AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile Comparison

The data places the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X in nearly the same overall performance bracket, with average benchmark scores of 23518 and 23276, respectively. However, this statistical proximity masks a generational chasm: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is a modern Ampere part built for DirectX 12 Ultimate, while the R9 M290X is a 2014-era GCN 1.0 chip. The sole head-to-head benchmark available—Geekbench OpenCL—shows a decisive victory for the NVIDIA part, but the broader picture reveals that these two GPUs achieve similar aggregate scores through entirely different workloads and feature sets.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 106022 against the AMD Radeon R9 M290X’s 22028. That is a 381.3% advantage for the NVIDIA part—a landslide margin that underscores how far mobile GPU compute performance has advanced. In raw compute throughput, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile delivers 16.60 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the R9 M290X manages just 2.304 TFLOPS; the NVIDIA chip also has 5888 shading units versus 1280 on the AMD part.

Yet the aggregate average scores tell a different story. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s avgBenchmarkScore of 23518 places it just 1% ahead of the R9 M290X’s 23276. The nearest-rival data confirms this: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile sits 1% above the AMD Radeon R9 M290X in the rival list, while the R9 M290X sits 0% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16. This suggests that the R9 M290X’s scores come from a different benchmark set—it has results in Geekbench Metal (24524) and Geekbench OpenCL (22028), whereas the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s scores span 3DMark Steel Nomad (2572), multiple Passmark tests, and Geekbench Vulkan (100027).

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins the only shared test, but the R9 M290X’s presence in the same percentile bracket (68th vs 69th percentile) indicates that the AMD card remains competitive in legacy or API-specific workloads. The NVIDIA part’s Passmark G3D score of 17727 and GPU Compute score of 7504 are strong, but the R9 M290X has no equivalent entries in those tests, making direct cross-test comparisons impossible. The data shows a clear compute-generation gap, yet the overall averages suggest that in certain synthetic workloads, the older AMD chip can still hold its own.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile uses the GA104 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, packing 17,400 million transistors onto a 392 mm² die with a transistor density of 44.4M / mm². The AMD Radeon R9 M290X uses the Neptune chip on a 28 nm TSMC process, with just 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die (density 13.2M / mm²). The NVIDIA part’s architecture is Ampere, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card is GCN 1.0, limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Memory subsystems differ dramatically. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 14 Gbps effective. The R9 M290X has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 153.6 GB/s at 4.8 Gbps effective—roughly a third of the bandwidth. Clock speeds also favor NVIDIA: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile runs at 915 MHz base and 1410 MHz boost, while the R9 M290X sits at 850 MHz base and 900 MHz boost.

Feature-wise, the NVIDIA part includes 46 ray-tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely (both fields are null). The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile also has 184 TMUs and 96 ROPs, versus 80 TMUs and 32 ROPs on the R9 M290X. Pixel and texture rates reflect this: 135.4 GPixel/s and 259.4 GTexel/s for NVIDIA, versus 28.80 GPixel/s and 72.00 GTexel/s for AMD. The NVIDIA GPU also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD part uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The R9 M290X is an MXM Module with a 100 W TDP; the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has a 115 W TDP.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the clear winner in modern compute and API-heavy workloads. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 support, combined with ray tracing and tensor cores, make it suitable for current-generation gaming and AI-adjacent tasks. The 106022 Geekbench OpenCL score versus 22028 for the R9 M290X shows a 381.3% lead in general-purpose GPU compute. Its 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 16.60 TFLOPS FP32 throughput also give it a massive edge in texture-heavy and high-resolution scenarios, as evidenced by its 259.4 GTexel/s texture rate.

The R9 M290X wins in legacy compatibility and efficiency-per-score terms. Its GCN 1.0 architecture, while old, supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, which covers a broad swath of older titles. The 24524 Geekbench Metal score shows it handles Apple’s Metal API, a workload the NVIDIA part cannot run (no Metal result exists). The R9 M290X also has a lower TDP (100 W vs 115 W) and a smaller die (212 mm²), which may appeal in constrained chassis—though both are end-of-life products.

Where the overall average scores converge, the R9 M290X’s wins are relative. Its 23276 average sits within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 and 0.1% of the NVIDIA P106-100, indicating it holds its own against mid-range modern parts in aggregate benchmarks. However, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile’s 23518 average is closer to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (23628, within -0.5%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23736, within -0.9%), showing it competes with high-end desktop-class silicon in synthetic scores.

The Verdict

For any user prioritizing raw compute, modern API support, or ray-traced workloads, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the only logical choice. It delivers 381.3% higher OpenCL performance, 7.2x more FP32 throughput, and 2.9x more memory bandwidth than the R9 M290X. Its 69th percentile ranking versus the AMD’s 68th is marginal, but the NVIDIA part’s feature set—46 RT cores, 184 tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate—makes it future-proof where the R9 M290X is not.

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X should only be considered by users with legacy software that specifically requires GCN 1.0 or Metal API support. Its 24524 Geekbench Metal score is a unique capability, and its 100 W TDP is lower. But with 4 GB of GDDR5 and 2.304 TFLOPS, it cannot handle modern high-resolution textures or compute shaders effectively. The data shows the R9 M290X is competitive only in aggregate averages, not in any modern benchmark where both parts have results.

Strictly from the data, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins 1 head-to-head benchmark and loses 0; it is also 1% ahead of the R9 M290X in the rival delta. The verdict is unambiguous: pick the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile for any current workload, and pick the R9 M290X only if you are bound to a 2014-era platform that cannot use NVIDIA drivers or PCIe 4.0.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile than the AMD Radeon R9 M290X in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 106022 versus 22028 for the R9 M290X, a 381.3% advantage.

Q: Do both GPUs support ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has 46 ray-tracing cores, while the R9 M290X lists null for RT cores and tensor cores.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has 448.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR6, while the R9 M290X has 153.6 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR5.

Q: What is the difference in transistor density?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has 44.4M / mm² on an 8 nm Samsung process; the R9 M290X has 13.2M / mm² on a 28 nm TSMC process.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score overall?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile averages 23518, which is 1% higher than the R9 M290X’s 23276.

Q: Does the R9 M290X support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: No. It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).