GeForce GTX 860M vs Radeon R9 280

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 280 with GeForce GTX 860M, including specs and performance data.

R9 280
2014
3 GB GDDR5, 200 Watt
14.45
+82.4%

R9 280 outperforms GTX 860M by an impressive 82% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking365522
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.35no data
Power efficiency4.997.28
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Maxwell (2014−2017)
GPU code nameTahitiGM107
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date4 March 2014 (10 years ago)13 January 2014 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

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 cores17921152 or 640
Core clock speedno data797 MHz
Boost clock speed933 MHz1085 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt75 Watt
Texture fill rate104.543.40
Floating-point processing power3.344 TFLOPS1.389 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs11240

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 supportPCIe 3.0PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pinNone
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount3 GB4 GB
Standard memory configurationno dataGDDR5
Memory bus width384 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHzUp to 2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth240 GB/s80.0 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
Eyefinity+-
eDP 1.2 signal supportno dataUp to 3840x2160
LVDS signal supportno dataUp to 1920x1200
VGA аnalog display supportno dataUp to 2048x1536
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) supportno dataUp to 3840x2160
HDMI++
HDCP content protection-+
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI-+
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming-+

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
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder-+
Optimus-+
Ansel-+

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.5
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan+1.1.126
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. 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.

R9 280 14.45
+82.4%
GTX 860M 7.92

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 5556
+82.6%
GTX 860M 3043

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
+105%
GTX 860M 3904

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:

900p160−170
+75.8%
91
−75.8%
Full HD65−70
+80.6%
36
−80.6%
4K24−27
+71.4%
14
−71.4%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.29no data
4K11.63no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Elden Ring 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Dota 2 17
+0%
17
+0%
Elden Ring 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Fortnite 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 26
+0%
26
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24
+0%
24
+0%
Valorant 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
World of Tanks 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Dota 2 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Valorant 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Elden Ring 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
World of Tanks 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Valorant 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Dota 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Elden Ring 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Metro Exodus 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Dota 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Fortnite 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Valorant 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

This is how R9 280 and GTX 860M compete in popular games:

  • R9 280 is 76% faster in 900p
  • R9 280 is 81% faster in 1080p
  • R9 280 is 71% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.45 7.92
Recency 4 March 2014 13 January 2014
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 75 Watt

R9 280 has a 82.4% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 1 month.

GTX 860M, on the other hand, has a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 166.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 280 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 860M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 280 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 860M is a notebook one.


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

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon R9 280
Radeon R9 280
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M
GeForce GTX 860M

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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


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Questions & comments

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