GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q vs Radeon R9 290X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q 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 1070 Max Q stacks up against Radeon R9 290X, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q 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 1070 Max Q here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP) 115 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 290X has 117% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q has 4 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 290X.
  • GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 290X - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q is build with Pascal architecture, and Radeon R9 290X - with GCN.
  • GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q is manufactured by 16 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 290X - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q is 6750 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 290X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 35−40
ultra / 1080p 21−24 24−27
QHD / 1440p 16−18 18−20
4K / 2160p 10−11 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 60−65
medium / 1080p 40−45 45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 3% more, than GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q Radeon R9 290X
Architecture Pascal GCN
Code name N17E-G2 Max-Q Hawaii XT
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 30 May 2017 24 October 2013
Pipelines 2048 2816
Core clock speed 1101 - 1215 MHz
Boost Clock 1265 - 1379 MHz 947 MHz
Transistor count 7,200 million 6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 16 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 176.5 176.0
Floating-point performance 5,648 gflops 5,632 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 512 Bit
Memory clock speed 8000 MHz 1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth 256.3 GB/s 320 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
VR Ready +
DirectX 12 (12_1)
Shader Model 6.4 6.3
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan 1.2.131 +
CUDA 6.1
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.76 kh/s
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
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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