GeForce RTX 2070 vs Radeon R9 280

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 280 and GeForce RTX 2070, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 280
2014, $279
3 GB GDDR5, 200 Watt
13.22

RTX 2070 outperforms R9 280 by a whopping 190% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking432138
Place by popularitynot in top-10074
Cost-effectiveness evaluation4.7522.45
Power efficiency5.1517.07
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)Turing (2018−2022)
GPU code nameTahitiTU106
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date4 March 2014 (12 years ago)17 October 2018 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 $499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

RTX 2070 has 373% better value for money than R9 280.

Performance to price scatter graph

Currently popular graphics cards are shown for comparison.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Real power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially if overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores17922304
Core clock speedno data1410 MHz
Boost clock speed933 MHz1620 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million10,800 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt175 Watt
Texture fill rate104.5233.3
Floating-point processing power3.344 TFLOPS7.465 TFLOPS
ROPs3264
TMUs112144
Tensor Coresno data288
Ray Tracing Coresno data36
L1 Cache448 KB2.3 MB
L2 Cache768 KB4 MB

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 mm229 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin1x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount3 GB8 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth240 GB/s448.0 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.

Display Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
G-SYNC support-+

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
VR Readyno data+

API and SDK support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.8
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.23.0
Vulkan+1.3
CUDA-7.5
DLSS-+

Synthetic benchmarks

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.

R9 280 13.22
RTX 2070 38.36
+190%

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 5532
Samples: 3842
RTX 2070 16051
+190%
Samples: 17246

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 280 8020
RTX 2070 23186
+189%

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 HD40−45
−66.9%
121
1440p27−3085
+215%
4K21−2462
+195%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.984.12
+40.9%
1440p10.335.87
+43.2%
4K13.298.05
+39.4%
  • RTX 2070 has 41% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RTX 2070 has 43% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RTX 2070 has 39% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Atomic Heart 110−120 110−120
Counter-Strike 2 210−220 210−220
Cyberpunk 2077 90−95 90−95

Full HD
Medium

Atomic Heart 110−120 110−120
Battlefield 5 126 126
Counter-Strike 2 210−220 210−220
Cyberpunk 2077 90−95 90−95
Far Cry 5 114 114
Fortnite 174 174
Forza Horizon 4 142 142
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 211 211
Valorant 258 258

Full HD
High

Atomic Heart 110−120 110−120
Battlefield 5 117 117
Counter-Strike 2 210−220 210−220
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 270−280 270−280
Cyberpunk 2077 90−95 90−95
Dota 2 138 138
Far Cry 5 110 110
Far Cry 6 110−120 110−120
Fortnite 162 162
Forza Horizon 4 135 135
Grand Theft Auto V 127 127
Metro Exodus 78 78
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 202 202
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 158 158
Valorant 248 248

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 108 108
Cyberpunk 2077 90−95 90−95
Dota 2 130 130
Far Cry 5 104 104
Forza Horizon 4 110 110
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 147 147
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 87 87
Valorant 184 184

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 156 156

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 95−100 95−100
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 270−280 270−280
Far Cry 6 70−75 70−75
Grand Theft Auto V 80−85 80−85
Metro Exodus 50 50
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180 170−180
Valorant 243 243

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 88 88
Cyberpunk 2077 45−50 45−50
Far Cry 5 88 88
Forza Horizon 4 93 93
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 75−80 75−80

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 109 109

4K
High

Atomic Heart 30−35 30−35
Counter-Strike 2 45−50 45−50
Far Cry 6 30−35 30−35
Grand Theft Auto V 86 86
Metro Exodus 32 32
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 63 63
Valorant 231 231

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 55 55
Counter-Strike 2 45−50 45−50
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24 21−24
Dota 2 116 116
Far Cry 5 49 49
Forza Horizon 4 63 63
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 61 61

4K
Epic

Fortnite 53 53

This is how R9 280 and RTX 2070 compete in popular games:

  • RTX 2070 is 203% faster in 1080p
  • RTX 2070 is 215% faster in 1440p
  • RTX 2070 is 195% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 64 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 13.22 38.36
Recency 4 March 2014 17 October 2018
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 8 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 12 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 175 Watt

RTX 2070 has a 190% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 167% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 57% more advanced lithography process, and 13% lower power consumption.

The GeForce RTX 2070 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 280 in performance tests.

Other comparisons

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.


3.6 445 votes

Rate Radeon R9 280 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.1 4439 votes

Rate GeForce RTX 2070 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Comments

Here you can give us your opinion about Radeon R9 280 or GeForce RTX 2070, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.