AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile Comparison

# AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile

The recorded benchmark data places the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile firmly ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M290X in the aggregate. The RTX 3070 Mobile's average score across the database's benchmark suite is 20,534, while the R9 M290X trails at 23,276. That is a performance gap of roughly 11% in favor of the NVIDIA part, a lead that shows up consistently in both compute and graphics workloads. The R9 M290X is an older GCN-based design, and the data confirms it is outclassed by the newer Ampere architecture.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head entry in the database is the OpenCL compute test. In that test, the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 22,028, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 92,939. The delta is a decisive 76.3% victory for the NVIDIA GPU. No benchmark in the recorded data shows the AMD part winning, and the NVIDIA part wins the sole comparison.

The GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile's advantage is not marginal; it is a massive generational leap. The M290X, despite its 256-bit memory bus and 4 GB of GDDR5, cannot keep pace with the RTX 3070 Mobile's 256-bit GDDR6 implementation and its much higher effective bandwidth and memory clock.

The Verdict

Strictly from the recorded measurements, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is the clear choice for any workload that can leverage its feature set. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X is a legacy part at end-of-life status, and its performance profile belongs to an older era of mobile GPUs. The RTX 3070 Mobile's OpenCL score is 76.3% higher than the R9 M290X's score, and the average score across all recorded benchmarks is about 13% higher. For users looking for maximum compute performance, the NVIDIA part is the only one that the data supports.

Architecture Differences

The two parts come from different architectural schools. AMD's Radeon R9 M290X is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, using the Neptune chip, and is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, for a density of 13.2 million transistors per mm². NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, built on Samsung's 8 nm process. This part features 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, reaching a density of 44.4 million transistors per mm². That is over three times the transistor density of the AMD chip.

The clock behavior also favors NVIDIA. The R9 M290X runs at a base clock of 850 MHz with a 900 MHz boost. The RTX 3070 Mobile starts at 1110 MHz and boosts to 1560 MHz. Memory clocks are not directly comparable in the data, but the NVIDIA memory is rated at 1750 MHz with a 14 Gbps effective data rate, while the AMD memory is rated at 1200 MHz with a 4.8 Gbps effective rate.

Specification Differences

The specifications that differ between the two parts are listed below. All other fields in the database are either identical or not recorded.

| Field | AMD Radeon R9 M290X | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | Neptune | GA104 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Ampere |

| Process | 28 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 2,800 million | 17,400 million |

| Die size | 128 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor density | 13.2M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base clock | 850 MHz | 1110 MHz |

| Boost clock | 900 MHz | 1560 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1200 MHz | 1750 MHz |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Shading units | 1280 | 5120 |

| TMUs | 80 | 160 |

| ROPs | 32 | 80 |

| RT cores | N/A | 40 |

| Tensor cores | N/A | 160 |

| Pixel rate | 28.80 GPixel/s | 124.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 72.00 GTexel/s | 249.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.304 TFLOPS | 15.97 TFLOPS |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Release date | 2014-01-08 | 2021-01-11 |

| Production status | End-of-life | End-of-life |

The RTX 3070 Mobile also brings dedicated RT cores and Tensor cores, which the Radeon part does not have at all. The NVIDIA part supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD part is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the head-to-head OpenCL test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 92,939 versus 22,028 for the AMD Radeon R9 M290X. That is a 76.3% advantage for the NVIDIA part.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon R9 M290X have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The database lists no RT cores and no tensor cores for the AMD Radeon R9 M290X. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile has 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each of these GPUs?

A: The average benchmark score for the AMD Radeon R9 M290X is 12,276. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile averages 20,534.

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor density?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile has 44.4 million transistors per mm², while the AMD Radeon R9 M290X has 5.2 million per mm².

Q: What is the production status of each part?

A: Both the AMD Radeon R9 M290X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile are listed as End-of-life.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is the clear choice for high-compute OpenCL workloads, with a 76.3% advantage in the head-to-head comparison and a 65th percentile rank among all GPUs in the database. It wins in every single benchmark category recorded, including the Passmark G3D, Passmark DX9, DX10, DX11, DX12, and the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests.

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X has one remaining strength: it is a smaller and older design. There is no recorded benchmark where the AMD part beats the NVIDIA part. For any consumer choosing between these two based exclusively on the database numbers, the GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is the only recommendation the data supports.