High Performance AMD NVIDIA Linux GPU Comparison Testing high-end AMD Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards using the proprietary Linux graphics drivers on Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit with gaming benchmarks, Steam Linux gaming, and more. Benchmarks by Michael Larabel for a future article on Phoronix.com. AMD Radeon HD 7950: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: XFX AMD Radeon HD 7900 3072MB (900/1375MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: fglrx 14.10.2, OpenGL: 4.3.12874, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 AMD Radeon R9 270X: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: Supported device 6810 2048MB (1100/1400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: fglrx 14.10.2, OpenGL: 4.3.12874, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 AMD Radeon R9 290: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: Supported device 67B1 4096MB (947/1250MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: fglrx 14.10.2, OpenGL: 4.3.12874, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB (1006/3004MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: NVIDIA 337.19, OpenGL: 4.3.0, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2048MB (980/3004MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: NVIDIA 337.19, OpenGL: 4.3.0, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2048MB (1045/3505MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: NVIDIA 337.19, OpenGL: 4.3.0, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3072MB (875/3500MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: NVIDIA 337.19, OpenGL: 4.3.0, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ECS Z87H3-A2X EXTREME v1.0, Chipset: Intel 4th Gen Core DRAM, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 840, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN 6144MB (836/3004MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster, Network: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 OS: Ubuntu 14.04, Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.2.0, Display Server: X Server 1.15.1, Display Driver: NVIDIA 337.19, OpenGL: 4.3.0, Compiler: GCC 4.8.2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1600 Counter-Strike Source Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 213.12 |======================================= AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 218.38 |======================================== AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 216.40 |======================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 219.49 |========================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 206.18 |====================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 227.30 |========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 232.48 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 229.06 |========================================== Counter-Strike Source Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Frames Per Second Per Watt > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 1.81 |============================================= AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 1.81 |============================================= AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 1.68 |========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 1.26 |=============================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 1.14 |============================ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 1.25 |=============================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 1.04 |========================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 1.37 |================================== Counter-Strike Source GPU Temperature Monitor Celsius < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 41 AVG: 49 MAX: 62 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 30 AVG: 35 MAX: 42 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 60 AVG: 62 MAX: 66 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 52 AVG: 66 MAX: 76 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 55 AVG: 73 MAX: 81 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 53 AVG: 64 MAX: 71 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 50 AVG: 63 MAX: 70 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 53 AVG: 61 MAX: 71 Counter-Strike Source System Power Consumption Monitor Watts < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 67 AVG: 118 MAX: 224 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 66 AVG: 121 MAX: 224 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 72 AVG: 129 MAX: 278 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 110 AVG: 222 MAX: 263 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 106 AVG: 216 MAX: 270 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 101 AVG: 188 MAX: 267 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 138 AVG: 274 MAX: 335 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 123 AVG: 199 MAX: 319 Half-Life 2 - Lost Coast Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 204.60 |=============================== AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 189.13 |============================= AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 237.86 |==================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 218.43 |================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 190.10 |============================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 234.06 |=================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 283.88 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 273.89 |========================================= Reaction Quake 3 1.0 Beta Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 510.43 |============================= AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 420.17 |======================== AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 448.90 |========================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 551.47 |================================ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 510.87 |============================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 587.37 |================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 749.20 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 688.77 |======================================== Reaction Quake 3 1.0 Beta Resolution: 2560 x 1600 - Total Frame Time Milliseconds < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 1.0 AVG: 1.9 MAX: 8.0 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 1.0 AVG: 2.3 MAX: 9.0 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 1.0 AVG: 2.2 MAX: 9.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 1.0 AVG: 1.8 MAX: 4.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 1.0 AVG: 1.9 MAX: 4.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 1.0 AVG: 1.7 MAX: 3.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 1.0 AVG: 1.3 MAX: 3.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 1.0 AVG: 1.4 MAX: 3.0 Tesseract 2014-05-12 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 123.83 |========================================== AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 123.21 |========================================= AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 123.68 |========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 128.03 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 128.05 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 127.87 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 127.90 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 127.95 |=========================================== Tesseract 2014-05-12 GPU Temperature Monitor Celsius < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 56.0 AVG: 61.2 MAX: 64.0 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 39.0 AVG: 44.1 MAX: 46.0 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 67.0 AVG: 71.1 MAX: 75.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 64.0 AVG: 66.8 MAX: 69.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 60.0 AVG: 62.7 MAX: 63.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 59.0 AVG: 60.8 MAX: 62.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 55.0 AVG: 55.4 MAX: 56.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 61.0 AVG: 61.6 MAX: 62.0 Tesseract 2014-05-12 System Power Consumption Monitor Watts < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 89 AVG: 157 MAX: 171 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 89 AVG: 145 MAX: 154 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 95 AVG: 181 MAX: 200 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 132 AVG: 147 MAX: 152 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 104 AVG: 140 MAX: 145 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 102 AVG: 138 MAX: 142 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 135 AVG: 165 MAX: 169 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 147 AVG: 158 MAX: 164 Unigine Heaven 4.0 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 42.56 |===================== AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 35.86 |================== AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 55.27 |=========================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 48.62 |======================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 43.37 |====================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 51.03 |========================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 88.61 |============================================ NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 83.47 |========================================= Unigine Heaven 4.0 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second Per Watt > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 0.17 |============================= AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 0.17 |============================= AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 0.18 |=============================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 0.19 |================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 0.17 |============================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 0.20 |=================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 0.26 |============================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 0.26 |============================================= Unigine Heaven 4.0 GPU Temperature Monitor Celsius < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 56 AVG: 78 MAX: 81 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 39 AVG: 54 MAX: 56 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 66 AVG: 88 MAX: 93 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 62 AVG: 78 MAX: 80 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 55 AVG: 79 MAX: 82 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 55 AVG: 78 MAX: 80 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 49 AVG: 80 MAX: 83 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 56 AVG: 79 MAX: 81 Unigine Heaven 4.0 System Power Consumption Monitor Watts < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 134 AVG: 247 MAX: 272 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 90 AVG: 216 MAX: 237 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 96 AVG: 311 MAX: 351 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 130 AVG: 251 MAX: 267 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 129 AVG: 252 MAX: 270 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 129 AVG: 249 MAX: 292 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 165 AVG: 347 MAX: 385 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 154 AVG: 321 MAX: 363 Unigine Tropics 1.3 Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 98.49 |======================== AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 87.38 |====================== AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 119.65 |============================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 115.94 |============================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 99.65 |========================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 121.65 |============================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 174.14 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 158.29 |======================================= Unigine Valley 1.0 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 46.63 |======================= AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 43.79 |===================== AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 65.32 |================================ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 64.69 |=============================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 55.16 |=========================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 67.79 |================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 90.46 |============================================ NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 84.67 |========================================= Unigine Valley 1.0 GPU Temperature Monitor Celsius < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 60 AVG: 78 MAX: 81 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 40 AVG: 55 MAX: 57 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 85 AVG: 90 MAX: 93 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 70 AVG: 79 MAX: 81 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 77 AVG: 80 MAX: 81 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 65 AVG: 79 MAX: 80 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 76 AVG: 81 MAX: 83 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 74 AVG: 80 MAX: 81 Xonotic 0.7 Resolution: 2560 x 1600 - Effects Quality: Ultimate Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ 130.17 |============================== AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ 124.38 |============================= AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... 141.27 |================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... 154.98 |==================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... 140.06 |================================= NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... 160.78 |===================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . 184.91 |=========================================== NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. 181.39 |========================================== Xonotic 0.7 GPU Temperature Monitor Celsius < Lower Is Better AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 60 AVG: 68 MAX: 73 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 46 AVG: 49 MAX: 52 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 80 AVG: 84 MAX: 87 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 66 AVG: 75 MAX: 78 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 70 AVG: 78 MAX: 81 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 66 AVG: 77 MAX: 80 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 71 AVG: 72 MAX: 74 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 75 AVG: 76 MAX: 77 GPU Temperature Monitor Phoronix Test Suite System Monitoring Celsius AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 41.0 AVG: 72.0 MAX: 82.0 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 28.0 AVG: 46.6 MAX: 57.0 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 56.0 AVG: 80.2 MAX: 93.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 38.0 AVG: 75.9 MAX: 81.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 38.0 AVG: 75.9 MAX: 82.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 43.0 AVG: 75.7 MAX: 81.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 33.0 AVG: 75.3 MAX: 83.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 40.0 AVG: 72.7 MAX: 81.0 System Power Consumption Monitor Phoronix Test Suite System Monitoring Watts AMD Radeon HD 7950 ........ MIN: 66 AVG: 210 MAX: 272 AMD Radeon R9 270X ........ MIN: 65 AVG: 168 MAX: 237 AMD Radeon R9 290 ......... MIN: 65 AVG: 233 MAX: 351 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 .... MIN: 65 AVG: 235 MAX: 269 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 .... MIN: 62 AVG: 228 MAX: 270 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 .... MIN: 59 AVG: 228 MAX: 313 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti . MIN: 64 AVG: 310 MAX: 385 NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN .. MIN: 61 AVG: 243 MAX: 363