GeForce GT 640M LE vs Radeon R9 290X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GT 640M LE and Radeon R9 290X, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce GT 640M LE stacks up against Radeon R9 290X, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GT 640M LE is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GT 640M LE is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with GeForce GT 640M LE here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GT 640M LE Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP) 20 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type DDR3\DDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 290X has 1150% more power consumption, than GeForce GT 640M LE.
  • GeForce GT 640M LE is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon R9 290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon R9 290X has 2 GB more memory, than GeForce GT 640M LE.
  • GeForce GT 640M LE is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 290X - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GT 640M LE is build with Fermi / Kepler architecture, and Radeon R9 290X - with GCN.
  • GeForce GT 640M LE and Radeon R9 290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GT 640M LE is 550 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 290X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 0−1 35−40
ultra / 1080p 24−27
QHD / 1440p 0−1 18−20
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 1−2 60−65
medium / 1080p 0−1 45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 6100% more, than GeForce GT 640M LE.

Full Specs

  GeForce GT 640M LE Radeon R9 290X
Architecture Fermi / Kepler GCN
Code name N13P-LP Hawaii XT
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 22 March 2012 24 October 2013
Pipelines 384 2816
Boost Clock 947 MHz
Transistor count 585 million 6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 176.0
Floating-point performance 384.0 gflops 5,632 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 128bit 512 Bit
Memory clock speed 1800 - 4000 MHz 1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth 320 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 API
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.5 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 2.0
Vulkan N/A +
CUDA +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.76 kh/s
FreeSync +
CUDA cores Up to 384
Bus support PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0 PCIe 3.0
HDMI + +
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution Up to 2048x1536
3D Blu-Ray +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 14 Mh/s 623 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
Optimus +
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 25.75 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 350 Sol/s
AppAcceleration +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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