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 R9 290X

2013

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌No equivalent frame-generation stack like FSR Frame Generation (2023).
❌Poor future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
206.7% HIGHER MSRP
$549 MSRPvs$179 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 15.3 vs 49.4 G3D/$ ($549 MSRP vs $179 MSRP).
❌218.2% higher power demand at 350W vs 110W.

Radeon RX 5500

2019

Why buy it

✅Costs $370 less on MSRP ($179 MSRP vs $549 MSRP).
✅Delivers 221.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 49.4 vs 15.3 G3D/$ ($179 MSRP vs $549 MSRP).
✅Access to a newer frame-generation stack with FSR Frame Generation (2023).
✅More future proof: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅Draws 110W instead of 350W, a 240W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Radeon R9 290X

2013

Radeon RX 5500

2019

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Why buy it

✅Costs $370 less on MSRP ($179 MSRP vs $549 MSRP).
✅Delivers 221.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 49.4 vs 15.3 G3D/$ ($179 MSRP vs $549 MSRP).
✅Access to a newer frame-generation stack with FSR Frame Generation (2023).
✅More future proof: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅Draws 110W instead of 350W, a 240W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌No equivalent frame-generation stack like FSR Frame Generation (2023).
❌Poor future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
206.7% HIGHER MSRP
$549 MSRPvs$179 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 15.3 vs 49.4 G3D/$ ($549 MSRP vs $179 MSRP).
❌218.2% higher power demand at 350W vs 110W.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon RX 5500 better than Radeon R9 290X?

Yes. Radeon RX 5500 is clearly the better overall GPU here. You are also looking at 8,837 vs 8,426 in G3D Mark. On top of that, Radeon RX 5500 is a 2019 card with FSR upscaling + limited Frame Generation, while Radeon R9 290X is a 2013 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 RX 5500 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2019 generation instead of 2013, better frame-generation support with FSR Frame Generation (2023) instead of FSR upscaling, and a 7nm process instead of 28nm. That broader feature stack should age better as more games lean on modern upscaling and frame-generation support.

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

Radeon RX 5500 can still make sense if you find it at the right price, especially around $179 MSRP. Radeon RX 5500 is still the smarter buy for most people, though, because the raw performance is close while the overall package is cleaner. Radeon RX 5500 is about $370 cheaper on MSRP at $179 MSRP versus $549 MSRP, and you are getting 4.9% higher G3D Mark. Moving to $179 MSRP gets you newer hardware, lower power draw (110W vs 350W), and FSR upscaling + limited Frame Generation.

Is Radeon R9 290X still worth buying for gaming in 2026?

Yes. Radeon R9 290X is still a strong gaming card in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. Price is really the swing factor here. If you find it at or below $549 MSRP, it remains a very sensible buy. Radeon RX 5500 is still the safer recommendation for most fresh builds because it offers a cleaner overall package with newer hardware and FSR upscaling + limited Frame Generation.

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 R9 290X Benchmark Check

Radeon RX 5500 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
1080p
low	103 FPS	84 FPS
medium	89 FPS	72 FPS
high	72 FPS	60 FPS
ultra	43 FPS	39 FPS
1440p
low	90 FPS	74 FPS
medium	79 FPS	64 FPS
high	57 FPS	48 FPS
ultra	33 FPS	31 FPS
4K
low	28 FPS	28 FPS
medium	27 FPS	27 FPS
high	18 FPS	18 FPS
ultra	15 FPS	16 FPS

Open Radeon R9 290X Open Radeon RX 5500

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
1080p
low	197 FPS	106 FPS
medium	168 FPS	74 FPS
high	134 FPS	51 FPS
ultra	104 FPS	34 FPS
1440p
low	134 FPS	73 FPS
medium	104 FPS	45 FPS
high	82 FPS	33 FPS
ultra	62 FPS	24 FPS
4K
low	61 FPS	34 FPS
medium	49 FPS	24 FPS
high	44 FPS	19 FPS
ultra	35 FPS	14 FPS

Open Radeon R9 290X Open Radeon RX 5500

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
1080p
low	379 FPS	349 FPS
medium	303 FPS	304 FPS
high	253 FPS	238 FPS
ultra	190 FPS	198 FPS
1440p
low	284 FPS	285 FPS
medium	228 FPS	239 FPS
high	190 FPS	199 FPS
ultra	142 FPS	149 FPS
4K
low	190 FPS	176 FPS
medium	152 FPS	151 FPS
high	126 FPS	101 FPS
ultra	95 FPS	74 FPS

Open Radeon R9 290X Open Radeon RX 5500

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
1080p
low	155 FPS	140 FPS
medium	128 FPS	113 FPS
high	110 FPS	97 FPS
ultra	94 FPS	81 FPS
1440p
low	110 FPS	103 FPS
medium	91 FPS	85 FPS
high	79 FPS	73 FPS
ultra	65 FPS	59 FPS
4K
low	66 FPS	60 FPS
medium	52 FPS	48 FPS
high	41 FPS	38 FPS
ultra	31 FPS	29 FPS

Open Radeon R9 290X Open Radeon RX 5500

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Radeon R9 290X and Radeon RX 5500

Radeon R9 290X

The Radeon R9 290X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in October 24 2013. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 947 MHz. It has 2816 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 350W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 8,426 points. Launch price was $549.

Radeon RX 5500

The Radeon RX 5500 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in October 7 2019. It features the RDNA 1.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1845 MHz. It has 1408 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 110W. Manufactured using 7 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 8,837 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Radeon R9 290X scores 8,426 and the Radeon RX 5500 reaches 8,837 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 4.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon R9 290X is built on GCN 2.0 while the Radeon RX 5500 uses RDNA 1.0, both on 28 nm vs 7 nm. Shader units: 2,816 (Radeon R9 290X) vs 1,408 (Radeon RX 5500). Raw compute: 5.632 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 290X) vs 5.196 TFLOPS (Radeon RX 5500). Boost clocks: 947 MHz vs 1845 MHz.

Feature	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
G3D Mark Score	8,426	8,837+5%
Architecture	GCN 2.0	RDNA 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	7 nm
Shading Units	2816+100%	1408
Compute (TFLOPS)	5.632 TFLOPS+8%	5.196 TFLOPS
Boost Clock	947 MHz	1845 MHz+95%
ROPs	64+100%	32
TMUs	176+100%	88
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling + limited Frame Generation

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

A critical advantage for the Radeon RX 5500 is support for FSR Frame Generation. This allows it to generate entire frames using AI/Algorithms, essentially doubling the frame rate in CPU-bound scenarios or heavy ray-tracing titles. The Radeon R9 290X lacks specific hardware/driver support for this native frame generation tier.

Feature	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	FSR Frame Generation
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 4 GB of video memory. Memory bandwidth: 320 GB/s (Radeon R9 290X) vs 224 GB/s (Radeon RX 5500) — a 42.9% advantage for the Radeon R9 290X. Bus width: 512-bit vs 128-bit.

Feature	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
VRAM Capacity	4 GB	4 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Memory Bandwidth	320 GB/s+43%	224 GB/s
Bus Width	512-bit+300%	128-bit

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.0 (Radeon R9 290X) vs 12.1 (Radeon RX 5500). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 6 vs 4.

Feature	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
DirectX	12.0	12.1
Vulkan	1.1	1.2+9%
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
Max Displays	6+50%	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: VCE 2.0 (Radeon R9 290X) vs VCN 2.0 (Radeon RX 5500). Decoder: UVD 4.2 vs VCN 2.0. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1 (Radeon R9 290X) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9 (Radeon RX 5500).

Feature	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
Encoder	VCE 2.0	VCN 2.0
Decoder	UVD 4.2	VCN 2.0
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon R9 290X draws 350W versus the Radeon RX 5500's 110W — a 104.3% difference. The Radeon RX 5500 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 750W (Radeon R9 290X) vs 450W (Radeon RX 5500). Power connectors: 6-pin + 8-pin vs 8-pin. Card length: 275mm vs 180mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 95°C vs 75°C.

Feature	Radeon R9 290X	Radeon RX 5500
TDP	350W	110W-69%
Recommended PSU	750W	450W-40%
Power Connector	6-pin + 8-pin	8-pin
Length	275mm	180mm
Height	109mm	110mm
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	95°C	75°C-21%
Perf/Watt	24.1	80.3+233%

💰

Value Analysis

The Radeon R9 290X launched at $549 MSRP, while the Radeon RX 5500 launched at $179. The Radeon RX 5500 costs 67.4% less ($370 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 15.3 (Radeon R9 290X) vs 49.4 (Radeon RX 5500) — the Radeon RX 5500 offers 222.9% better value. The Radeon RX 5500 is the newer GPU (2019 vs 2013).