GeForce GTX 280M vs 940MX
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce 940MX and GeForce GTX 280M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
940MX outperforms GTX 280M by a whopping 164% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 698 | 980 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 11.74 | 1.36 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2017) | Tesla (2006−2010) |
| GPU code name | GM107 | G92 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 28 June 2016 (8 years ago) | 3 March 2009 (15 years ago) |
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 | 512 | 128 |
| Core clock speed | 795 MHz | 585 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 861 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 1,870 million | 754 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 65 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 23 Watt | 75 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 27.55 | 37.44 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.8817 TFLOPS | 0.3745 TFLOPS |
| Gigaflops | no data | 562 |
| ROPs | 8 | 16 |
| TMUs | 32 | 64 |
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 | medium sized | large |
| Bus support | PCI Express 3.0 | PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | MXM-IV |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | no data |
| SLI options | - | + |
| MXM Type | no data | MXM 3.0 Type-B |
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 | DDR3, GDDR5 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1253 MHz | Up to 950 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 40.1 GB/s | 61 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 | No outputs | HDMIDual Link DVISingle Link DVIDisplayPortLVDSVGA |
| HDMI | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | S/PDIF |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| GPU Boost | 2.0 | no data |
| Optimus | + | - |
| GameWorks | + | - |
| Power management | no data | 8.0 |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | N/A |
| CUDA | + | + |
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.
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.
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 | 17
+183%
| 6−7
−183%
|
| 4K | 10
+233%
| 3−4
−233%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 11
+83.3%
|
6−7
−83.3%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 14
+180%
|
5−6
−180%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 9−10
+125%
|
4−5
−125%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 11
+450%
|
2−3
−450%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 10−12
+175%
|
4−5
−175%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 71
+1675%
|
4−5
−1675%
|
| Hitman 3 | 9−10
+50%
|
6−7
−50%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 27−30
+80%
|
14−16
−80%
|
| Metro Exodus | 7−8
+250%
|
2−3
−250%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+233%
|
3−4
−233%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 19
+138%
|
8−9
−138%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 40−45
+27.3%
|
30−35
−27.3%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 14
+133%
|
6−7
−133%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 10
+233%
|
3−4
−233%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 9−10
+125%
|
4−5
−125%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 11
+450%
|
2−3
−450%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 10−12
+175%
|
4−5
−175%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 41
+925%
|
4−5
−925%
|
| Hitman 3 | 9−10
+50%
|
6−7
−50%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 27−30
+80%
|
14−16
−80%
|
| Metro Exodus | 7−8
+250%
|
2−3
−250%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+233%
|
3−4
−233%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 14−16
+87.5%
|
8−9
−87.5%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30
+173%
|
10−12
−173%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 40−45
+27.3%
|
30−35
−27.3%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5
−20%
|
6−7
+20%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 9−10
+125%
|
4−5
−125%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8
+300%
|
2−3
−300%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 12
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
| Hitman 3 | 9−10
+50%
|
6−7
−50%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 11
−36.4%
|
14−16
+36.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 14−16
+87.5%
|
8−9
−87.5%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 7
−57.1%
|
10−12
+57.1%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 40−45
+27.3%
|
30−35
−27.3%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+233%
|
3−4
−233%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 7−8
+250%
|
2−3
−250%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 6−7
+200%
|
2−3
−200%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 4−5
+100%
|
2−3
−100%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Hitman 3 | 8−9
+14.3%
|
7−8
−14.3%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 9−10
+80%
|
5−6
−80%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 24−27
+243%
|
7−8
−243%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 8−9
+100%
|
4−5
−100%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Hitman 3 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Metro Exodus | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 3−4
+200%
|
1−2
−200%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 1−2 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
This is how GeForce 940MX and GTX 280M compete in popular games:
- GeForce 940MX is 183% faster in 1080p
- GeForce 940MX is 233% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GeForce 940MX is 1675% faster.
- in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 280M is 57% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- GeForce 940MX is ahead in 46 tests (94%)
- GTX 280M is ahead in 3 tests (6%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 3.94 | 1.49 |
| Recency | 28 June 2016 | 3 March 2009 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 65 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 23 Watt | 75 Watt |
GeForce 940MX has a 164.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 132.1% more advanced lithography process, and 226.1% lower power consumption.
The GeForce 940MX is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280M 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.
