Radeon HD 8970M vs Radeon R9 M290X

In this comparison between Radeon HD 8970M 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 8970M 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 8970M and Radeon R9 M290X are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Radeon HD 8970M 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 8970M or Radeon R9 M290X here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon R9 M290X
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Both graphics cards have the same power consumption of 100 Watt.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M290X have maximum RAM of 4 GB.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M290X are build with GCN architecture.
  • Both graphics cards have the same core clock speed.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8970M is 3600 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M290X.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 20−22 16−18
ultra / 1080p 12−14 10−11
QHD / 1440p 6−7 4−5
4K / 2160p 5−6 4−5
low / 720p 35−40 30−35
medium / 1080p 24−27 20−22
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 20% more, than Radeon R9 M290X.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon R9 M290X
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Neptune Neptune
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 15 May 2013 7 January 2014
Pipelines 1280 1280
Core clock speed 850 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 2,800 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 72.00 72.00
Floating-point performance 2,304 gflops 2,304 gflops
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz 1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 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) 273 Mh/s 300 Mh/s
Laptop size large large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
Compute units 20
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