AMD Radeon R9 M290X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile Comparison

The GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile and the Radeon R9 M290X represent two distinct eras of mobile graphics, separated by nearly seven years of architectural evolution. The data shows a decisive performance gap, but the R9 M290X still holds a place in the benchmark database with a surprisingly similar aggregate score profile. This analysis directly compares the two based on available benchmark data, specifications, and architectural details.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark available in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL compute test, and the result is overwhelmingly in favor of the newer NVIDIA part. The RTX 3080 Mobile scores 104831 points, while the R9 M290X scores 22028 points. This represents a 375.9% advantage for the NVIDIA GPU, a massive generational leap in raw compute throughput.

This single data point is stark, but it is important to contextualize it with the overall average benchmark scores. The RTX 3080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 23628, placing it at the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23736, a -0.5% difference), the AMD Radeon RX 9070 (23877, a -1% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile (23518, a 0.5% difference). This indicates the RTX 3080 Mobile sits in a tight performance band with these desktop and mobile flagships, trading blows within a single percentage point.

The R9 M290X, despite its age, has an average benchmark score of 23276, which is only 1.5% lower than the RTX 3080 Mobile's average. This places it at the 68th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273, 0% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250, 0.1% difference), and the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, 0.1% difference). The similarity in average scores suggests that, in the aggregate of all database entries, these two GPUs are ranked closely. However, this aggregate metric can be misleading.

The discrepancy between the head-to-head OpenCL score and the average benchmark score is significant. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a 375.9% gap, yet the average scores are nearly identical. This implies that the R9 M290X's average is buoyed by other benchmark results not directly compared here, likely reflecting its performance in older or different API workloads. The RTX 3080 Mobile's other scores, such as the 16321 in Passmark G3D and 7276 in Passmark GPU Compute, paint a picture of a consistently modern performer. In contrast, the R9 M290X's performance is likely more variable across different test suites. The single direct comparison, however, is the clearest indicator of their relative compute power, and it favors the RTX 3080 Mobile by an enormous margin.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear, if nuanced, verdict. For any user prioritizing modern compute performance, particularly in APIs like OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is the definitive choice. Its 375.9% lead in the head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL test is not a marginal victory; it is a generational obliteration. This GPU is built for demanding contemporary workloads.

The R9 M290X, however, is not without a data-driven rationale for its existence. Its average benchmark score of 23276 is remarkably close to the RTX 3080 Mobile's 23628, and its percentile ranking (68 vs 69) is nearly identical. This suggests that in the broader context of all recorded benchmarks, the R9 M290X holds its own in certain legacy or specific workloads where its architecture was optimized. It is an end-of-life product, but its aggregate performance profile shows it is not obsolete in every metric.

Strictly from the data, the RTX 3080 Mobile is the superior part for anyone running modern, compute-heavy applications. The R9 M290X might be relevant only for a user with very specific legacy software that favors its GCN architecture's characteristics. The near-identical average scores are a statistical curiosity, but the head-to-head result is the more reliable indicator of relative capability in a direct comparison. The RTX 3080 Mobile wins the only direct contest, and its individual benchmark scores (e.g., 104831 in OpenCL) demonstrate a level of performance the R9 M290X cannot approach. The pick is clear for modern use cases.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile than the AMD Radeon R9 M290X in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile scores 104831 compared to the R9 M290X's 22028, making it 375.9% faster in this specific benchmark.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for these two GPUs?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 23628, while the R9 M290X has an average of 23276. This places them at the 69th and 68th percentiles of all GPUs, respectively.

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile has 17,400 million transistors on its GA104 chip, while the AMD Radeon R9 M290X has 2,800 million transistors on its Neptune chip.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile offers a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s from its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The R9 M290X provides 153.6 GB/s from its 4 GB GDDR5 memory, also on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Do both GPUs support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 3080 Mobile has 48 dedicated RT cores as part of its Ampere architecture. The R9 M290X, based on GCN 1.0, has no RT cores listed.

Q: What is the TDP for each mobile GPU?

A: The RTX 3080 Mobile is rated at 115 W, while the R9 M290X has a 100 W TDP.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every fundamental specification category.

• Memory Size: The RTX 3080 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6, while the R9 M290X has 4 GB of GDDR5.
• Clock Speeds: The RTX 3080 Mobile has a base clock of 1110 MHz and a boost clock of 1545 MHz. The R9 M290X operates at a base clock of 850 MHz and a boost clock of 900 MHz.
• Memory Clock: The RTX 3080 Mobile's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), whereas the R9 M290X's memory runs at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective).
• Shading Units: The RTX 3080 Mobile has 6144 shading units, a massive count compared to the R9 M290X's 1280.
• Texture Mapping Units (TMUs): The RTX 3080 Mobile has 192 TMUs; the R9 M290X has 80.
• Render Output Units (ROPs): The RTX 3080 Mobile features 96 ROPs, triple the 32 found on the R9 M290X.
• Bus Interface: The RTX 3080 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the R9 M290X uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16 standard.
• Form Factor: The R9 M290X is listed as an MXM Module; the RTX 3080 Mobile's slot width is listed as null in the data.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is as wide as the performance gap, representing a fundamental shift in GPU design.

• Process Node: The RTX 3080 Mobile is built on an 8 nm process at Samsung, a significant shrink from the 28 nm node used for the R9 M290X at TSMC.
• Architecture Generation: The RTX 3080 Mobile is based on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, while the R9 M290X uses AMD's GCN 1.0.
• Chip Design: The RTX 3080 Mobile uses the GA104 chip, while the R9 M290X uses the Neptune chip.
• Transistor Density: The RTX 3080 Mobile achieves a density of 44.4M / mm², compared to 13.2M / mm² for the R9 M290X.
• Compute Features: The RTX 3080 Mobile includes 48 RT cores for ray tracing and 192 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The R9 M290X has none of these specialized cores.
• API Support: The RTX 3080 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The R9 M290X supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.
• Performance Ceiling: The RTX 3080 Mobile's theoretical FP32 performance is 18.98 TFLOPS, dwarfing the R9 M290X's 2.304 TFLOPS. Its pixel rate is 148.3 GPixel/s and texture rate is 296.6 GTexel/s, compared to 28.80 GPixel/s and 72.00 GTexel/s for the AMD part.