GeForce GTX 470M vs Radeon R9 290X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 470M 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 GTX 470M stacks up against Radeon R9 290X, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 470M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 470M 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 GTX 470M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 470M Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 250 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1536 MB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 290X has 233% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 470M.
  • GeForce GTX 470M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon R9 290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 470M has 1532 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 290X.
  • GeForce GTX 470M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 290X - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 470M is build with Fermi architecture, and Radeon R9 290X - with GCN.
  • GeForce GTX 470M is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 290X - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 470M and Radeon R9 290X is 1250 MHz.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 9−10 35−40
ultra / 1080p 5−6 24−27
QHD / 1440p 0−1 18−20
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 21−24 60−65
medium / 1080p 10−12 45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 258% more, than GeForce GTX 470M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 470M Radeon R9 290X
Architecture Fermi GCN
Code name N11E-GT Hawaii XT
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 1 November 2010 24 October 2013
Pipelines 288 2816
Core clock speed 1100 MHz
Boost Clock 947 MHz
Transistor count 1,950 million 6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 19.7 billion/sec 176.0
Floating-point performance 616.3 gflops 5,632 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 192 Bit 512 Bit
Memory clock speed 1250 MHz 1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth 60.0 GB/s 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 +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 623 Mh/s
Laptop size large
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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