Radeon HD 7870 XT vs Radeon R9 290X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 7870 XT 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 Radeon HD 7870 XT stacks up against Radeon R9 290X, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 7870 XT

Radeon R9 290X Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 7870 XT	Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP)	185 Watt	250 Watt
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	2x 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, 2x mini-DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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Radeon R9 290X has 35% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
Radeon R9 290X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 7870 XT is build with GCN 1.0 architecture, and Radeon R9 290X - with GCN.
Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon R9 290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon R9 290X is 8 mm longer, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 4750 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 Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	45−50	50−55
QHD / 1440p	35−40	35−40
4K / 2160p	18−20	18−20
low / 720p	100−110	110−120
medium / 1080p	60−65	65−70
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Battlefield 5 is 9% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p	50−55	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in Call of Duty: Warzone.
low / 768p	250−260	250−260
medium / 768p	220−230	220−230
ultra / 1080p	180−190	190−200
QHD / 1440p	110−120	110−120
4K / 2160p	70−75	70−75
high / 768p	210−220	210−220
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 1% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p	60−65	60−65
medium / 1080p	55−60	55−60
Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in Cyberpunk 2077.
low / 768p	120−130	120−130
medium / 768p	110−120	110−120
ultra / 1080p	100−110	100−110
Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in Dota 2.
high / 1080p	45−50	45−50
ultra / 1080p	40−45	45−50
QHD / 1440p	27−30	30−35
4K / 2160p	14−16	16−18
low / 720p	80−85	85−90
medium / 1080p	45−50	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Far Cry 5 is 9% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p	60−65	65−70
ultra / 1080p	45−50	50−55
QHD / 1440p	27−30	30−35
4K / 2160p	27−30	27−30
low / 720p	180−190	180−190
medium / 1080p	110−120	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Fortnite is 5% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p	60−65	65−70
ultra / 1080p	45−50	45−50
QHD / 1440p	30−35	35−40
4K / 2160p	24−27	24−27
low / 720p	100−110	110−120
medium / 1080p	65−70	70−75
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Forza Horizon 4 is 7% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p	140−150	140−150
medium / 768p	120−130	130−140
high / 1080p	70−75	75−80
ultra / 1080p	30−35	30−35
QHD / 1440p	21−24	24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Grand Theft Auto V is 5% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p	24−27	27−30
ultra / 1080p	20−22	21−24
QHD / 1440p	16−18	18−20
4K / 2160p	8−9	9−10
low / 720p	65−70	70−75
medium / 1080p	30−35	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Metro Exodus is 10% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p	130−140	130−140
medium / 1080p	120−130	120−130
Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in Minecraft.
ultra / 1080p	14−16	14−16
low / 720p	100−110	100−110
medium / 1080p	18−20	18−20
Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS.
high / 1080p	24−27	27−30
ultra / 1080p	16−18	18−20
QHD / 1440p	10−11	12−14
4K / 2160p	7−8	8−9
low / 720p	65−70	70−75
medium / 1080p	35−40	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 7% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p	130−140	140−150
medium / 768p	85−90	90−95
high / 1080p	45−50	50−55
ultra / 1080p	24−27	27−30
4K / 2160p	16−18	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 8% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p	90−95	90−95
medium / 768p	60−65	60−65
ultra / 1080p	50−55	55−60
high / 768p	60−65	−
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in World of Tanks is 1% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 7870 XT	Radeon R9 290X
Architecture	GCN 1.0	GCN
Code name	Tahiti	Hawaii XT
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	19 November 2012	24 October 2013
Pipelines	1536	2816
Core clock speed	925 MHz
Boost Clock	975 MHz	947 MHz
Transistor count	4,313 million	6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	93.60	176.0
Floating-point performance	2,995 gflops	5,632 gflops
Length	267 mm	275 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	512 Bit
Memory clock speed	6000 MHz	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.0 GB/s	320 GB/s
Shared memory		-
DirectX	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.3
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	+
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)		0.76 kh/s
FreeSync		+
Bus support		PCIe 3.0
HDMI		+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	346 Mh/s	623 Mh/s
Eyefinity		+
HD3D		+
TrueAudio		+
Design		reference
DisplayPort support		+
CrossFire		+
DDMA audio		+
Decred / DCR (Decred)		1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)	14.5 Mh/s	25.75 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)		350 Sol/s
AppAcceleration		+
LiquidVR		+
TressFX		+
UVD		+
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Radeon HD 7870 XT vs Radeon R9 290X

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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