Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile vs Radeon R9 280X

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 280X with GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile, including specs and performance data.

R9 280X
2013
3 GB GDDR5, 250 Watt
15.16
+20%

R9 280X outperforms Nvidia GTX 1050 3GB Mobile by a significant 20% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking351396
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.57no data
Power efficiency4.16no data
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameTahitino data
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date8 October 2013 (11 years ago)April 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 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 cores2048768
Core clock speedno data1366 MHz
Boost clock speed1000 MHz1442 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)250 Wattno data
Texture fill rate128.0no data
Floating-point processing power4.096 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs128no 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).

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 GB3 MB
Memory bus width384 Bit96 Bit
Memory clock speedno data1752 MHz
Memory bandwidth288 GB/s84 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, 1x DisplayPortno data
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-
DisplayPort support+-
G-SYNC support-+

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration+-
CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data
Multi-Projectionno data+
Multi Monitorno data+

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 12no data
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan++

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 280X 15.16
+20%
Nvidia GTX 1050 3GB Mobile 12.63

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 280X 8343
+30.3%
Nvidia GTX 1050 3GB Mobile 6401

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 HD64
+28%
50−55
−28%
4K31
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.67no data
4K9.65no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+33.3%
18−20
−33.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+25.9%
27−30
−25.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+22.5%
40−45
−22.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−33
+25%
24−27
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+33.3%
18−20
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+29.6%
27−30
−29.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
+36.7%
30−33
−36.7%
Forza Horizon 4 95−100
+22.5%
80−85
−22.5%
Hitman 3 27−30
+20.8%
24−27
−20.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
+28.3%
60−65
−28.3%
Metro Exodus 50−55
+27.5%
40−45
−27.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+36.7%
30−33
−36.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
+22.5%
40−45
−22.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+30%
60−65
−30%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+25.9%
27−30
−25.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+22.5%
40−45
−22.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−33
+25%
24−27
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+33.3%
18−20
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+29.6%
27−30
−29.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
+36.7%
30−33
−36.7%
Forza Horizon 4 95−100
+22.5%
80−85
−22.5%
Hitman 3 27−30
+20.8%
24−27
−20.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
+28.3%
60−65
−28.3%
Metro Exodus 50−55
+27.5%
40−45
−27.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+36.7%
30−33
−36.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
+22.5%
40−45
−22.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 110
+22.2%
90−95
−22.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+30%
60−65
−30%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+25.9%
27−30
−25.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−33
+25%
24−27
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+33.3%
18−20
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+29.6%
27−30
−29.6%
Forza Horizon 4 95−100
+22.5%
80−85
−22.5%
Hitman 3 27−30
+20.8%
24−27
−20.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
+28.3%
60−65
−28.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
+22.5%
40−45
−22.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+25%
16−18
−25%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+30%
60−65
−30%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+36.7%
30−33
−36.7%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
+20.8%
24−27
−20.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+27.8%
18−20
−27.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%
Forza Horizon 4 75−80
+21.5%
65−70
−21.5%
Hitman 3 18−20
+28.6%
14−16
−28.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%
Metro Exodus 27−30
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 90−95
+24%
75−80
−24%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Hitman 3 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 75−80
+26.7%
60−65
−26.7%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+40%
10−11
−40%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 20−22
+25%
16−18
−25%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+25%
12−14
−25%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+40%
10−11
−40%

This is how R9 280X and Nvidia GTX 1050 3GB Mobile compete in popular games:

  • R9 280X is 28% faster in 1080p
  • R9 280X is 29% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 15.16 12.63
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 3 MB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm

R9 280X has a 20% higher aggregate performance score, and a 102300% higher maximum VRAM amount.

Nvidia GTX 1050 3GB Mobile, on the other hand, has a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon R9 280X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 280X is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile 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

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


AMD Radeon R9 280X
Radeon R9 280X
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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

Community ratings

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


4.1 695 votes

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.9 114 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Mobile on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.