Can a AMD Radeon R9 290 run Elite Dangerous?
The AMD Radeon R9 290 handles Elite Dangerous comfortably — roughly 85 FPS at 1080p and 53 FPS at 1440p on high settings.
High preset, upscaling off, paired with a AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D-class processor.
How the AMD Radeon R9 290 measures up
| Requirement | AMD Radeon R9 290 | Minimum | Recommended | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU performance score | 14 | 2 | 10 | Recommended |
| Video memory | 4 GB | 2 GB | 2 GB | Recommended |
| Ray tracing | — Not supported | Game has no RT | N/A | |
| Upscaling | FSR | Not supported | N/A | |
Recommended settings
For 60 FPS at 1080p
Use the ultra preset. You already clear 60 FPS on high, so this leaves headroom for dips in busy scenes.
At 1440p
Around 53 FPS on high. Playable, but drop to medium or enable upscaling for a stable 60.
At 4K
Around 31 FPS — not a realistic target for this pairing.
How other cards handle Elite Dangerous
| Graphics card | Tier | 1080p FPS | vs AMD Radeon R9 290 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti | D | 92 | ▲ 7 FPS | Compare |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Laptop | D | 92 | ▲ 7 FPS | Compare |
| AMD Radeon R9 290X | D | 92 | ▲ 7 FPS | Compare |
| AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB | D | 85 | ▼ 0 FPS | Compare |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB | D | 79 | ▼ 6 FPS | Compare |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB | D | 79 | ▼ 6 FPS | Compare |
Frequently asked questions
Can the AMD Radeon R9 290 run Elite Dangerous?
The AMD Radeon R9 290 handles Elite Dangerous comfortably — roughly 85 FPS at 1080p and 53 FPS at 1440p on high settings.
What FPS will I get?
On high settings with upscaling off: roughly 85 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p and 31 FPS at 4K. These are modelled estimates — see our methodology.
What settings should I use?
Start at the ultra preset at 1080p.
Will my processor hold this back?
These figures assume a processor fast enough not to limit the card. If yours is older, run the bottleneck calculator — this title leans on the GPU, so a modest CPU deficit costs less.