AMD Radeon RX 480 vs AMD Radeon R9 290

Comparative analysis of AMD Radeon RX 480 and AMD Radeon R9 290 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, Geekbench - OpenCL, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps), 3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score.

 

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Radeon RX 480

  • Videocard is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 7 month(s) later
  • Around 18% higher core clock speed: 1120 MHz vs 947 MHz
  • Around 20% higher texture fill rate: 182.3 GTexel / s vs 151.5 GTexel / s
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 14 nm vs 28 nm
  • Around 83% lower typical power consumption: 150 Watt vs 275 Watt
  • Around 40% higher memory clock speed: 7000 MHz vs 5000 MHz
  • Around 4% better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 8609 vs 8281
  • Around 16% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s): 103.851 vs 89.325
  • Around 11% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s): 597.772 vs 540.645
  • Around 77% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames): 11172 vs 6300
  • Around 77% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps): 11172 vs 6300
  • Around 13% better performance in 3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score: 4165 vs 3683
Specifications (specs)
Launch date 29 June 2016 vs 5 November 2013
Core clock speed 1120 MHz vs 947 MHz
Texture fill rate 182.3 GTexel / s vs 151.5 GTexel / s
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm vs 28 nm
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 150 Watt vs 275 Watt
Memory clock speed 7000 MHz vs 5000 MHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark 8609 vs 8281
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s) 103.851 vs 89.325
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s) 597.772 vs 540.645
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames) 11172 vs 6300
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames) 3719 vs 3711
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames) 3361 vs 3354
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps) 11172 vs 6300
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps) 3719 vs 3711
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps) 3361 vs 3354
3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score 4165 vs 3683

Reasons to consider the AMD Radeon R9 290

  • Around 11% higher pipelines: 2560 vs 2304
  • 836x better floating-point performance: 4,849 gflops vs 5.8 TFLOPs
  • 2.6x better performance in Geekbench - OpenCL: 102277 vs 39250
  • Around 78% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s): 1366.314 vs 769.541
  • Around 32% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s): 10.034 vs 7.593
  • Around 46% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s): 98.765 vs 67.879
Specifications (specs)
Pipelines 2560 vs 2304
Floating-point performance 4,849 gflops vs 5.8 TFLOPs
Benchmarks
Geekbench - OpenCL 102277 vs 39250
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s) 1366.314 vs 769.541
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s) 10.034 vs 7.593
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s) 98.765 vs 67.879

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: AMD Radeon RX 480
GPU 2: AMD Radeon R9 290

PassMark - G3D Mark
GPU 1
GPU 2
8609
8281
PassMark - G2D Mark
GPU 1
GPU 2
776
776
Geekbench - OpenCL
GPU 1
GPU 2
39250
102277
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)
GPU 1
GPU 2
103.851
89.325
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)
GPU 1
GPU 2
769.541
1366.314
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)
GPU 1
GPU 2
7.593
10.034
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)
GPU 1
GPU 2
67.879
98.765
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)
GPU 1
GPU 2
597.772
540.645
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)
GPU 1
GPU 2
11172
6300
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)
GPU 1
GPU 2
3719
3711
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)
GPU 1
GPU 2
3361
3354
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)
GPU 1
GPU 2
11172
6300
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)
GPU 1
GPU 2
3719
3711
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)
GPU 1
GPU 2
3361
3354
3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score
GPU 1
GPU 2
4165
3683
Name AMD Radeon RX 480 AMD Radeon R9 290
PassMark - G3D Mark 8609 8281
PassMark - G2D Mark 776 776
Geekbench - OpenCL 39250 102277
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s) 103.851 89.325
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s) 769.541 1366.314
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s) 7.593 10.034
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s) 67.879 98.765
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s) 597.772 540.645
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames) 11172 6300
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames) 3719 3711
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames) 3361 3354
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps) 11172 6300
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps) 3719 3711
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps) 3361 3354
3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score 4165 3683

Compare specifications (specs)

AMD Radeon RX 480 AMD Radeon R9 290

Essentials

Architecture GCN 4.0 GCN 2.0
Code name Ellesmere Hawaii
Design Radeon RX 400 Series AMD Radeon R9 200 Series
GCN generation 4th Gen
Launch date 29 June 2016 5 November 2013
Launch price (MSRP) $229 $399
Place in performance rating 354 357
Price now $299.99
Type Desktop Desktop
Value for money (0-100) 39.12

Technical info

Boost clock speed 1266 MHz
Compute units 36
Core clock speed 1120 MHz 947 MHz
Floating-point performance 5.8 TFLOPs 4,849 gflops
GPU Power 110 Watt
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 28 nm
Pipelines 2304 2560
Stream Processors 2304
Texture fill rate 182.3 GTexel / s 151.5 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 150 Watt 275 Watt
Transistor count 5,700 million 6,200 million

Video outputs and ports

Display Connectors 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
DisplayPort support
Dual-link DVI support
Eyefinity
HDMI
VGA

Compatibility, dimensions and requirements

Bridgeless CrossFire
Bus support n / a
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Length 241 mm 275 mm
Recommended system power (PSU) 500 Watt
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin

API support

DirectX 12 12
Mantle
OpenCL 2.0
OpenGL 4.5 4.6
Vulkan

Memory

Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 4 GB
Memory bandwidth 224 GB/s 320.0 GB / s
Memory bus width 256 bit 512 Bit
Memory clock speed 7000 MHz 5000 MHz
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Shared memory 0

Technologies

4K H264 Decode
4K H264 Encode
AMD Eyefinity
AMD Radeon™ Chill
AMD Radeon™ ReLive
AppAcceleration
CrossFire
DisplayPort 1.3 HBR / 1.4 HDR Ready
Enduro
FreeSync
FRTC
H265/HEVC Decode
H265/HEVC Encode
HD3D
HDMI 2.0b
HDMI 4K Support
LiquidVR
PowerTune
TressFX
TrueAudio
Unified Video Decoder (UVD)
Video Code Engine (VCE)
Virtual Super Resolution (VSR)
VR Ready
ZeroCore