Radeon 860M vs Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

Radeon 860M

2025

Why buy it

✅More future proof: RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) on 4nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅Draws 15W instead of 250W, a 235W reduction.
✅More future proof: RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) on 4nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 11.1 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $450 MSRP).

Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

2014

Why buy it

✅74.1% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 11.1 vs 0 G3D/$ ($450 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌1566.7% higher power demand at 250W vs 15W.

Radeon 860M

2025

Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

2014

Why buy it

✅More future proof: RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) on 4nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅Draws 15W instead of 250W, a 235W reduction.
✅More future proof: RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) on 4nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Why buy it

✅74.1% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 11.1 vs 0 G3D/$ ($450 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 11.1 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $450 MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌1566.7% higher power demand at 250W vs 15W.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition better than Radeon 860M?

Yes. Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition is clearly the better overall GPU here. Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition averages 74.1% more FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. You are also looking at 5,000 vs 4,838 in G3D Mark. On top of that, Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition is a 2014 card with FSR upscaling, while Radeon 860M is a 2025 model from an older generation with FSR upscaling. So this is not really a tight same-tier comparison. It is more a modern card against an older, weaker alternative.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Radeon 860M is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2025 generation instead of 2014, 100.0% more ray-tracing hardware, and a 4nm process instead of 28nm. That makes it the safer long-run choice for modern games.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition is the smarter buy today, but it is not as lopsided as a simple winner label makes it sound. Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition is priced in an unclear MSRP range at $450 MSRP versus an unclear MSRP, and you are getting 74.1% more estimated average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and 3.3% higher G3D Mark. It also leads G3D-per-dollar by 100+%. Radeon 860M is the newer 2025 card, so it still has a real case if you care more about newer architecture, lower power draw (15W vs 250W), and future-proofing than about squeezing out the strongest gaming value today.

When does Radeon 860M make more sense than Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition?

Yes. Radeon 860M is still an excellent gaming GPU in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. It makes more sense if your priority is newer architecture, lower power draw (15W vs 250W), future-proofing, and staying closer to an unclear MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition. The trade-off is that Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition currently gives you 3.3% higher G3D Mark and 74.1% more estimated average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. It also leads G3D-per-dollar by 100+%.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

Radeon 860M Benchmark Check

Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
1080p
low	37 FPS	80 FPS
medium	23 FPS	65 FPS
high	17 FPS	52 FPS
ultra	9 FPS	34 FPS
1440p
low	28 FPS	67 FPS
medium	16 FPS	56 FPS
high	9 FPS	40 FPS
ultra	5 FPS	25 FPS
4K
low	11 FPS	25 FPS
medium	7 FPS	23 FPS
high	4 FPS	15 FPS
ultra	3 FPS	13 FPS

Open Radeon 860M Open Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
1080p
low	95 FPS	134 FPS
medium	61 FPS	108 FPS
high	40 FPS	88 FPS
ultra	29 FPS	62 FPS
1440p
low	62 FPS	81 FPS
medium	32 FPS	59 FPS
high	23 FPS	45 FPS
ultra	18 FPS	32 FPS
4K
low	25 FPS	32 FPS
medium	14 FPS	23 FPS
high	12 FPS	18 FPS
ultra	9 FPS	13 FPS

Open Radeon 860M Open Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
1080p
low	218 FPS	225 FPS
medium	174 FPS	180 FPS
high	145 FPS	150 FPS
ultra	109 FPS	112 FPS
1440p
low	163 FPS	169 FPS
medium	131 FPS	135 FPS
high	109 FPS	112 FPS
ultra	82 FPS	84 FPS
4K
low	109 FPS	112 FPS
medium	87 FPS	90 FPS
high	72 FPS	75 FPS
ultra	49 FPS	56 FPS

Open Radeon 860M Open Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
1080p
low	149 FPS	139 FPS
medium	116 FPS	113 FPS
high	98 FPS	97 FPS
ultra	78 FPS	80 FPS
1440p
low	103 FPS	103 FPS
medium	82 FPS	85 FPS
high	69 FPS	73 FPS
ultra	53 FPS	57 FPS
4K
low	62 FPS	61 FPS
medium	49 FPS	47 FPS
high	39 FPS	36 FPS
ultra	27 FPS	26 FPS

Open Radeon 860M Open Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Radeon 860M and Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

Radeon 860M

The Radeon 860M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in Marchar 2025. It features the RDNA 3.5 architecture. The core clock ranges from 600 MHz to 3000 MHz. It has 512 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 15W. Manufactured using 4 nm process technology. It features 8 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 4,838 points.

Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition

The Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 23 2014. It features the GCN 3.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 850 MHz. It has 2048 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 250W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,000 points.

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Graphics Performance

The Radeon 860M scores 4,838 and the Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition reaches 5,000 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3.3% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon 860M is built on RDNA 3.5 while the Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition uses GCN 3.0, both on 4 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 512 (Radeon 860M) vs 2,048 (Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition). Raw compute: 3.072 TFLOPS (Radeon 860M) vs 3.482 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition).

Feature	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
G3D Mark Score	4,838	5,000+3%
Architecture	RDNA 3.5	GCN 3.0
Process Node	4 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	512	2048+300%
Compute (TFLOPS)	3.072 TFLOPS	3.482 TFLOPS+13%
ROPs	8	32+300%
TMUs	32	128+300%
L1 Cache	64 KB	512 KB+700%
L2 Cache	1 MB+100%	0.5 MB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling + RSR	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	AMD Anti-Lag

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 2 GB of video memory. Bus width: System vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 1 MB (Radeon 860M) vs 0.5 MB (Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition) — the Radeon 860M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon 860M	Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	Shared	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	System	174 GB/s
Bus Width	System	256-bit
L2 Cache	1 MB+100%	0.5 MB

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Power & Dimensions

The Radeon 860M draws 15W versus the Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition's 250W — a 177.4% difference. The Radeon 860M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Radeon 860M) vs 350W (Radeon R9 M295X Mac Edition). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs Mobile.