GeForce GTX 280M vs GTX 1060 6 GB

Place in the ranking	204	978
Place by popularity	9	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	17.13	no data
Power efficiency	15.45	1.39
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code name	GP106	G92
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	19 July 2016 (8 years ago)	3 March 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1280	128
Core clock speed	1506 MHz	585 MHz
Boost clock speed	1709 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	4,400 million	754 million
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	75 Watt
Texture fill rate	136.7	37.44
Floating-point processing power	4.375 TFLOPS	0.3745 TFLOPS
Gigaflops	no data	562
ROPs	48	16
TMUs	80	64

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	no data	large
Bus support	no data	PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	MXM-IV
Length	250 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	no data
SLI options	-	+
MXM Type	no data	MXM 3.0 Type-B

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2002 MHz	Up to 950 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.2 GB/s	61 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	HDMIDual Link DVISingle Link DVIDisplayPortLVDSVGA
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	no data	S/PDIF

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Power management	no data	8.0
VR Ready	+	no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	6.4	4.0
OpenGL	4.6	2.1
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/A
CUDA	6.1	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1060 6 GB 26.58
+1684%

GTX 280M 1.49

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 1060 6 GB 10252
+1683%

GTX 280M 575

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 1060 6 GB 55893
+738%

GTX 280M 6672

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	88 +2100%	4−5 −2100%
1440p	47 +2250%	2−3 −2250%
4K	30 +2900%	1−2 −2900%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.40	no data
1440p	6.36	no data
4K	9.97	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

40−45
+1000%

4−5

−1000%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	72 +1100%	6−7 −1100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	45−50 +2150%	2−3 −2150%
Battlefield 5	89 +2125%	4−5 −2125%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	66 +1550%	4−5 −1550%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +1000%	4−5 −1000%
Far Cry 5	83 +4050%	2−3 −4050%
Far Cry New Dawn	82 +1950%	4−5 −1950%
Forza Horizon 4	279 +6875%	4−5 −6875%
Hitman 3	50−55 +800%	6−7 −800%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 +707%	14−16 −707%
Metro Exodus	92 +1740%	5−6 −1740%
Red Dead Redemption 2	100 +3233%	3−4 −3233%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	135 +1588%	8−9 −1588%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +224%	30−35 −224%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	93 +1450%	6−7 −1450%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	45−50 +2150%	2−3 −2150%
Battlefield 5	78 +1850%	4−5 −1850%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	60 +1400%	4−5 −1400%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +1000%	4−5 −1000%
Far Cry 5	64 +3100%	2−3 −3100%
Far Cry New Dawn	64 +1500%	4−5 −1500%
Forza Horizon 4	260 +6400%	4−5 −6400%
Hitman 3	50−55 +800%	6−7 −800%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 +707%	14−16 −707%
Metro Exodus	78 +1850%	4−5 −1850%
Red Dead Redemption 2	69 +2200%	3−4 −2200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	90−95 +1038%	8−9 −1038%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	183 +1564%	10−12 −1564%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +224%	30−35 −224%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	38 +533%	6−7 −533%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	45−50 +2150%	2−3 −2150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	43 +975%	4−5 −975%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +1000%	4−5 −1000%
Far Cry 5	50 +2400%	2−3 −2400%
Forza Horizon 4	73 +1725%	4−5 −1725%
Hitman 3	50−55 +800%	6−7 −800%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 +707%	14−16 −707%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	90−95 +1038%	8−9 −1038%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	44 +300%	10−12 −300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +224%	30−35 −224%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

69
+2200%

3−4

−2200%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	48 +2300%	2−3 −2300%
Far Cry New Dawn	43 +2050%	2−3 −2050%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	32 +3100%	1−2 −3100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +2500%	1−2 −2500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +1600%	1−2 −1600%
Far Cry 5	31 +1450%	2−3 −1450%
Forza Horizon 4	196 +1860%	10−11 −1860%
Hitman 3	30−35 +357%	7−8 −357%
Horizon Zero Dawn	55−60 +1000%	5−6 −1000%
Metro Exodus	50 +2400%	2−3 −2400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55−60 +1867%	3−4 −1867%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 +3200%	1−2 −3200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	140−150 +2014%	7−8 −2014%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

46
+1050%

4−5

−1050%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24 +2300%	1−2 −2300%
Far Cry New Dawn	22 +2100%	1−2 −2100%
Hitman 3	21−24 +2000%	1−2 −2000%
Horizon Zero Dawn	130−140 +1829%	7−8 −1829%
Metro Exodus	25 +2400%	1−2 −2400%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 +2800%	1−2 −2800%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18 +1700%	1−2 −1700%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 +1400%	1−2 −1400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8	0−1
Far Cry 5	15	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	38 +1800%	2−3 −1800%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 +3200%	1−2 −3200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

22
+633%

3−4

−633%

This is how GTX 1060 6 GB and GTX 280M compete in popular games:

GTX 1060 6 GB is 2100% faster in 1080p
GTX 1060 6 GB is 2250% faster in 1440p
GTX 1060 6 GB is 2900% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 1060 6 GB is 6875% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, GTX 1060 6 GB surpassed GTX 280M in all 49 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	26.58	1.49
Recency	19 July 2016	3 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	16 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	75 Watt

GTX 1060 6 GB has a 1683.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 306.3% more advanced lithography process.

GTX 280M, on the other hand, has 60% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 280M is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.