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GeForce GTX 1650 vs Radeon R9 290

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1650

2019Core: 1485 MHzBoost: 1665 MHz
GTX family
·······
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VS
AMD

Radeon R9 290

2013Core: 947 MHz
Similar parts
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GeForce GTX 1650 vs Radeon R9 290 Performance Spectrum

GeForce GTX 1650
4 GB 75
7,869
0.0%
brand logoGeForce GTX 880M SLI
brand logoGeForce GTX 560 Ti 448
brand logoGeForce GTX 960
brand logoGeForce GTX 1650 (móvel)
brand logoGeForce RTX 3050 OEM
brand logoGeForce GTX 1080
brand logoGeForce RTX 2080 SUPER
brand logoGeForce RTX 3070 Ti
Radeon R9 290
4 GB 275
8,184
+4.0%
brand logoRadeon HD 7870
brand logoRadeon 760M
brand logoRadeon R9 380X
brand logoRadeon RX 470 (móvel)
brand logoRadeon RX 6850M
brand logoRadeon RX 6800S
brand logoRadeon RX 6700 XT
brand logoRadeon RX 7800 XT

About G3D Mark

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 GTX 1650 vs Radeon R9 290 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.

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low94 FPS
medium83 FPS
high70 FPS
ultra58 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low83 FPS
medium71 FPS
high59 FPS
ultra39 FPS
Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low136 FPS
medium113 FPS
high94 FPS
ultra71 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low185 FPS
medium156 FPS
high129 FPS
ultra100 FPS
League of Legends

League of Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low323 FPS
medium283 FPS
high205 FPS
ultra169 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low368 FPS
medium295 FPS
high246 FPS
ultra184 FPS
Valorant

Valorant

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low261 FPS
medium211 FPS
high191 FPS
ultra166 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low152 FPS
medium123 FPS
high105 FPS
ultra87 FPS
Among Us

Among Us

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low60 FPS
medium60 FPS
high60 FPS
ultra60 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low60 FPS
medium60 FPS
high60 FPS
ultra60 FPS
Apex Legends

Apex Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low166 FPS
medium154 FPS
high145 FPS
ultra119 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low144 FPS
medium126 FPS
high103 FPS
ultra83 FPS
ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low77 FPS
medium59 FPS
high48 FPS
ultra34 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low78 FPS
medium61 FPS
high50 FPS
ultra34 FPS
Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low59 FPS
medium41 FPS
high34 FPS
ultra25 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low64 FPS
medium45 FPS
high38 FPS
ultra30 FPS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low79 FPS
medium62 FPS
high49 FPS
ultra36 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low83 FPS
medium66 FPS
high54 FPS
ultra47 FPS
Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone

1080P
GeForce GTX 1650
low75 FPS
medium59 FPS
high46 FPS
ultra35 FPS
1080P
Radeon R9 290
low76 FPS
medium63 FPS
high52 FPS
ultra39 FPS
Check FPS with Custom Builds

GeForce GTX 1650 vs Radeon R9 290: 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 GTX 1650

2019

Why buy it

  • ✅Costs $250 less on MSRP ($149 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • ✅Delivers 157.5% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 52.8 vs 20.5 G3D/$ ($149 MSRP vs $399 MSRP).
  • ✅Radeon R9 290 is already legacy-tier future-proofing, so GeForce GTX 1650 is the less risky modern option long term.
  • ✅Draws 75W instead of 275W, a 200W reduction.
  • ✅Measures 229mm instead of 275mm, a 46mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

  • ❌Lower average FPS than Radeon R9 290 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • ❌Older hardware, 4 GB of VRAM, and weaker feature support mean it will age faster in newer AAA releases.

Radeon R9 290

2013

Why buy it

  • ✅10.3% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

  • ❌2013 hardware with 4 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
  • ❌
    167.8% HIGHER MSRP
    $399 MSRPvs$149 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 20.5 vs 52.8 G3D/$ ($399 MSRP vs $149 MSRP).
  • ❌266.7% higher power demand at 275W vs 75W.
  • ❌20.1% longer card at 275mm vs 229mm.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon R9 290 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 10.3% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 4% in PassMark G3D (8,184 vs 7,869), so the answer here is pretty clean.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce GTX 1650 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 12nm process instead of 28nm and a newer 2019 generation instead of 2013. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce GTX 1650 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $250 cheaper on MSRP at $149 vs $399, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 157.5% (52.8 vs 20.5), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Radeon R9 290 still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

GeForce GTX 1650 vs Radeon R9 290 Technical Specifications

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

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1650

The GeForce GTX 1650 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in April 23 2019. It features the Turing architecture. The core clock ranges from 1485 MHz to 1665 MHz. It has 896 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 12 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 7,869 points. Launch price was $149.

AMD

Radeon R9 290

The Radeon R9 290 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 5 2013. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 947 MHz. It has 2560 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 275W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 8,184 points. Launch price was $399.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 1650 scores 7,869 and the Radeon R9 290 reaches 8,184 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 4% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 1650 is built on Turing while the Radeon R9 290 uses GCN 2.0, both on 12 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 896 (GeForce GTX 1650) vs 2,560 (Radeon R9 290). Raw compute: 2.984 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 1650) vs 4.849 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 290).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
G3D Mark Score
7,869
8,184+4%
Architecture
Turing
GCN 2.0
Process Node
12 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
896
2560+186%
Compute (TFLOPS)
2.984 TFLOPS
4.849 TFLOPS+63%
ROPs
32
64+100%
TMUs
56
160+186%
L1 Cache
896 KB+40%
640 KB
L2 Cache
1 MB
1 MB
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 1650 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon R9 290 leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
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
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 4 GB of GDDR5. Memory bandwidth: 128 GB/s (GeForce GTX 1650) vs 320 GB/s (Radeon R9 290) — a 150% advantage for the Radeon R9 290. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GTX 1650 and 512-bit on the Radeon R9 290.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
VRAM Capacity
4 GB
4 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
128 GB/s
320 GB/s+150%
Bus Width
128-bit
512-bit+300%
L2 Cache
1 MB
1 MB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (GeForce GTX 1650) vs 12.0 (Radeon R9 290). Vulkan: 1.4 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 3 vs 6.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
DirectX
12
12.0
Vulkan
1.4+17%
1.2
OpenGL
4.6
4.6
Max Displays
3
6+100%
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 5th gen (Volta) (GeForce GTX 1650) vs VCE 2.0 (Radeon R9 290). Decoder: NVDEC 4th gen vs UVD 4.2. Supported codecs: H.264,H.265/HEVC,VP8,VP9 (GeForce GTX 1650) vs MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1 (Radeon R9 290).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
Encoder
NVENC 5th gen (Volta)
VCE 2.0
Decoder
NVDEC 4th gen
UVD 4.2
Codecs
H.264,H.265/HEVC,VP8,VP9
MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 1650 draws 75W versus the Radeon R9 290's 275W — a 114.3% difference. The GeForce GTX 1650 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 300W (GeForce GTX 1650) vs 750W (Radeon R9 290). Power connectors: None vs 6-pin + 8-pin. Card length: 229mm vs 275mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 70°C vs 95°C.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
TDP
75W-73%
275W
Recommended PSU
300W-60%
750W
Power Connector
None
6-pin + 8-pin
Length
229mm
275mm
Height
111mm
109mm
Slots
2
2
Temp (Load)
70°C-26%
95°C
Perf/Watt
104.9+252%
29.8
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce GTX 1650 came in at $149, while the Radeon R9 290 launched at $399. On MSRP, GeForce GTX 1650 was 62.7% cheaper ($250 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 52.8 (GeForce GTX 1650) vs 20.5 (Radeon R9 290) — the GeForce GTX 1650 offers 157.6% better value. The newer card here is GeForce GTX 1650 (2019 vs 2013).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1650Radeon R9 290
MSRP
$149-63%
$399
Performance per Dollar
52.8+158%
20.5
Codename
TU117
Hawaii
Release
April 23 2019
November 5 2013
Ranking
#323
#316
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