Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire vs R9 280

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8180 8210 8210E 8240 Mobile IGP 8250 8280 Mobile IGP 8280E 8310E 8310G 8330 Mobile IGP 8330E 8350G 8400 Mobile IGP 8400E 8410G 8450G 8450G + Radeon HD 8570M Dual Graphics 8510G 8530M 8550G 8550G + HD 8670M Dual Graphics 8550G + HD 8750M Dual Graphics 8550M 8570A 8570M 8590M 8610G 8610G IGP 8650G 8650G + HD 8570M Dual Graphics 8650G + HD 8670M Dual Graphics 8650M 8670A 8670M 8690M 8730A 8730M 8750A 8750M 8770M 8790M 8830M 8850M 8870M 8950M 8970M 8970M Crossfire

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 280 with Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire, including specs and performance data.

R9 280
2014, $279
3 GB GDDR5, 200 Watt
13.11

HD 8970M Crossfire outperforms R9 280 by a significant 29% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

Share:
R9 280 R9 280
HD 8970M Crossfire HD 8970M Crossfire

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking415350
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation4.66no data
Power efficiency5.086.55
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code nameTahitiNeptune CF
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date4 March 2014 (11 years ago)1 May 2012 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

no data

Performance to price scatter graph

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 cores17922560
Core clock speedno data850 MHz
Boost clock speed933 MHz900 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt200 Watt
Texture fill rate104.5no data
Floating-point processing power3.344 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs112no data
L1 Cache448 KBno data
L2 Cache768 KBno data

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 datalarge
Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pinno 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount3 GBno data
Memory bus width384 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth240 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.

Display Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortno data
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

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

API and SDK support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1211.1
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan+-

Synthetic benchmarks

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.

R9 280 13.11
HD 8970M Crossfire 16.90
+28.9%

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
HD 8970M Crossfire 10354
+29.1%

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 HD50−55
−38%
69
+38%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.58no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Counter-Strike 2 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

Full HD
Medium

Battlefield 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Fortnite 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

Full HD
High

Battlefield 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 128
+0%
128
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Dota 2 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Fortnite 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Metro Exodus 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Dota 2 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

4K
High

Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Valorant 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Dota 2 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

This is how R9 280 and HD 8970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

  • HD 8970M Crossfire is 38% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 64 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 13.11 16.90
Recency 4 March 2014 1 May 2012

R9 280 has an age advantage of 1 year.

HD 8970M Crossfire, on the other hand, has a 28.9% higher aggregate performance score.

The Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 280 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 280 is a desktop graphics card while Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire is a notebook one.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.

AMD Radeon R9 280
Radeon R9 280
AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
Like
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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.

R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
GTX 690 GeForce GTX 690
HD 8970M Crossfire Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
vs
GTX 1650 Mobile GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
HD 7990 Radeon HD 7990
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
HD 8550G + HD 8750M Dual Graphics Radeon HD 8550G + HD 8750M Dual Graphics
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
R7 M340 Radeon R7 M340
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
HD 8650G + HD 8670M Dual Graphics Radeon HD 8650G + HD 8670M Dual Graphics
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
HD 8450G + HD 8570M Dual Graphics Radeon HD 8450G + Radeon HD 8570M Dual Graphics
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
HD 8410G Radeon HD 8410G
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
8200M G GeForce 8200M G
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 3150 Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 3150
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900 Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
HD 8550 OEM Radeon HD 8550 OEM
R9 280 Radeon R9 280
vs
FX 5700 LE GeForce FX 5700 LE

Community ratings

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

3.6 439 votes

Rate Radeon R9 280 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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4.8 4 votes

Rate Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire on a scale of 1 to 5:

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  • 3
  • 4
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Comments

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