Radeon R9 M395X Mac Edition vs R9 280

Primary Details

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

Place in performance ranking334not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation10.99no data
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)GCN 3.0 (2014−2017)
GPU code nameTahitiAmethyst
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date4 March 2014 (10 years ago)5 May 2015 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 no data
Current price$91 (0.3x MSRP)no data

Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores17922048
Core clock speedno data909 MHz
Boost clock speed933 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 million5,000 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt250 Watt
Texture fill rate104.5116.4
Floating-point performance3,344 gflops3,723 gflops

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 supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotMXM Module
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pinNone

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
Memory bus width384 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz5460 MHz
Memory bandwidth240 GB/s174.7 GB/s

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
Eyefinity1no data
HDMI+no data
DisplayPort support-no data

Supported GPU Technologies

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

AppAcceleration-no data
CrossFire1no data
Enduro-no data
FreeSync1no data
HD3D+no data
LiquidVR1no data
PowerTune-no data
TressFX1no data
TrueAudio+no data
ZeroCore-no data
UVD+no data
DDMA audio+no data

API Compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (12_0)
Shader Model5.16.3
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan+1.2.131
Mantle-no data

Pros & Cons Summary


Recency 4 March 2014 5 May 2015
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 250 Watt

We couldn't decide between Radeon R9 280 and Radeon R9 M395X Mac Edition. We've got no test results to judge.


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

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AMD Radeon R9 280
Radeon R9 280
AMD Radeon R9 M395X Mac Edition
Radeon R9 M395X Mac Edition

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Community Ratings

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