GeForce RTX 4090 vs GTX 280M

Place in performance ranking	932	1
Place by popularity	not in top-100	2
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation	0.16	15.05
Architecture	G9x (2007−2010)	Ada Lovelace
GPU code name	N10E-GTX	AD102-300-A1
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	2 March 2009 (15 years ago)	20 September 2022 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$1,599
Current price	$140	$1756 (1.1x MSRP)

Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RTX 4090 has 9306% better value for money than GTX 280M.

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	128	16384
CUDA cores	128	no data
Core clock speed	585 MHz	2235 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	2520 MHz
Number of transistors	754 million	76,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	450 Watt
Texture fill rate	38 billion/sec	1,290
Floating-point performance	374.5 gflops	no data
Gigaflops	562	no data

Form Factor & Compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 280M and GeForce RTX 4090 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop size	large	no data
Bus support	PCI-E 2.0	no data
Interface	MXM-IV	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	no data	304 mm
Width	no data	3-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 16-pin
SLI options	+	no data
MXM Type	MXM 3.0 Type-B	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	GDDR3	GDDR6X
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	24 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	Up to 950 MHz	21000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	61 GB/s	1,008 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	HDMIDual Link DVISingle Link DVIDisplayPortLVDSVGA	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	S/PDIF	no data

Supported GPU Technologies

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

Power management

8.0

no data

API Compatibility

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

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	4.0	6.6
OpenGL	2.1	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	3.0
Vulkan	N/A	1.3
CUDA	+	8.9

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.

GTX 280M 1.49

RTX 4090 100.00
+6611%

RTX 4090 outperforms GTX 280M by 6611% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 280M 575

RTX 4090 38714
+6633%

RTX 4090 outperforms GTX 280M by 6633% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 280M 6672

RTX 4090 137170
+1956%

RTX 4090 outperforms GTX 280M by 1956% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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	3−4 −8733%	265 +8733%
1440p	3−4 −6967%	212 +6967%
4K	2−3 −7400%	150 +7400%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

4−5

−5525%

225
+5525%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	0−1	235
Battlefield 5	0−1	190−200
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −1680%	170−180 +1680%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −5450%	222 +5450%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2 −31200%	300−350 +31200%
Hitman 3	2−3 −10850%	210−220 +10850%
Horizon Zero Dawn	1−2 −27400%	275 +27400%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 −4475%	180−190 +4475%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −4100%	294 +4100%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	0−1	221
Battlefield 5	0−1	190−200
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −1680%	170−180 +1680%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −5250%	214 +5250%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2 −31200%	300−350 +31200%
Hitman 3	2−3 −10850%	210−220 +10850%
Horizon Zero Dawn	1−2 −24900%	250 +24900%
Metro Exodus	2−3 −11200%	226 +11200%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 −4475%	180−190 +4475%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −4014%	288 +4014%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −14225%	573 +14225%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	0−1	179
Battlefield 5	0−1	190−200
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −5150%	210 +5150%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2 −31200%	300−350 +31200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −7525%	305 +7525%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 −4867%	140−150 +4867%
Hitman 3	4−5 −5225%	210−220 +5225%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 −2863%	237 +2863%
Red Dead Redemption 2	0−1	90−95
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 −5320%	271 +5320%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −15300%	154 +15300%
Far Cry 5	2−3 −9200%	186 +9200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2−3 −13300%	268 +13300%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 −4700%	95−100 +4700%
Hitman 3	2−3 −6300%	120−130 +6300%
Horizon Zero Dawn	7−8 −2571%	187 +2571%
Red Dead Redemption 2	0−1	60−65

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	0−1	120
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	120
Far Cry 5	3−4 −5667%	173 +5667%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 −2800%	145 +2800%

This is how GTX 280M and RTX 4090 compete in popular games:

RTX 4090 is 8733% faster than GTX 280M in 1080p
RTX 4090 is 6967% faster than GTX 280M in 1440p
RTX 4090 is 7400% faster than GTX 280M 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 RTX 4090 is 31200% faster than the GTX 280M.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RTX 4090 surpassed GTX 280M in all 32 of our tests.

Pros & Cons Summary

Performance score	1.49	100.00
Recency	2 March 2009	20 September 2022
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	24 GB
Chip lithography	55 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	450 Watt