GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile vs GTX 280M

Place in the ranking	981	212
Place by popularity	not in top-100	66
Power efficiency	1.38	24.19
Architecture	Tesla (2006−2010)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	G92	GA106
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	3 March 2009 (15 years ago)	11 May 2021 (3 years ago)

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	128	2560
Core clock speed	585 MHz	735 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1035 MHz
Number of transistors	754 million	13,250 million
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	75 Watt
Texture fill rate	37.44	82.80
Floating-point processing power	0.3745 TFLOPS	5.299 TFLOPS
Gigaflops	562	no data
ROPs	16	48
TMUs	64	80
Tensor Cores	no data	80
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	20

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	large	large
Bus support	PCI-E 2.0	no data
Interface	MXM-IV	PCIe 4.0 x16
SLI options	+	-
MXM Type	MXM 3.0 Type-B	no data

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	GDDR3	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	Up to 950 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	61 GB/s	192.0 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	HDMIDual Link DVISingle Link DVIDisplayPortLVDSVGA	No outputs
HDMI	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	S/PDIF	no data

Supported technologies

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

Power management

8.0

no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	4.0	6.6
OpenGL	2.1	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	3.0
Vulkan	N/A	1.2
CUDA	+	8.6

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 280M 1.50

RTX 3050 Ti Mobile 26.35
+1657%

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 280M 575

RTX 3050 Ti Mobile 10128
+1661%

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	4−5 −1750%	74 +1750%
1440p	2−3 −2000%	42 +2000%
4K	1−2 −2700%	28 +2700%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	9−10 −444%	45−50 +444%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −1450%	62 +1450%
Elden Ring	1−2 −7900%	80 +7900%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3 −3900%	80−85 +3900%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 −444%	45−50 +444%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −1150%	50 +1150%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −1322%	128 +1322%
Metro Exodus	0−1	84
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 −1300%	98 +1300%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3 −3900%	80−85 +3900%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 −444%	45−50 +444%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −900%	40 +900%
Dota 2	2−3 −5000%	102 +5000%
Elden Ring	1−2 −10300%	104 +10300%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −582%	75 +582%
Fortnite	7−8 −1757%	130−140 +1757%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −1067%	105 +1067%
Grand Theft Auto V	2−3 −4600%	94 +4600%
Metro Exodus	0−1	62
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	16−18 −913%	160−170 +913%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 −457%	39 +457%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7−8 −1129%	85−90 +1129%
World of Tanks	30−35 −748%	260−270 +748%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3 −3900%	80−85 +3900%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 −444%	45−50 +444%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −775%	35 +775%
Dota 2	2−3 −5550%	113 +5550%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −618%	75−80 +618%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −900%	90 +900%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	16−18 −913%	160−170 +913%

1440p
High Preset

Elden Ring	0−1	36
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	9−10 −1844%	170−180 +1844%
Red Dead Redemption 2	0−1	24−27
World of Tanks	9−10 −1822%	170−180 +1822%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Counter-Strike 2	9−10 −156%	21−24 +156%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −950%	21 +950%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −1460%	75−80 +1460%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4 −1200%	35−40 +1200%
Valorant	7−8 −1057%	81 +1057%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 −175%	44 +175%
Elden Ring	0−1	19
Grand Theft Auto V	14−16 −193%	44 +193%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	4−5 −1925%	80−85 +1925%
Red Dead Redemption 2	0−1	16−18
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 −193%	44 +193%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	1−2 −2700%	27−30 +2700%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −900%	10 +900%
Dota 2	16−18 −238%	54 +238%
Far Cry 5	1−2 −3400%	35−40 +3400%
Valorant	1−2 −3400%	35−40 +3400%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Valorant

121

+0%

121

+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Valorant

+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Valorant

112

+0%

112

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	41 +0%	41 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	41 +0%	41 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	61 +0%	61 +0%
Metro Exodus	60 +0%	60 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Metro Exodus	21 +0%	21 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Fortnite	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	34 +0%	34 +0%

This is how GTX 280M and RTX 3050 Ti Mobile compete in popular games:

RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is 1750% faster in 1080p
RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is 2000% faster in 1440p
RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is 2700% faster in 4K

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

in Elden Ring, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is 10300% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is ahead in 44 tests (77%)
there's a draw in 13 tests (23%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.50	26.35
Recency	3 March 2009	11 May 2021
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	65 nm	8 nm

RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has a 1656.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 12 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 712.5% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280M in performance tests.

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