Radeon RX 480 vs R9 295X2

Place in the ranking	253	252
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.37	15.63
Power efficiency	3.07	10.27
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Vesuvius	Ellesmere
GCN generation	no data	4th Gen
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	reference
Release date	29 April 2014 (10 years ago)	29 June 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$1,499	$229

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 480 has 559% 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 cores	2816	2304
Compute units	no data	36
Core clock speed	no data	1120 MHz
Boost clock speed	1018 MHz	1266 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	500 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	179.2	182.3
Floating-point processing power	5.733 TFLOPS	5.834 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	32
TMUs	176	144

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 support	PCIe 2.1 x16	n/a
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	307 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2 x 8-pin	1x 6-pin
Bridgeless CrossFire	-	+

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	8000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	640 GB/s	224 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, 4x mini-DisplayPort	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	+
HDMI	+	2.0
DisplayPort support	-	1.4HDR

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	-	n/a
CrossFire	+	+
Enduro	-	n/a
FRTC	-	+
FreeSync	+	+
HD3D	+	n/a
LiquidVR	+	+
PowerTune	-	+
TressFX	+	+
TrueAudio	-	n/a
ZeroCore	-	+
UVD	+	+
VCE	-	+
DDMA audio	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	DirectX® 12
Shader Model	6.3	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.5
OpenCL	2.0	2.0
Vulkan	+	+
Mantle	-	n/a

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 22.30

RX 480 22.37
+0.3%

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 8573

RX 480 8600
+0.3%

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
+73.9%

RX 480 12186

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	75−80 −2.7%	77 +2.7%
1440p	50−55 −4%	52 +4%
4K	30−35 −16.7%	35 +16.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	19.99 −572%	2.97 +572%
1440p	29.98 −581%	4.40 +581%
4K	49.97 −664%	6.54 +664%

RX 480 has 572% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 480 has 581% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 480 has 664% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Elden Ring	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Metro Exodus	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Valorant	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Dota 2	52 +0%	52 +0%
Elden Ring	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Far Cry 5	51 +0%	51 +0%
Fortnite	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	78 +0%	78 +0%
Metro Exodus	16 +0%	16 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	78 +0%	78 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	34 +0%	34 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30 +0%	30 +0%
Valorant	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
World of Tanks	285 +0%	285 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	29 +0%	29 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Dota 2	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	64 +0%	64 +0%
Valorant	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	37 +0%	37 +0%
Elden Ring	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	37 +0%	37 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21 +0%	21 +0%
World of Tanks	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Metro Exodus	50 +0%	50 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Valorant	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Dota 2	36 +0%	36 +0%
Elden Ring	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	36 +0%	36 +0%
Metro Exodus	15 +0%	15 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	70 +0%	70 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	36 +0%	36 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Dota 2	88 +0%	88 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Fortnite	28 +0%	28 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Valorant	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%

This is how R9 295X2 and RX 480 compete in popular games:

RX 480 is 3% faster in 1080p
RX 480 is 4% faster in 1440p
RX 480 is 17% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	22.30	22.37
Recency	29 April 2014	29 June 2016
Chip lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	500 Watt	150 Watt

RX 480 has a 0.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 233.3% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 295X2 and Radeon RX 480.

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