GeForce GTX 280M SLI vs Radeon R9 M280X
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon R9 M280X and GeForce GTX 280M SLI, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 280M SLI outperforms R9 M280X by an impressive 63% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 869 | 727 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | GCN (2011−2017) | G9x (2007−2010) |
| GPU code name | Saturn XT | N10E-GTX |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 February 2015 (9 years ago) | 2 March 2009 (15 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 896 | 256 |
| Core clock speed | 900 MHz | 585 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,080 million | 1508 Million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 150 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 61.60 | no data |
| Floating-point performance | 1.971 gflops | no data |
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 | Not Listed | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | 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 | Not Listed | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 0 MB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | Not Listed | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | no data | 950 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 96 GB/s | no data |
| 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 | No outputs | no data |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| FreeSync | + | - |
| HD3D | + | - |
| PowerTune | + | - |
| DualGraphics | + | - |
| ZeroCore | + | - |
| Switchable graphics | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | DirectX® 11 | 10 |
| Shader Model | 6.3 | no data |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | no data |
| OpenCL | Not Listed | no data |
| Mantle | + | - |
| CUDA | - | + |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance 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.
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.
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 | 28
−60.7%
| 45−50
+60.7%
|
| 4K | 18
−50%
| 27−30
+50%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 7−8
−42.9%
|
10−11
+42.9%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 13
+117%
|
6−7
−117%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
−133%
|
7−8
+133%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
−80%
|
9−10
+80%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 9−10
−111%
|
18−20
+111%
|
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 18−20
−33.3%
|
24−27
+33.3%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−60%
|
8−9
+60%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 30
+131%
|
12−14
−131%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 7−8
−42.9%
|
10−11
+42.9%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 2−3
−200%
|
6−7
+200%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
−133%
|
7−8
+133%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 5−6
−80%
|
9−10
+80%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 9−10
−111%
|
18−20
+111%
|
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 18−20
−33.3%
|
24−27
+33.3%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−60%
|
8−9
+60%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 10−11
−30%
|
12−14
+30%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 39
+160%
|
14−16
−160%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 7−8
−42.9%
|
10−11
+42.9%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 3−4
−133%
|
7−8
+133%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 9−10
−111%
|
18−20
+111%
|
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 18−20
−33.3%
|
24−27
+33.3%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 10−11
−30%
|
12−14
+30%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 9
−66.7%
|
14−16
+66.7%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−60%
|
8−9
+60%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 3−4
−100%
|
6−7
+100%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 3−4
−66.7%
|
5−6
+66.7%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 2−3
−50%
|
3−4
+50%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3
−100%
|
4−5
+100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 6−7
−33.3%
|
8−9
+33.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 12−14
−66.7%
|
20−22
+66.7%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−40%
|
7−8
+40%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 0−1 | 2−3 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2
−100%
|
2−3
+100%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 0−1 | 1−2 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Forza Horizon 4 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
This is how R9 M280X and GTX 280M SLI compete in popular games:
- GTX 280M SLI is 61% faster in 1080p
- GTX 280M SLI is 50% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the R9 M280X is 160% faster.
- in Battlefield 5, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 280M SLI is 200% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- R9 M280X is ahead in 3 tests (5%)
- GTX 280M SLI is ahead in 47 tests (78%)
- there's a draw in 10 tests (17%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 2.11 | 3.44 |
| Recency | 1 February 2015 | 2 March 2009 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 55 nm |
R9 M280X has an age advantage of 5 years, and a 96.4% more advanced lithography process.
GTX 280M SLI, on the other hand, has a 63% higher aggregate performance score.
The GeForce GTX 280M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 M280X in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
