GPU Comparison
Select up to 2 GPUs to analyze their pricing, performance, and specifications side-by-side.
Market Value Leader
Only verified data for Radeon R9 390 is available. Benchmarks for other models are currently being processed.
On performance, the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop and Radeon R9 390 are effectively a dead heat — under a few percent apart. The Radeon R9 390 is the cheaper option by $287 GBP.
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GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop vs Radeon R9 390: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop vs Radeon R9 390
The GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop and Radeon R9 390 post nearly the same score in our performance index, so neither holds a meaningful raw-speed advantage. Both are best suited to entry-level 1080p gaming.
Price & Value
Right now the Radeon R9 390 starts at $512 GBP against $799 GBP for the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop. The Radeon R9 390 still sits about $183 GBP above its $329 GBP MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
The GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop draws just 53W versus 275W for the Radeon R9 390, and it also delivers more performance per watt — so it runs cooler and quieter and needs less PSU headroom. Its more modern Pascal architecture on a Samsung 14nm process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
With 8GB against 4GB, the Radeon R9 390 has more headroom for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative/AI tasks where the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop's 4GB can fall short.
Generation & Longevity
The GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop is roughly 2 years newer than the Radeon R9 390 (Pascal vs GCN 2.0), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon R9 390 offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop or Radeon R9 390?
The GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop is the faster card. With live pricing limited for this pair, base your decision on the spec differences above — particularly VRAM and power draw — and check current stock before buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop better than the Radeon R9 390?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop or the Radeon R9 390?
Is the GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop worth the extra $287 GBP over the Radeon R9 390?
Does the Radeon R9 390 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop | Radeon R9 390 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Pascal | GCN 2.0 |
| Process Node | Samsung 14nm | TSMC 28nm |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 640 | 2,560✓ |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 0 | — |
| Tensor / AI Cores | 0 | — |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop | Radeon R9 390 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,354 MHz✓ | 1,000 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1,493 MHz✓ | 1,000 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop | Radeon R9 390 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 4 GB | 8 GB✓ |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 128-bit | 512-bit✓ |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps✓ | 6 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 112 GB/s | 384 GB/s✓ |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce GTX 1050 Laptop | Radeon R9 390 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 53 W✓ | 275 W |
| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Jan 2017 | Jun 2015 |