AMD · Radeon

AMD Radeon R9 290X

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is a graphics card released on October 24, 2013, built on the GCN architecture using a 28 nm process. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 512-bit bus, 320.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, a boost clock of 947 MHz and a 250 W board power rating. It scores 8,436 in the PassMark G3D benchmark. It supports DirectX 12.

GCNHawaii XT28 nm

9/10 key specs recorded · 43 facts

Depth: 32 recorded fields, 1 feature, 5 PassMark workloads

Specification data last verified October 1, 2026 against PassMark Videocard Benchmark, AMD.com Specifications and Wikipedia GPU list tables (wikigrid-2026-09). Coverage: 9 of 10 tracked specifications recorded.

PassMark Videocard Benchmark AMD.com Specifications PassMark Videocard Benchmark Wikipedia GPU list tables (wikigrid-2026-09)

Shading units

n/a

Memory

4 GB

GDDR5 · 512-bit

Boost clock

947 MHz

1.00 GHz base

Board power

250 W

Performance

The AMD Radeon R9 290X scores 8,436 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 86.9% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked (PassMark rank #355), measured across 508 submitted results. Its PassMark G2D score is 749.

PassMark G3D Mark

8,436

Rank #355
Faster than 86.9% of 2,658 GPUs
508 samples

0relative to the fastest GPU on record (41,928)

PassMark workload tests

DirectX 9 127 fps

reference: fastest recorded 526 fps · faster than 80.4% of 1,675 GPUs

DirectX 10 49 fps

reference: fastest recorded 231 fps · faster than 76.4% of 1,602 GPUs

DirectX 11 53 fps

reference: fastest recorded 362 fps · faster than 72.2% of 1,430 GPUs

DirectX 12 38 fps

reference: fastest recorded 213 fps · faster than 73.1% of 1,274 GPUs

GPU Compute 3,291 ops/s

reference: fastest recorded 26,591 ops/s · faster than 75.5% of 1,447 GPUs

Averages of PassMark PerformanceTest submissions; frames/sec are PassMark test-scene rates, not game FPS. Tests PassMark does not report for this card are omitted. PassMark listing

In the PassMark workload tests the AMD Radeon R9 290X averages DirectX 9 127 fps, DirectX 10 49 fps, DirectX 11 53 fps, DirectX 12 38 fps and GPU Compute 3,291 ops/s, across 508 submitted results. Frames per second are PassMark test-scene rates, not game frame rates.

Theoretical throughput

Texture fill rate 166.672 GTexel/s calculatedcalculated from TMUs x boost clock (MHz) / 1000 = 176 x 947 / 1000

Texture fill rate (166.672 GTexel/s) is calculated by Feex from stored specifications, not stated by AMD.

As stated by PassMark

First benchmarked 2020-09-05

Samples 508

PassMark listing (collected 2026-10-01)

Not to be confused with

This page covers the AMD Radeon R9 290X specifically. It is a different product from AMD Radeon R9 290X / 390X, which have their own specifications. Check the exact model name before comparing figures.

Graphics processor

Architecture GCN

Codename Hawaii XT

Chip Not recorded

Process node 28 nm

Transistors 6,200 M

Die size 438 mm²

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is based on the GCN architecture, uses the Hawaii XT graphics processor, is manufactured on a 28 nm process, contains 6,200 million transistors and has a die size of 438 mm².

Shader configuration

Shading units Not recorded

Compute units Not recorded

Streaming multiprocessors Not recorded

Execution units Not recorded

Texture units (TMUs) 176

Render output units (ROPs) 64

Ray tracing cores Not recorded

Tensor / AI cores Not recorded

XMX engines Not recorded

Infinity cache Not recorded

The AMD Radeon R9 290X 176 texture mapping units and 64 render output units.

The AMD Radeon R9 290X does not use XMX engines; those are specific to Intel Arc graphics.

Clock speeds

Base clock 1.00 GHz

Boost clock 947 MHz

Game clock Not recorded

Memory clock Not recorded

Effective memory clock Not recorded

The AMD Radeon R9 290X runs at a base clock of 1.00 GHz and boosts to 947 MHz.

Memory

Size 4 GB

Type GDDR5

Bus width 512-bit

Bandwidth 320.0 GB/s

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is equipped with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, uses a 512-bit memory bus and delivers 320.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Board and power

The AMD Radeon R9 290X has a board power rating of 250 W and a total board power of 250 W.

Board power (TDP) 250 W

Total board power 250 W

Suggested PSU Not recorded

Power connectors Not recorded

Slot width Not recorded

Length Not recorded

Width Not recorded

Height Not recorded

Cooler Not recorded

Max temperature Not recorded

Bus interface Not recorded

Market

Launched October 24, 2013

Launch price $549

Status Not recorded

Form factor Not recorded

Segment Desktop

Series Radeon

The AMD Radeon R9 290X was released on October 24, 2013 and launched at a price of $549.

Benchmarks

PassMark G3D 8,436

PassMark G2D 749

Rank #355

Samples 508

Graphics and compute APIs

The AMD Radeon R9 290X supports DirectX 12.

DirectX 12

CUDA is an NVIDIA technology and does not apply to the AMD Radeon R9 290X. Feex has no recorded Vulkan version for the AMD Radeon R9 290X. Feex has no recorded OpenCL version for the AMD Radeon R9 290X.

Media engine

Feex holds no codec support statement for the AMD Radeon R9 290X.

AMD Unified Video Decoder SupportedAMD's older dedicated video-decoding block found on many GCN-era and earlier Radeon GPUs.

Not listed: H.264 (AVC), HEVC (H.265), AV1 and VP9. No source Feex holds states whether the AMD Radeon R9 290X supports these codecs; that is silence, not a statement that they are unsupported.

Media engines recorded for the AMD Radeon R9 290X: AMD Unified Video Decoder.

Display outputs

The AMD Radeon R9 290X offers outputs DisplayPort, HDMI, Dual Link DVI.

Outputs DisplayPort, HDMI, Dual Link DVI

Frequently asked questions

How much VRAM does the AMD Radeon R9 290X have?

The AMD Radeon R9 290X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 512-bit bus. Its memory bandwidth is 320.0 GB/s.

How much power does the AMD Radeon R9 290X use and what power supply does it need?

The AMD Radeon R9 290X has a board power rating of 250 W.

How fast is the AMD Radeon R9 290X?

The AMD Radeon R9 290X scores 8,436 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 86.9% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked. Its PassMark rank is #355. In the PassMark DirectX 12 test it averages 38 fps.

When was the AMD Radeon R9 290X released and how much did it cost at launch?

The AMD Radeon R9 290X was released on October 24, 2013 and launched at a price of $549.

Corrections to this record

After an audit, 1 empty field was filled from sources. Each change is listed with its old value, new value, rule and sources.

1 filled value

Architecture: GCN (was Not recorded). Rule: Architecture from chip codename. chip Hawaii -> GCN 2. Sources: Wikipedia: List of AMD graphics processing units (revision 1376670003).

The audit log is public: all changes for this GPU, the corrections overview and the method.