GeForce GTX 950M vs GTX 280

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GTX 280 GTX 285 GTX 285 Mac Edition GTX 285 X2
VS
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940MX 945M GTX 850A GTX 850M GTX 860M GTX 860M OEM GTX 950A GTX 950M GTX 950M Mac Edition GTX 960A GTX 960M

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 280 with GeForce GTX 950M, including specs and performance data.

GTX 280
2008
1 GB GDDR3, 236 Watt
3.21

GTX 950M outperforms GTX 280 by a whopping 101% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

GTX 280 GTX 280
GTX 950M GTX 950M

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking746574
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.12no data
Power efficiency0.986.16
ArchitectureTesla 2.0 (2007−2013)Maxwell (2014−2017)
GPU code nameGT200GM107
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date16 June 2008 (16 years ago)13 March 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$649 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

no data

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 cores240640
Core clock speed602 MHz914 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1124 MHz
Number of transistors1,400 million1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology65 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)236 Watt75 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature105 °Cno data
Texture fill rate48.1644.96
Floating-point processing power0.6221 TFLOPS1.439 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs8040

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 sizeno datamedium sized
Bus supportno dataPCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Length267 mmno data
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinno data
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 typeGDDR3DDR3 or GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB4 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1107 MHz1000 or 2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth141.7 GB/s32 or 80 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 ConnectorsHDTVDual Link DVINo outputs
Multi monitor support+no data
VGA аnalog display supportno data+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) supportno data+
HDMI-+
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIS/PDIFno data

Supported technologies

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

GameStream-+
GeForce ShadowPlay-+
GPU Boostno data2.0
GameWorks-+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder-+
Optimus-+
BatteryBoost-+
Anselno data+

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX11.1 (10_0)12 (11_0)
Shader Model4.05.1
OpenGL2.14.5
OpenCL1.11.2
VulkanN/A1.1.126
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.

GTX 280 3.21
GTX 950M 6.44
+101%

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 950M 2578
+101%

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 HD14−16
−107%
29
+107%
1440p10−12
−110%
21
+110%
4K7−8
−129%
16
+129%

Cost per frame, $

1080p46.36no data
1440p64.90no data
4K92.71no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 18
+0%
18
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Metro Exodus 22
+0%
22
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 48
+0%
48
+0%
Valorant 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Dota 2 38
+0%
38
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Fortnite 30
+0%
30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 20
+0%
20
+0%
Metro Exodus 10
+0%
10
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55
+0%
55
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+0%
20
+0%
Valorant 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
World of Tanks 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 15
+0%
15
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Dota 2 67
+0%
67
+0%
Far Cry 5 26
+0%
26
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 17
+0%
17
+0%
Valorant 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
World of Tanks 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 19
+0%
19
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Metro Exodus 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Valorant 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Dota 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Dota 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 9
+0%
9
+0%
Fortnite 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Valorant 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

This is how GTX 280 and GTX 950M compete in popular games:

  • GTX 950M is 107% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 950M is 110% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 950M is 129% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 3.21 6.44
Recency 16 June 2008 13 March 2015
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 4 GB
Chip lithography 65 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 236 Watt 75 Watt

GTX 950M has a 100.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 132.1% more advanced lithography process, and 214.7% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 950M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 280 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 950M is a notebook one.

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 280
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
GeForce GTX 950M
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Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

GTX 280 GeForce GTX 280
vs
GTX 660 OEM GeForce GTX 660 OEM
GTX 950M GeForce GTX 950M
vs
GTX 950A GeForce GTX 950A
GTX 280 GeForce GTX 280
vs
ATI HD 4870 X2 Radeon HD 4870 X2
GTX 260 NVIDIA GTX 260
vs
R5 M240 M240
GTX 260 NVIDIA GTX 260
vs
HD 8550G 8550G
GTX 260 NVIDIA GTX 260
vs
Quadro4 400 NVS PCI 400 NVS PCI
GTX 260 NVIDIA GTX 260
vs
7025 + nForce 630a 7025 + nForce 630a
GTX 260 NVIDIA GTX 260
vs
RX 5700 5700
GTX 280 GeForce GTX 280
vs
GTX 660M GeForce GTX 660M
GTX 280 NVIDIA GTX 280
vs
R7 M265 M265
GTX 280 NVIDIA GTX 280
vs
ATI HD 4200 4200
GTX 280 NVIDIA GTX 280
vs
R7 350X OEM 350X OEM
GTX 280 NVIDIA GTX 280
vs
HD 6450 6450

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.

3.6 109 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 280 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.5 1136 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 950M on a scale of 1 to 5:

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  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can give us your opinion about GeForce GTX 280 or GeForce GTX 950M, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.