Radeon R9 280 vs R9 295X2

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 295X2 and Radeon R9 280, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 295X2
2014
8 GB GDDR5, 500 Watt
22.31
+54.9%

R9 295X2 outperforms R9 280 by an impressive 55% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking246361
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.385.26
Power efficiency3.094.99
ArchitectureGCN 2.0 (2013−2017)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameVesuviusTahiti
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferencereference
Release date29 April 2014 (10 years ago)4 March 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,499 $279

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 280 has 121% better value for money than R9 295X2.

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 cores28161792
Boost clock speed1018 MHz933 MHz
Number of transistors6,200 million4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)500 Watt200 Watt
Texture fill rate179.2104.5
Floating-point processing power5.733 TFLOPS3.344 TFLOPS
ROPs6432
TMUs176112

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 2.1 x16PCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length307 mm275 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2 x 8-pin1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-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 amount8 GB3 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth640 GB/s240 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 Connectors1x DVI, 4x mini-DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-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++

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 12DirectX® 12
Shader Model6.35.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan++

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 295X2 22.31
+54.9%
R9 280 14.40

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 295X2 8608
+55%
R9 280 5555

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

R9 295X2 21197
+164%
R9 280 8020

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 22.31 14.40
Recency 29 April 2014 4 March 2014
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 3 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 500 Watt 200 Watt

R9 295X2 has a 54.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 month, and a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount.

R9 280, on the other hand, has 150% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 295X2 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 295X2
Radeon R9 295X2
AMD Radeon R9 280
Radeon R9 280

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.


3.7 94 votes

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3.6 384 votes

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Questions & comments

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