GeForce GT 740A vs Radeon R9 M290X

In this comparison between GeForce GT 740A and Radeon R9 M290X you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce GT 740A will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 M290X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon R9 M290X is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon R9 M290X 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 Radeon R9 M290X here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GT 740A Radeon R9 M290X
Power consumption (TDP) 33 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type DDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Radeon R9 M290X has 203% more power consumption, than GeForce GT 740A.
  • GeForce GT 740A is connected by PCIe 3.0 x8, and Radeon R9 M290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon R9 M290X has 2 GB more memory, than GeForce GT 740A.
  • GeForce GT 740A is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M290X - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GT 740A is build with Kepler 2.0 architecture, and Radeon R9 M290X - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GT 740A is 130 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.
  • GeForce GT 740A and Radeon R9 M290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GT 740A is 600 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 0−1 16−18
ultra / 1080p 10−11
QHD / 1440p 0−1 4−5
4K / 2160p 4−5
low / 720p 1−2 30−35
medium / 1080p 0−1 20−22
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 3100% more, than GeForce GT 740A.

Full Specs

  GeForce GT 740A Radeon R9 M290X
Architecture Kepler 2.0 GCN
Code name GK208 Neptune
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 26 August 2013 7 January 2014
Pipelines 384 1280
Core clock speed 980 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 915 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 31.36 72.00
Floating-point performance 752.6 gflops 2,304 gflops
Memory bus width 64 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1800 MHz 1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth 14.4 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA 3.5
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0 x16
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 300 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
Compute units 20
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