Radeon R7 260 vs Radeon R9 290X

When choosing between Radeon R7 260 and Radeon R9 290X, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between Radeon R7 260 and Radeon R9 290X.

Main Specs

  Radeon R7 260 Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP) 115 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 290X has 117% more power consumption, than Radeon R7 260.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon R9 290X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon R7 260.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • Radeon R7 260 is build with GCN 2.0 architecture, and Radeon R9 290X - with GCN.
  • Radeon R7 260 and Radeon R9 290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Radeon R9 290X is 105 mm longer, than Radeon R7 260.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon R7 260 is 375 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 290X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 14−16 35−40
ultra / 1080p 8−9 24−27
QHD / 1440p 3−4 18−20
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 30−35 60−65
medium / 1080p 18−20 45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 153% more, than Radeon R7 260.

Full Specs

  Radeon R7 260 Radeon R9 290X
Architecture GCN 2.0 GCN
Code name Bonaire Hawaii XT
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 17 December 2013 24 October 2013
Pipelines 768 2816
Boost Clock 1100 MHz 947 MHz
Transistor count 2,080 million 6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 48.00 176.0
Floating-point performance 1,536 gflops 5,632 gflops
Length 170 mm 275 mm
Memory bus width 128 Bit 512 Bit
Memory clock speed 1625 MHz 1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth 104 GB/s 320 GB/s
Shared memory -
Shader Model 6.3 6.3
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 2.0 2.0
Vulkan +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.76 kh/s
FreeSync + +
Bus support PCIe 3.0 PCIe 3.0
HDMI + +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 240 Mh/s 623 Mh/s
Eyefinity + +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference 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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