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.

Quadro M5000

2015

Why buy it

✅Draws 150W instead of 275W, a 125W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
132.9% HIGHER MSRP
$999 MSRPvs$429 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 9.4 vs 21.6 G3D/$ ($999 MSRP vs $429 MSRP).

Radeon R9 390X

2015

Why buy it

✅Costs $570 less on MSRP ($429 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Delivers 129.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 21.6 vs 9.4 G3D/$ ($429 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌83.3% higher power demand at 275W vs 150W.

Quadro M5000

2015

Radeon R9 390X

2015

Why buy it

✅Draws 150W instead of 275W, a 125W reduction.

Why buy it

✅Costs $570 less on MSRP ($429 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Delivers 129.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 21.6 vs 9.4 G3D/$ ($429 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
132.9% HIGHER MSRP
$999 MSRPvs$429 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 9.4 vs 21.6 G3D/$ ($999 MSRP vs $429 MSRP).

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2015-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌83.3% higher power demand at 275W vs 150W.

Quick Answers

So, is Quadro M5000 better than Radeon R9 390X?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 9,406 vs 9,278 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Quadro M5000 is the overall package: you are getting no meaningful modern upscaling stack, plus much lower power draw (150W vs 275W).

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

Quadro M5000 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting the stronger feature stack with no meaningful modern upscaling stack instead of FSR upscaling. 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?

Quadro M5000 is the smarter buy by a wide margin. Quadro M5000 is about 132.9% more expensive on MSRP at $999 MSRP versus $429 MSRP, and you are getting 1.4% higher G3D Mark. Radeon R9 390X really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

Is Radeon R9 390X still worth buying for gaming in 2026?

No, not for a fresh gaming build. Radeon R9 390X is 2015 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM, 9,278 in G3D Mark, and FSR upscaling. That is simply too far behind to be an easy modern recommendation.

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.

Quadro M5000 Benchmark Check

Radeon R9 390X Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
1080p
low	105 FPS	135 FPS
medium	88 FPS	115 FPS
high	73 FPS	94 FPS
ultra	48 FPS	57 FPS
1440p
low	89 FPS	113 FPS
medium	75 FPS	96 FPS
high	55 FPS	70 FPS
ultra	36 FPS	42 FPS
4K
low	36 FPS	39 FPS
medium	32 FPS	36 FPS
high	20 FPS	22 FPS
ultra	17 FPS	19 FPS

Open Quadro M5000 Open Radeon R9 390X

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
1080p
low	171 FPS	187 FPS
medium	145 FPS	165 FPS
high	117 FPS	137 FPS
ultra	87 FPS	107 FPS
1440p
low	118 FPS	131 FPS
medium	94 FPS	106 FPS
high	75 FPS	85 FPS
ultra	56 FPS	65 FPS
4K
low	56 FPS	60 FPS
medium	47 FPS	50 FPS
high	43 FPS	45 FPS
ultra	35 FPS	37 FPS

Open Quadro M5000 Open Radeon R9 390X

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
1080p
low	423 FPS	418 FPS
medium	339 FPS	334 FPS
high	282 FPS	278 FPS
ultra	212 FPS	209 FPS
1440p
low	317 FPS	313 FPS
medium	254 FPS	251 FPS
high	212 FPS	209 FPS
ultra	159 FPS	157 FPS
4K
low	212 FPS	209 FPS
medium	169 FPS	167 FPS
high	141 FPS	139 FPS
ultra	106 FPS	104 FPS

Open Quadro M5000 Open Radeon R9 390X

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
1080p
low	255 FPS	283 FPS
medium	221 FPS	247 FPS
high	187 FPS	206 FPS
ultra	148 FPS	163 FPS
1440p
low	196 FPS	204 FPS
medium	173 FPS	180 FPS
high	141 FPS	144 FPS
ultra	110 FPS	110 FPS
4K
low	110 FPS	115 FPS
medium	87 FPS	94 FPS
high	72 FPS	77 FPS
ultra	55 FPS	57 FPS

Open Quadro M5000 Open Radeon R9 390X

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Quadro M5000 and Radeon R9 390X

Quadro M5000

The Quadro M5000 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in June 29 2015. It features the Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 861 MHz to 1038 MHz. It has 2048 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,406 points. Launch price was $2,856.99.

Radeon R9 390X

The Radeon R9 390X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 18 2015. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1050 MHz. It has 2816 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 275W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,278 points. Launch price was $429.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Quadro M5000 scores 9,406 and the Radeon R9 390X reaches 9,278 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.4% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Quadro M5000 is built on Maxwell 2.0 while the Radeon R9 390X uses GCN 2.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 2,048 (Quadro M5000) vs 2,816 (Radeon R9 390X). Raw compute: 4.252 TFLOPS (Quadro M5000) vs 5.914 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 390X). Boost clocks: 1038 MHz vs 1050 MHz.

Feature	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
G3D Mark Score	9,406+1%	9,278
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0	GCN 2.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	2048	2816+38%
Compute (TFLOPS)	4.252 TFLOPS	5.914 TFLOPS+39%
Boost Clock	1038 MHz	1050 MHz+1%
ROPs	64	64
TMUs	128	176+38%
L1 Cache	768 KB+9%	704 KB
L2 Cache	2 MB+100%	1 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	Standard	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 8 GB of GDDR5. Memory bandwidth: 211 GB/s (Quadro M5000) vs 384 GB/s (Radeon R9 390X) — a 82% advantage for the Radeon R9 390X. Bus width: 256-bit vs 512-bit. L2 Cache: 2 MB (Quadro M5000) vs 1 MB (Radeon R9 390X) — the Quadro M5000 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
VRAM Capacity	8 GB	8 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	211 GB/s	384 GB/s+82%
Bus Width	256-bit	512-bit+100%
L2 Cache	2 MB+100%	1 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12.1 (Quadro M5000) vs 12 (12_0) (Radeon R9 390X). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.

Feature	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
DirectX	12.1	12 (12_0)
Vulkan	1.1	1.2+9%
OpenGL	4.5	4.6+2%
Max Displays	4	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 4.0 (Quadro M5000) vs VCE 2.0 (Radeon R9 390X). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP6 vs UVD 4.2. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC (Quadro M5000) vs H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1 (Radeon R9 390X).

Feature	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
Encoder	NVENC 4.0	VCE 2.0
Decoder	PureVideo HD VP6	UVD 4.2
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC	H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Quadro M5000 draws 150W versus the Radeon R9 390X's 275W — a 58.8% difference. The Quadro M5000 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (Quadro M5000) vs 750W (Radeon R9 390X). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 6-pin + 8-pin. Card length: 267mm vs 277mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 80.

Feature	Quadro M5000	Radeon R9 390X
TDP	150W-45%	275W
Recommended PSU	500W-33%	750W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	6-pin + 8-pin
Length	267mm	277mm
Height	111mm	129mm
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	80°C	80
Perf/Watt	62.7+86%	33.7

💰

Value Analysis

The Quadro M5000 launched at $999 MSRP, while the Radeon R9 390X launched at $429. The Radeon R9 390X costs 57.1% less ($570 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 9.4 (Quadro M5000) vs 21.6 (Radeon R9 390X) — the Radeon R9 390X offers 129.8% better value.