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    Radeon HD 8870M vs Radeon R9 M290X

    In this comparison between Radeon HD 8870M 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 Radeon HD 8870M will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 M290X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.
    Radeon HD 8870M Check Price
    Radeon R9 M290X Check Price

    Radeon HD 8870M and Radeon R9 M290X are Laptop Graphics Cards

    Note: Radeon HD 8870M 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 Radeon HD 8870M or Radeon R9 M290X here:

    Radeon HD 8870M Laptops
    Radeon R9 M290X Laptops

    Main Specs

      Radeon HD 8870M Radeon R9 M290X
    Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt
    Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
    Supplementary power connectors None
    Memory type GDDR5, DDR3 GDDR5
    Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
    Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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    • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
    • Radeon R9 M290X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8870M.
    • Both cards are used in Laptops.
    • Radeon HD 8870M and Radeon R9 M290X are build with GCN architecture.
    • Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M290X is 125 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8870M.
    • Radeon HD 8870M and Radeon R9 M290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
    • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8870M is 3300 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.

    Game benchmarks

    high / 1080p 7−8 16−18
    ultra / 1080p 4−5 10−11
    QHD / 1440p 0−1 4−5
    4K / 2160p − 4−5
    low / 720p 18−20 30−35
    medium / 1080p 9−10 20−22
    The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 M290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than Radeon HD 8870M.

    Full Specs

      Radeon HD 8870M Radeon R9 M290X
    Architecture GCN GCN
    Code name Venus Neptune
    Type Laptop Laptop
    Release date 18 December 2012 7 January 2014
    Pipelines 640 1280
    Core clock speed 725 MHz 850 MHz
    Boost Clock 775 MHz 900 MHz
    Transistor count 1,500 million 2,800 million
    Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
    Texture fill rate 31.00 72.00
    Floating-point performance 992.0 gflops 2,304 gflops
    Memory bus width 128 Bit 256 Bit
    Memory clock speed 4500 MHz 1200 MHz
    Memory bandwidth 72 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
    Shared memory - -
    DirectX 12 (11_1)
    Shader Model 5.1 5.1
    OpenGL 4.6 4.4
    OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
    Vulkan 1.2.131
    FreeSync +
    Bus support PCIe 3.0 x16
    Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 107 Mh/s 300 Mh/s
    Laptop size large large
    Eyefinity +
    HD3D +
    PowerTune +
    DualGraphics +
    ZeroCore +
    Switchable graphics +
    Mantle +
    Compute units 20
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