GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB vs Radeon R9 280

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 280 and GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 280
2014
3 GB GDDR5, 200 Watt
14.42

GTX 1060 3 GB outperforms R9 280 by an impressive 73% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking365217
Place by popularitynot in top-10019
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.4122.57
Power efficiency4.9414.21
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameTahitiGP106
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date4 March 2014 (10 years ago)18 August 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1060 3 GB has 317% better value for money than R9 280.

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 cores17921152
Core clock speedno data1506 MHz
Boost clock speed933 MHz1708 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt120 Watt
Texture fill rate104.5123.0
Floating-point processing power3.344 TFLOPS3.935 TFLOPS
ROPs3248
TMUs11272

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).

Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length275 mm250 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin1x 6-pin

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount3 GB3 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz2002 MHz
Memory bandwidth240 GB/s192.2 GB/s

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (12_1)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan++
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.

R9 280 14.42
GTX 1060 3 GB 24.88
+72.5%

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.

R9 280 5558
GTX 1060 3 GB 9588
+72.5%

Gaming performance

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

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.42 24.88
Recency 4 March 2014 18 August 2016
Chip lithography 28 nm 16 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 120 Watt

GTX 1060 3 GB has a 72.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 66.7% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 280 in performance tests.


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

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AMD Radeon R9 280
Radeon R9 280
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB
GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.6 399 votes

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4.1 8814 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.