AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs Intel Arc A750 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon R9 M290X compare to the Intel Arc A750 in raw compute performance?

A: The recorded data shows a massive gap. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Intel Arc A750 scores 98,554, while the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 22,028. That is a 77.6% deficit for the AMD part, meaning the Intel card delivers roughly 4.5 times the compute throughput in this specific test.

Q: Which GPU has the higher memory bandwidth?

A: The Intel Arc A750 offers 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth from its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X provides 153.6 GB/s from 4 GB GDDR5 on the same 256-bit bus. Intel’s bandwidth is more than three times higher, and its effective memory speed is 16 Gbps versus 4.8 Gbps.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M290X uses a 28 nm process with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, yielding 13.2M transistors per mm². The Intel Arc A750 uses a 6 nm process with 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die, yielding 53.4M per mm². Intel’s density is about four times higher per square millimeter.

Q: Which GPU supports more advanced DirectX features?

A: The Intel Arc A750 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes hardware ray tracing (28 RT cores) and other modern features. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X supports DirectX 12 (11_1) only, with no dedicated ray tracing cores.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M290X has an average benchmark score of 23,276 across its recorded tests, sitting at the 68th percentile of all GPUs. The Intel Arc A750 averages 20,582 across a broader suite of tests, placing it at the 66th percentile. Despite the compute advantage, Intel’s average is slightly lower, likely due to varied test workloads.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M290X has a 100 W TDP and uses an MXM module slot with no external power connectors. The Intel Arc A750 has a 225 W TDP, is a dual-slot card, requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector, and lists a suggested power supply of 550 W.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X wins in one narrow but meaningful category: consistency across legacy and mixed workloads. Its average benchmark score of 23,276 is higher than Intel’s 20,582, and it holds a 68th percentile rank versus Intel’s 66th. That suggests the older GCN architecture performs relatively better in the two tests recorded for it (Geekbench Metal and OpenCL) than Intel’s card does across its ten-test suite, which includes DirectX 9 through 12 and compute tasks. The AMD part also has a lower power draw (100 W vs 225 W), making it the more efficient choice for thermally constrained environments, though it is limited to MXM modules.

The Intel Arc A750 wins decisively in raw compute, memory throughput, and feature support. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 98,554 dwarfs the AMD’s 22,028, and its 512.0 GB/s bandwidth enables far higher pixel and texture rates. Intel also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and hardware ray tracing, none of which exist on the AMD side. In any modern workload that leverages these capabilities, Intel has a structural advantage that the benchmarks only partially capture.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X is built on GCN 1.0, a 2014-era architecture using 28 nm TSMC manufacturing. Its chip, Neptune, contains 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die. The architecture is designed around 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operators. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The GCN design prioritizes compute per watt, but its FP32 throughput of 2.304 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards. The card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, but lacks the hardware features needed for DirectX 12 Ultimate.

The Intel Arc A750 uses the Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the DG2-512 chip, fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm process. It packs 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 53.4M per mm², roughly four times that of the AMD part. The Xe-HPG design includes 3584 shading units, 224 texture units, and 112 ROPs, along with 28 dedicated ray tracing cores. Its FP32 throughput is 17.20 TFLOPS, and it also provides FP16 performance of 34.41 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio. The architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing that the GCN design cannot match. The Intel chip also has a much higher boost clock (2400 MHz vs 900 MHz) and a modern PCIe 4.0 x16 interface.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X has a base clock of 850 MHz and a boost clock of 900 MHz; the Intel Arc A750 runs at 2050 MHz base and 2400 MHz boost. Memory capacity is 4 GB GDDR5 for AMD versus 8 GB GDDR6 for Intel, with effective speeds of 4.8 Gbps and 16 Gbps respectively. Both use a 256-bit bus, but Intel’s bandwidth is 512.0 GB/s compared to AMD’s 153.6 GB/s.

The compute units diverge sharply: AMD has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs; Intel has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. Intel also includes 28 RT cores, which AMD lacks entirely. Pixel rate is 28.80 GPixel/s for AMD versus 268.8 GPixel/s for Intel, a 9.3 times difference. Texture rate is 72.00 GTexel/s versus 537.6 GTexel/s, a 7.5 times difference. FP32 performance is 2.304 TFLOPS versus 17.20 TFLOPS. Power draw is 100 W for AMD and 225 W for Intel, with the AMD card using an MXM module slot and no power connectors, while Intel requires a dual-slot design with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU.

The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD and PCIe 4.0 x16 for Intel. Display outputs differ: AMD is portable-device dependent (since it is an MXM module), while Intel offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0. Release dates are 2014-01-08 for AMD and 2022-10-11 for Intel. Both are end-of-life. AMD’s launch MSRP is not recorded; Intel’s launch MSRP is 289 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 22,028, and the Intel Arc A750 scores 98,554. The delta percentage is -77.6%, indicating the AMD card trails by more than three-quarters. This result aligns with the raw FP32 numbers: Intel’s 17.20 TFLOPS versus AMD’s 2.304 TFLOPS is a 7.5 times difference, and the OpenCL test appears to reflect that compute advantage almost proportionally.

Looking at the broader database averages, the AMD card’s average of 23,276 is actually higher than Intel’s 20,582. That is counterintuitive given the OpenCL gap, but the AMD card’s benchmark suite includes Geekbench Metal (24,524) and OpenCL (22,028), both of which are compute-heavy but relatively simple. Intel’s suite includes a wider range of tests: PassMark DirectX 9 (181), DirectX 10 (65), DirectX 11 (72), DirectX 12 (70), G2D (732), G3D (12,534), GPU compute (5,368), plus Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan (85,631) and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2,612). The PassMark DirectX scores are low because they likely measure specific frame rates or features, not raw throughput. Intel’s average is pulled down by those low DirectX scores, even though its compute results are far superior.

The nearest rivals for each card reinforce this split. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X sits within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23,273), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23,250), and the NVIDIA P106-100 (23,249). The Intel Arc A750 sits within 0.5% of the Intel Arc B570 (20,556), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20,534), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20,662). Notably, the R9 M390X is a direct successor to the M290X in the same mobile R9 series, and it scores 20,662, which is lower than the M290X’s 23,276. This suggests that the M290X’s benchmark suite is not directly comparable to Intel’s, as the M390X would likely score higher if tested with the same modern workloads.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear generational divide. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X is a 2014-era mobile GPU with a 28 nm process, 4 GB GDDR5, and a 100 W TDP. It wins on power efficiency and on its recorded average benchmark score, which is 2,694 points higher than Intel’s average (23,276 vs 20,582). For users constrained by thermal limits or running legacy compute tasks that favor GCN’s simple but efficient design, the M290X is the safer pick. Its Geekbench Metal score of 24,524 suggests it handles Apple’s Metal API well, and its OpenCL score of 22,028 is respectable for its time.

The Intel Arc A750 is the performance winner in every compute-heavy metric. Its OpenCL score is 76,526 points higher, its FP32 throughput is 7.5 times greater, and its memory bandwidth is 3.3 times higher. It also supports modern APIs, ray tracing, and PCIe 4.0. The 225 W TDP is a trade-off, but for desktop users with a 550 W PSU, that is not a limitation. The low PassMark DirectX scores (65 to 181) are puzzling, but they likely reflect specific driver or test conditions rather than overall capability, given the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,612 and the Vulkan score of 85,631.

Who should pick which? Strictly from the recorded data: choose the AMD Radeon R9 M290X if you need a low-power MXM module for a portable system, if your workloads are limited to Metal and OpenCL, or if you want the higher average benchmark score in this database. Choose the Intel Arc A750 if you prioritize raw compute, memory throughput, modern API support, or ray tracing. The Intel card is the only one of the two that can handle DirectX 12 Ultimate titles with hardware ray tracing, and its compute advantage is so large that no legacy efficiency argument can offset it for performance-focused buyers. The M290X is a historical artifact; the A750 is a contemporary product with a recorded launch MSRP of 289 USD. For any new workload, the data overwhelmingly favors Intel.