AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs Intel Arc B570 Comparison

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X and Intel Arc B570 represent two very different eras of GPU design. The R9 M290X is a mobile-class part from early 2014, built on a 28 nm process and aimed at laptops using MXM modules. The Arc B570 is a desktop card from early 2025, built on a 5 nm process with a dual-slot cooler and a full array of modern display outputs. The database records show the Arc B570 holds a single direct benchmark win over the R9 M290X, but the broader specification gap between these two products is enormous. This analysis compares the recorded data for both cards, covering architecture, specifications, and benchmark performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 M290X has an average benchmark score of 23276, while the Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556. The R9 M290X sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, whereas the Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Intel Arc B570 scored 83514, while the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scored 22028. The Arc B570 wins this test with a delta of -73.6% from the perspective of the R9 M290X, meaning the R9 M290X trails by roughly three-quarters of the Arc B570’s score.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card according to the database?

A: For the R9 M290X, the nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M with an average score of 23273 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 at 23250 (0.1% delta), and the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23249 (0.1% delta). For the Arc B570, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (0.1% delta), the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (-0.1% delta), and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20480 (0.4% delta).

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The R9 M290X uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The Arc B570 uses 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: The Intel Arc B570 includes 18 ray tracing cores as part of its Xe2-HPG architecture. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X has no recorded ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the production status and release date for each card?

A: The R9 M290X is end-of-life and was released on January 8, 2014. The Arc B570 is active and was released on January 15, 2025.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different architectural lineages. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X is based on GCN 1.0, specifically using the Neptune chip. GCN 1.0 was AMD’s first generation of Graphics Core Next, designed for compute-heavy workloads but lacking dedicated hardware for ray tracing or tensor operations. The chip is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 2,800 million transistors packed into a 212 mm² die. The transistor density works out to 13.2 million transistors per square millimeter. The architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The R9 M290X has 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. The pixel rate is recorded at 28.80 GPixel/s, the texture rate at 72.00 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance at 2.304 TFLOPS. No FP16 performance is recorded for this card.

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, using the BMG-G21 chip. This is Intel’s second-generation high-performance graphics architecture, designed for gaming with support for modern features. The chip is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 72.1 million per square millimeter. The Arc B570 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, 80 raster operation units, and 18 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, the texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is recorded at 23.04 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. The Arc B570 also supports a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface, while the R9 M290X uses PCIe 3.0 x16.

The architectural gap is stark. The Arc B570 has roughly double the shading units, nearly double the TMUs, more than double the ROPs, and over five times the FP32 throughput. The process node difference, from 28 nm to 5 nm, explains part of the transistor density jump, but the fundamental design goals differ. GCN 1.0 was a compute-first architecture from 2014, while Xe2-HPG is a gaming-focused architecture with dedicated ray tracing hardware.

The Verdict

Looking strictly at the recorded data, the Intel Arc B570 is the more capable GPU in raw compute terms. The single head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, shows the Arc B570 scoring 83514 against the R9 M290X’s 22028, a difference of roughly 3.8 times. The Arc B570 also offers far more memory, higher bandwidth, newer API support, and modern display outputs. However, the average benchmark score tells a different story. The R9 M290X averages 23276 across its recorded benchmarks, which is higher than the Arc B570’s 20556 average. This is likely because the R9 M290X’s recorded benchmarks are limited to Geekbench Metal and Geekbench OpenCL, while the Arc B570’s average includes a broader set of tests such as Passmark DirectX 9 through 12, Passmark G2D, G3D, and GPU compute, plus 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The Arc B570’s Passmark scores are mixed, with DirectX 9 at 164, DirectX 10 at 65, DirectX 11 at 118, and DirectX 12 at 72, which pull the average down.

Who should pick which? If the workload is modern gaming or compute with ray tracing, the Arc B570 is the obvious choice from the data. It has ray tracing cores, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, and offers 10 GB of GDDR6 memory. If the use case is a legacy system requiring an MXM module, the R9 M290X is the only option that physically fits that form factor. The R9 M290X is end-of-life, so any pickup would be used hardware. The Arc B570 is active and carries a launch MSRP of 219 USD, which the database records but this analysis does not expand upon. The data shows the Arc B570 is the forward-looking part, while the R9 M290X belongs to a previous generation.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every recorded specification field. The R9 M290X uses a 28 nm process, while the Arc B570 uses a 5 nm process. Transistor counts are 2,800 million versus 19,600 million, and die sizes are 212 mm² versus 272 mm². Transistor density is 13.2 million per mm² versus 72.1 million per mm². Base clocks are 850 MHz for the R9 M290X and 2500 MHz for the Arc B570. Boost clocks are 900 MHz versus 2500 MHz. Memory clocks are 1200 MHz with 4.8 Gbps effective for the R9 M290X, versus 2375 MHz with 19 Gbps effective for the Arc B570.

Memory capacity is 4 GB of GDDR5 versus 10 GB of GDDR6. Bus widths are 256-bit versus 160-bit, and bandwidth is 153.6 GB/s versus 380.0 GB/s. Shading units are 1280 versus 2304, TMUs are 80 versus 144, and ROPs are 32 versus 80. The Arc B570 has 18 ray tracing cores; the R9 M290X has none. Pixel rates are 28.80 GPixel/s versus 200.0 GPixel/s. Texture rates are 72.00 GTexel/s versus 360.0 GTexel/s. FP32 is 2.304 TFLOPS versus 11.52 TFLOPS. The Arc B570 has FP16 at 23.04 TFLOPS, while the R9 M290X has no recorded FP16.

Power draw is 100 W for the R9 M290X versus 150 W for the Arc B570. The R9 M290X uses an MXM module form factor with no power connectors, while the Arc B570 is dual-slot with a single 8-pin connector and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the R9 M290X, while the Arc B570 has 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The R9 M290X has no recorded dimensions, while the Arc B570 is 272 mm long and 115 mm high.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only one direct head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the Intel Arc B570 scores 83514, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 22028. The delta percentage is -73.6% when viewed from the R9 M290X side, meaning the R9 M290X is 73.6% lower than the Arc B570. This is a massive margin. The Arc B570’s OpenCL score is approximately 3.79 times higher than the R9 M290X’s score.

This single result aligns with the raw specification differences. The Arc B570 has 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus 2.304 TFLOPS for the R9 M290X, which is exactly five times higher. The Arc B570 also has 380.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth versus 153.6 GB/s, roughly 2.5 times higher. The Geekbench OpenCL test is compute-oriented, so the five-fold FP32 advantage partially explains the near-four-fold score advantage. Other factors such as driver efficiency and memory latency may contribute, but the recorded data only shows the final scores.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc B570 wins the only direct benchmark comparison, and it wins in every specification category that matters for modern workloads. It has more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, ray tracing cores, higher clocks, more memory, higher bandwidth, and newer API support. The Arc B570 is the clear winner for tasks like DirectX 12 gaming, ray-traced workloads, or any compute that uses modern instruction sets. Its FP16 capability at 23.04 TFLOPS is a significant advantage for AI-related tasks, though the database does not record any FP16 benchmark for the R9 M290X.

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X wins in the average benchmark score category, with 23276 versus 20556. This is a narrow margin of about 13%. The R9 M290X also wins on power draw, using 100 W versus 150 W. For a portable MXM form factor, that lower power draw is essential. The R9 M290X also has a wider memory bus at 256-bit versus 160-bit, though the Arc B570 compensates with much faster GDDR6 memory. The R9 M290X’s percentile ranking is higher at 68 versus 65 for the Arc B570.

In practical terms, the R9 M290X is a legacy part for older laptops. It has no ray tracing, no modern display outputs, and only 4 GB of VRAM, which is insufficient for current games. The Arc B570 is a desktop card with modern outputs, 10 GB of VRAM, and ray tracing support. The data shows the Arc B570 is better for any new build, while the R9 M290X only makes sense if you are repairing or upgrading a specific MXM-based laptop from the 2014 era. The Arc B570’s active production status and newer release date also indicate ongoing support, while the R9 M290X is end-of-life. For a builder today, the Arc B570 is the only rational choice from this data.