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AMD Radeon R9 M390 Mac Edition

AMD Radeon R9 M390 Mac Edition: Review and Analysis for Users in 2025

Introduction

The AMD Radeon R9 M390 Mac Edition is a specialized solution created for users within the Apple ecosystem. Despite the age of the architecture, it remains relevant in niche scenarios. In this article, we will explore its features, performance, and practical value in 2025.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Architecture: Based on the Tonga GPU (architecture GCN 3.0), released in 2015.

Process Technology: 28 nm — outdated for modern gaming, but sufficient for basic tasks.

Unique Features:

- Support for AMD FidelityFX (contrast adaptive sharpening), but lacking hardware ray tracing acceleration (RT cores).

- FreeSync technology for smooth visuals when paired with compatible monitors.

- Mantle API (the predecessor of Vulkan), enhancing optimization in older titles.

Limitations: No equivalents to DLSS or RTX, which reduces competitiveness in 2025.

2. Memory: Type, Size, and Bandwidth

- Memory Type: GDDR5 (not GDDR6/HBM).

- Size: 4 GB — a minimally acceptable amount for 1080p work, but insufficient for high-resolution textures in modern games.

- Bus: 256-bit, with a bandwidth of 160 GB/s.

- Impact on Performance: In games like Cyberpunk 2077 (2023), memory capacity becomes a bottleneck: frame rates drop at ultra settings due to VRAM overload.

3. Gaming Performance

Resolution 1080p (medium settings):

- Fortnite: 45-55 FPS (no Ray Tracing).

- Apex Legends: 50-60 FPS.

- Elden Ring: 30-40 FPS (requires reduced detail).

1440p and 4K: Not recommended — FPS drops below 30 frames even on low settings.

Ray Tracing: Not supported natively. Software emulation (via DirectX 12 Ultimate) reduces performance by 2-3 times, making it unsuitable for ray tracing games.

4. Professional Tasks

- Video Editing: In Final Cut Pro X, it shows stability when rendering 1080p, but 4K projects are processed slowly (up to 30% longer than modern Apple M3 iGPUs).

- 3D Modeling: In Blender (via OpenCL), rendering speed is comparable to NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti.

- Scientific Computing: OpenCL support allows for basic machine learning use, but lack of CUDA limits compatibility with NVIDIA software.

Conclusion: A solution for undemanding professional tasks, but not suitable for intensive work.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Dissipation

- TDP: 125 W — requires quality cooling.

- Recommendations:

- A case with at least 2 fans (intake + exhaust).

- Additional cooling for the VRM area to prevent throttling.

- For Mac Pro (2019): Use original Apple cooling modules.

Temperatures: Under load — up to 85°C, which is acceptable, but fan noise may be irritating.

6. Comparison with Competitors

2025 Alternatives (new budget models):

- NVIDIA RTX 3050 (8 GB GDDR6): 70% faster in games, supports DLSS 3.0 and Ray Tracing, priced at $249.

- AMD Radeon RX 6600 (8 GB GDDR6): 80% more powerful, FSR 3.0, priced at $229.

- Intel Arc A580 (8 GB GDDR6): 50% faster, XeSS, priced at $199.

Advantages of R9 M390 Mac Edition:

- Native compatibility with macOS (important for Hackintosh users).

- Low secondary market price ($80-120), though new units are rare and cost from $200 (unreasonable).

7. Practical Tips

- Power Supply: Minimum of 450 W with 80+ Bronze certification.

- Compatibility:

- macOS Monterey and newer (drivers updated until 2026).

- Windows 11: Requires manual driver installation from the AMD website (2023 versions).

- Drivers: Avoid beta versions — conflicts with macOS updates may occur.

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Reliable performance in macOS.

- Low cost on the secondary market.

- Support for FreeSync.

Cons:

- Outdated architecture and process technology.

- Lack of RT and AI acceleration.

- Limited memory capacity.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the R9 M390 Mac Edition Suitable For?

This graphics card is suitable for:

1. Owners of old Mac Pro systems seeking an upgrade without replacing their entire setup.

2. Hackintosh enthusiasts for whom macOS compatibility is critical.

3. Users working with software optimized for GCN (e.g., older versions of Adobe Premiere).

Alternative: If the budget allows, it's better to choose modern GPUs that support new technologies (e.g., RTX 3050 or RX 6600), even if it requires an operating system or case update.

Conclusion

The Radeon R9 M390 Mac Edition in 2025 is a niche solution. It falls short of modern equivalents but remains valuable for specific scenarios. Purchase it only with a clear understanding of its limitations and compatibility requirements with macOS.

Basic

Label Name

AMD

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

May 2015

Model Name

Radeon R9 M390 Mac Edition

Generation

Crystal System

Bus Interface

PCIe 3.0 x16

Transistors

2,800 million

Compute Units

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

TSMC

Process Size

28 nm

Architecture

GCN 1.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

2GB

Memory Type

GDDR5

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

256bit

Memory Clock

1365MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

174.7 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

30.66 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

61.31 GTexel/s

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

122.6 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

1.923 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

1024

L1 Cache

16 KB (per CU)

L2 Cache

512KB

TDP

80W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.2

OpenCL Version

1.2

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (11_1)

Power Connectors

None

Shader Model

5.1

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

1.923 TFLOPS

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

Radeon Vega 8 Mobile

2.007 +4.4%

Iris Xe Graphics 96EU Mobile

1.957 +1.8%

Radeon R9 M390 Mac Edition

1.923

GeForce GTX 950 Low Power

1.865 -3%

FirePro V7900 SDI

1.819 -5.4%