Radeon HD 8990 vs Radeon R9 M295X

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 HD 8990

2013

Why buy it

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

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 3 GB vs 4 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 3 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌
233% HIGHER MSRP
$999 MSRPvs$300 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 5.2 vs 17.2 G3D/$ ($999 MSRP vs $300 MSRP).
❌50% higher power demand at 375W vs 250W.

Radeon R9 M295X

2014

Why buy it

✅Costs $699 less on MSRP ($300 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Delivers 228.9% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 17.2 vs 5.2 G3D/$ ($300 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅33.3% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (4 GB vs 3 GB).
✅Draws 250W instead of 375W, a 125W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Radeon HD 8990

2013

Radeon R9 M295X

2014

Why buy it

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

Why buy it

✅Costs $699 less on MSRP ($300 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅Delivers 228.9% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 17.2 vs 5.2 G3D/$ ($300 MSRP vs $999 MSRP).
✅33.3% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (4 GB vs 3 GB).
✅Draws 250W instead of 375W, a 125W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 3 GB vs 4 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Very weak future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 3 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌
233% HIGHER MSRP
$999 MSRPvs$300 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 5.2 vs 17.2 G3D/$ ($999 MSRP vs $300 MSRP).
❌50% higher power demand at 375W vs 250W.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon HD 8990 better than Radeon R9 M295X?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 5,214 vs 5,150 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Radeon HD 8990 is the overall package: you are getting FSR upscaling.

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

Radeon HD 8990 is the safer long-term GPU choice because it gives you the stronger overall hardware and feature outlook for modern games.

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

Radeon HD 8990 is the smarter buy by a wide margin. Radeon HD 8990 is about 233.0% more expensive on MSRP at $999 MSRP versus $300 MSRP, and you are getting 1.2% higher G3D Mark. Radeon R9 M295X really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does Radeon R9 M295X make more sense than Radeon HD 8990?

Yes. Radeon R9 M295X 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 (250W vs 375W), and staying closer to $300 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Radeon HD 8990. The trade-off is that Radeon HD 8990 currently gives you 1.2% higher G3D Mark. Radeon R9 M295X still holds the G3D-per-dollar lead, so the performance win comes with a real value premium.

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 HD 8990 Benchmark Check

Radeon R9 M295X Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
1080p
low	77 FPS	81 FPS
medium	63 FPS	69 FPS
high	50 FPS	57 FPS
ultra	33 FPS	37 FPS
1440p
low	65 FPS	71 FPS
medium	54 FPS	62 FPS
high	38 FPS	45 FPS
ultra	24 FPS	29 FPS
4K
low	24 FPS	26 FPS
medium	23 FPS	24 FPS
high	14 FPS	16 FPS
ultra	12 FPS	14 FPS

Open Radeon HD 8990 Open Radeon R9 M295X

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
1080p
low	143 FPS	96 FPS
medium	118 FPS	74 FPS
high	97 FPS	61 FPS
ultra	71 FPS	44 FPS
1440p
low	88 FPS	58 FPS
medium	66 FPS	41 FPS
high	49 FPS	31 FPS
ultra	37 FPS	23 FPS
4K
low	37 FPS	23 FPS
medium	28 FPS	16 FPS
high	21 FPS	13 FPS
ultra	16 FPS	9 FPS

Open Radeon HD 8990 Open Radeon R9 M295X

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
1080p
low	235 FPS	232 FPS
medium	188 FPS	185 FPS
high	156 FPS	154 FPS
ultra	117 FPS	116 FPS
1440p
low	176 FPS	174 FPS
medium	141 FPS	139 FPS
high	117 FPS	116 FPS
ultra	88 FPS	87 FPS
4K
low	117 FPS	116 FPS
medium	94 FPS	93 FPS
high	78 FPS	77 FPS
ultra	59 FPS	58 FPS

Open Radeon HD 8990 Open Radeon R9 M295X

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
1080p
low	145 FPS	139 FPS
medium	116 FPS	113 FPS
high	100 FPS	97 FPS
ultra	83 FPS	81 FPS
1440p
low	107 FPS	104 FPS
medium	87 FPS	85 FPS
high	75 FPS	74 FPS
ultra	58 FPS	57 FPS
4K
low	63 FPS	61 FPS
medium	48 FPS	47 FPS
high	38 FPS	37 FPS
ultra	26 FPS	26 FPS

Open Radeon HD 8990 Open Radeon R9 M295X

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Radeon HD 8990 and Radeon R9 M295X

Radeon HD 8990

The Radeon HD 8990 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 24 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 950 MHz to 1000 MHz. It has 2048 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 375W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,214 points. Launch price was $999.

Radeon R9 M295X

The Radeon R9 M295X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 23 2014. It features the GCN 3.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 723 MHz. It has 2048 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 250W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,150 points.

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Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 8990 scores 5,214 and the Radeon R9 M295X reaches 5,150 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 8990 is built on GCN 1.0 while the Radeon R9 M295X uses GCN 3.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 2,048 (Radeon HD 8990) vs 2,048 (Radeon R9 M295X). Raw compute: 4.096 TFLOPS ×2 (Radeon HD 8990) vs 2.961 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 M295X).

Feature	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
G3D Mark Score	5,214+1%	5,150
Architecture	GCN 1.0	GCN 3.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	2048 ×2	2048
Compute (TFLOPS)	4.096 TFLOPS ×2+38%	2.961 TFLOPS
ROPs	32 ×2	32
TMUs	128 ×2	128
L1 Cache	512 KB	512 KB
L2 Cache	768 KB+50%	512 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
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)

The Radeon HD 8990 comes with 3 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon R9 M295X has 4 GB. The Radeon R9 M295X offers 33.3% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Memory bandwidth: 288 GB/s x2 (Radeon HD 8990) vs 176 GB/s (Radeon R9 M295X) — a 1537.5% advantage for the Radeon HD 8990. Bus width: 384-bit x2 vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 768 KB (Radeon HD 8990) vs 512 KB (Radeon R9 M295X) — the Radeon HD 8990 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
VRAM Capacity	3 GB	4 GB+33%
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	288 GB/s x2+64%	176 GB/s
Bus Width	384-bit x2+50%	256-bit
L2 Cache	768 KB+50%	512 KB

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 8990 draws 375W versus the Radeon R9 M295X's 250W — a 40% difference. The Radeon R9 M295X is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 750W (Radeon HD 8990) vs 350W (Radeon R9 M295X). Power connectors: 2x 8-pin vs Mobile.

Feature	Radeon HD 8990	Radeon R9 M295X
TDP	375W	250W-33%
Recommended PSU	750W	350W-53%
Power Connector	2x 8-pin	Mobile
Length	—	1mm
Slots	—	0
Perf/Watt	13.9	20.6+48%

💰

Value Analysis

The Radeon HD 8990 launched at $999 MSRP, while the Radeon R9 M295X launched at $300. The Radeon R9 M295X costs 70% less ($699 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 5.2 (Radeon HD 8990) vs 17.2 (Radeon R9 M295X) — the Radeon R9 M295X offers 230.8% better value. The Radeon R9 M295X is the newer GPU (2014 vs 2013).