GeForce GTX 470 vs GTX 280

Place in the ranking	740	517
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.12	1.33
Power efficiency	0.97	2.57
Architecture	Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	GT200	GF100
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	16 June 2008 (16 years ago)	26 March 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$649	$349

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 470 has 1008% better value for money than GTX 280.

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	240	448
Core clock speed	602 MHz	607 MHz
Number of transistors	1,400 million	3,100 million
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	236 Watt	215 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	105 °C	105 °C
Texture fill rate	48.16	34.05
Floating-point processing power	0.6221 TFLOPS	1.089 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	40
TMUs	80	56

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	no data	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	267 mm	241 mm
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	2x 6-pin
SLI options	+	+

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	GDDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	1280 MB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	320 Bit
Memory clock speed	1107 MHz	1674 MHz (3348 data rate)
Memory bandwidth	141.7 GB/s	133.9 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	HDTVDual Link DVI	Two Dual Link DVIMini HDMI
Multi monitor support	+	+
HDMI	-	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	S/PDIF	Internal

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	4.0	5.1
OpenGL	2.1	4.2
OpenCL	1.1	1.1
Vulkan	N/A	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.

GTX 280 3.33

GTX 470 8.07
+142%

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.

GTX 280 1285

GTX 470 3110
+142%

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:

900p	21−24 −162%	55 +162%
Full HD	24−27 −167%	64 +167%
1200p	21−24 −152%	53 +152%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

27.04

5.45

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

12−14

+0%

12−14

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Battlefield 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Battlefield 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

+0%

21−24

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Hitman 3	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

+0%

14−16

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Hitman 3	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9

+0%

8−9

+0%

This is how GTX 280 and GTX 470 compete in popular games:

GTX 470 is 162% faster in 900p
GTX 470 is 167% faster in 1080p
GTX 470 is 152% faster in 1200p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.33	8.07
Recency	16 June 2008	26 March 2010
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	1280 MB
Chip lithography	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	236 Watt	215 Watt

GTX 470 has a 142.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 25% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 62.5% more advanced lithography process, and 9.8% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 470 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280 in performance tests.

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