The good news is, with the release of the R9 290X, the R9 290 's price is getting more discount. AMD ’s xx90 cards have always been defined by high-end prices with performance that knocks on the door of extreme graphics cards – especially when overclocked. After taking the time to fully test the GCN 2.0 graphics card inside the R9 290, we can say without a doubt that it continues the trend.
Compared to its NVIDIA 's closest rival, GTX 970, the R9 290 was -7.2 % slower. For 1080p Full HD, we were able to play Fallout 76, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, World War Z, Resident Evil 2, Strange Brigade at 61 fps to 69 fps and kept frame rates hovering around 66 fps.
For 1440p Quad HD, we were able to play Valorant at 88 fps to 88 fps and kept frame rates hovering around 88 fps. For 2160p 4K, we were able to play Valorant at 77 fps to 77 fps and kept frame rates hovering around 77 fps.
The GTX 980 might be the high-end flagship of the latest Maxwell 2.0 set of graphics cards, but their prices keep them out of the reach of most mid-range PC gamers. On the other hand, the GTX 970 is closer to being reasonably affordable at a price tag of $ 329. NVIDIA ’s xx70 cards have always been defined by mid-range prices with performance that knocks on the door of high-end graphics cards – especially when overclocked. After taking the time to fully test the Maxwell 2.0 graphics card inside the GTX 970, we can say without a doubt that it continues the trend.
The GTX 970 is much more cheaper than the GTX 770 as it costs $ 329. Compare this to the GTX 770, which came originally at a price of $ 399. Meanwhile, the AMD closest equivalent card is the R9 290X which costs $ 549. Spec for spec, this GTX 970 leapfrogs its direct predecessor, the GTX 770, by boasting 46 % more fps.
The GTX 970 has 4 GB RAM compared to the GTX 770 's 2 GB video memory. In our synthetic benchmarks, the GTX 970 blows past the GTX 770 and, amazingly, even the GTX 780 as well.
Compared to its AMD 's closest rival, R9 290X, the GTX 970 was 1.6 % faster. Fortunately, gaming performance was quite impressive. The GTX 970 consistently delivers great frame rate increases over the GTX 770 and it really justifies an upgrade.
For 1080p Full HD, we were able to play Battlefield V, Fallout 76, Overwatch 2, World War Z, Apex Legends at 60 fps to 62 fps and kept frame rates hovering around 61 fps. For 1440p Quad HD, we were able to play Valorant at 96 fps to 96 fps and kept frame rates hovering around 96 fps.
For 2160p 4K, we were able to play Valorant at 84 fps to 84 fps and kept frame rates hovering around 84 fps.
| Year | Game | Frames Per Second |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Apex Legends |
|
| 2019 | Anthem |
|
| 2019 | Far Cry New Dawn |
|
| 2019 | Resident Evil 2 |
|
| 2019 | Metro Exodus |
|
| 2019 | World War Z |
|
| 2019 | Gears of War 5 |
|
| 2019 | F1 2019 |
|
| 2019 | GreedFall |
|
| 2019 | Borderlands 3 |
|
| 2019 | Call of Duty Modern Warfare |
|
| 2019 | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
|
| 2019 | Need For Speed: Heat |
|
| 2018 | Forza Horizon 4 |
|
| 2018 | Hitman 2 |
|
| 2018 | Just Cause 4 |
|
| 2018 | Monster Hunter: World |
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| 2018 | Strange Brigade |
|
| 2017 | PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds |
|
| 2017 | Fortnite Battle Royale |
|
| 2017 | Need For Speed: Payback |
|
| 2017 | For Honor |
|
| 2017 | Project CARS 2 |
|
| 2017 | Forza Motorsport 7 |
|
| 2016 | Overwatch |
|
| 2016 | Dishonored 2 |
|
| 2015 | Rocket League |
|
| 2015 | Need For Speed |
|
| 2015 | Project CARS |
|
| 2015 | Rainbow Six Siege |
|
| 2014 | Thief |
|
| 2013 | Bioshock Infinite |
|
| 2013 | GRID 2 |
|
| 2013 | Total War: Rome 2 |
|
| 2012 | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
|
| 2009 | League of Legends |
|
| 2008 | Crysis: Warhead |
|
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| Board Number | C671 | PG401 |
| Length | 10.83 inches 275 mm | 10.5 inches 267 mm |
| Outputs | 2x DVI1x HDMI1x DisplayPort | 1x DVI1x HDMI3x DisplayPort |
| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 6-pin |
| Slot Width | Dual-slot | Dual-slot |
| TDP | 275 W | 148 W |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Clock | 947 MHz | 1050 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 1250 MHz 5000 MHz effective | 1753 MHz 7012 MHz effective |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Generation | Volcanic Islands (R9 200) | GeForce 900 |
| Launch Price | 399 USD | 329 USD |
| Production | End-of-life | End-of-life |
| Release Date | Nov 5th, 2013 | Sep 19th, 2014 |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| DirectX | 12.0 (12_0) | 12.0 (12_1) |
| OpenCL | 2 | 1.2 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| Shader Model | 6 | 6.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.82 | 1.1.82 |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 | Maxwell 2.0 |
| Die Size | 438 mm² | 398 mm² |
| GPU Name | Hawaii | GM204 |
| GPU Variant | Hawaii PRO (215-0852020) | GM204-200-A1 |
| Process Size | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Transistors | 6,200 million | 5,200 million |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | 320.0 GB/s | 224.4 GB/s |
| Memory Bus | 512 bit | 256 bit |
| Memory Size | 4096 MB | 4096 MB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| ROPs | 64 | 56 |
| Shading Units | 2560 | 1664 |
| TMUs | 160 | 104 |
| R9 290 | GTX 970 | |
|---|---|---|
| FP32 (float) performance | 4,849 GFLOPS | 3,920 GFLOPS |
| FP64 (double) performance | 606.1 GFLOPS (1:8) | 122.5 GFLOPS (1:32) |
| Pixel Rate | 60.61 GPixel/s | 65.97 GPixel/s |
| Texture Rate | 151.5 GTexel/s | 122.5 GTexel/s |
What to Consider Before Buying a Graphics Card
If you have been planning to upgrade your system by purchasing a new graphics card. Then there are some important factors to consider.
Resolution VS Quality: Impact on Game Performance
What affects game performance? Clarity or Details?
Ultra VS High Quality Settings in PC Games
Every player has a different notion about the ideal setting for PC games. But in most cases, opting for a High quality graphics configuration is the way to go.
What are CPU or GPU Bottlenecks?
Are you getting sudden frame drops? you might have a bottleneck.
What is the acceptable FPS speed for me?
For some games, you can still enjoy great garphics at lower frame rates.
GPU Hierarchy
GPU Compare
CPU Compare
Gaming Laptops
Gaming Monitors
Gaming Headsets
Discussion and Comments
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