GeForce 310M vs Radeon HD 7290M

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.

GeForce 310M vs Radeon HD 7290M FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

GeForce 310M vs Radeon HD 7290M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce 310M

2015

Why buy it

✅Draws 33W instead of 100W, a 67W reduction.
✅More future proof: Maxwell (2014−2017) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 7290M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2015 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Radeon HD 7290M

2012

Why buy it

✅3.4% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

❌2012 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌203% higher power demand at 100W vs 33W.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 7290M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 3.4% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward GeForce 310M instead at 127 vs 123, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce 310M is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a newer 2015 generation instead of 2012. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

GeForce 310M makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. Radeon HD 7290M still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

GeForce 310M vs Radeon HD 7290M Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

GeForce 310M

The GeForce 310M is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in March 13 2015. It features the Maxwell architecture. The core clock ranges from 549 MHz to 549 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 33W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 127 points.

Radeon HD 7290M

The Radeon HD 7290M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 24 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 850 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 123 points.

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Graphics Performance

The GeForce 310M scores 127 and the Radeon HD 7290M reaches 123 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3.3% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce 310M is built on Maxwell while the Radeon HD 7290M uses GCN 1.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 384 (GeForce 310M) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD 7290M). Raw compute: 0.4216 TFLOPS (GeForce 310M) vs 2.176 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 7290M).

Feature	GeForce 310M	Radeon HD 7290M
G3D Mark Score	127+3%	123
Architecture	Maxwell	GCN 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	384	1280+233%
Compute (TFLOPS)	0.4216 TFLOPS	2.176 TFLOPS+416%
ROPs	8	32+300%
TMUs	24	80+233%
L1 Cache	192 KB	320 KB+67%
L2 Cache	1 MB+100%	0.5 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce 310M gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 7290M leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

Feature	GeForce 310M	Radeon HD 7290M
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	AMD Anti-Lag

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 512 MB of video memory. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce 310M and System on the Radeon HD 7290M. L2 Cache: 1 MB (GeForce 310M) vs 0.5 MB (Radeon HD 7290M) — the GeForce 310M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce 310M	Radeon HD 7290M
VRAM Capacity	0.5 GB	0.5 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	128-bit	System
L2 Cache	1 MB+100%	0.5 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.1 (GeForce 310M) vs 11.2 (11_0) (Radeon HD 7290M). OpenGL: 3.3 vs 4.4. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 2.

Feature	GeForce 310M	Radeon HD 7290M
DirectX	10.1	11.2 (11_0)+11%
OpenGL	3.3	4.4+33%
Max Displays	2	2

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (GeForce 310M) vs UVD 3 (Radeon HD 7290M). Decoder: PureVideo VP4 vs UVD 3. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 Part 2 (GeForce 310M) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX,Xvid (Radeon HD 7290M).

Feature	GeForce 310M	Radeon HD 7290M
Encoder	None	UVD 3
Decoder	PureVideo VP4	UVD 3
Codecs	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 Part 2	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,DivX,Xvid

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Power & Dimensions

The GeForce 310M draws 33W versus the Radeon HD 7290M's 100W — a 100.8% difference. The GeForce 310M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce 310M) vs 350W (Radeon HD 7290M). Power connectors: Legacy vs 1x 6-pin. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 75°C.