GeForce GTX 870M vs Radeon R9 M290X

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 870M 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 870M will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 M290X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

GeForce GTX 870M and Radeon R9 M290X are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: GeForce GTX 870M and Radeon R9 M290X are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 870M or Radeon R9 M290X here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 870M Radeon R9 M290X
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 100 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Both graphics cards have the same power consumption of 100 Watt.
  • GeForce GTX 870M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon R9 M290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 870M has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 M290X.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 870M is build with Kepler architecture, and Radeon R9 M290X - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 870M is 91 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.
  • GeForce GTX 870M and Radeon R9 M290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 16−18 16−18
ultra / 1080p 10−11 10−11
QHD / 1440p 4−5 4−5
4K / 2160p 4−5
low / 720p 35−40 30−35
medium / 1080p 21−24 20−22
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 870M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 5% more, than Radeon R9 M290X.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 870M Radeon R9 M290X
Architecture Kepler GCN
Code name N15P-GT Neptune
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 12 March 2014 7 January 2014
Pipelines 1344 1280
Core clock speed 941 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 967 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 3,540 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 108.3 72.00
Floating-point performance 2,599 gflops 2,304 gflops
Memory bus width 192 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth 120.0 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.5 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 Not Listed
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA +
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 1344
Bus support PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0 PCIe 3.0 x16
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 82 Mh/s 300 Mh/s
Laptop size large large
Standard memory configuration GDDR5
eDP 1.2 signal support Up to 3840x2160
LVDS signal support Up to 1920x1200
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support Up to 3840x2160
HDCP content protection +
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI +
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
Compute units 20
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