |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| CrossFire | - | + |
| FreeSync | - | + |
| PowerTune | - | + |
| TrueAudio | - | + |
| VCE | - | + |
| DDMA audio | no data | + |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | DirectX® 12 |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.3 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.125 | + |
| 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.
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.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 34.27 | 23.08 |
| Recency | 27 June 2017 | 18 June 2015 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 275 Watt |
Vega Frontier Edition has a 48.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.
R9 390, on the other hand, has 9.1% lower power consumption.
The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 390 in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is a workstation graphics card while Radeon R9 390 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
