GeForce GTX 680 vs Radeon R9 M290X

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 680 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 GTX 680 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 GTX 680 Radeon R9 M290X
Power consumption (TDP) 195 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors Two 6-pin None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2048 MB 4 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 680 has 95% more power consumption, than Radeon R9 M290X.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 680 has 2044 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 M290X.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M290X - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is build with Kepler architecture, and Radeon R9 M290X - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 680 is 156 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.
  • GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon R9 M290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 680 is 4800 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 16−18
ultra / 1080p 21−24 10−11
QHD / 1440p 16−18 4−5
4K / 2160p 10−11 4−5
low / 720p 60−65 30−35
medium / 1080p 40−45 20−22
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 680 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 113% more, than Radeon R9 M290X.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 680 Radeon R9 M290X
Architecture Kepler GCN
Code name GK104 Neptune
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 March 2012 7 January 2014
Pipelines 1536 1280
Core clock speed 1006 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 1058 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 3,540 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 128.8 billion/sec 72.00
Floating-point performance 3,090.4 gflops 2,304 gflops
Length 10.0" (25.4 cm)
Memory bus width 256-bit GDDR5 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 6000 MHz 1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth 192.2 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.2 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA +
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 1536
Bus support PCI Express 3.0 PCIe 3.0 x16
Height 4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support 4 displays
HDMI +
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 121 Mh/s 300 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 15 Mh/s
Compute units 20
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