Radeon HD 7970M X2 vs R9 280X

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking404not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation4.86no data
Power efficiency4.28no data
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code nameTahitiWimbledon
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date8 October 2013 (12 years ago)24 April 2012 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 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 cores20481280 ×2
Core clock speedno data850 MHz
Boost clock speed1000 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 million2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)250 Watt200 Watt
Texture fill rate128.068.00 ×2
Floating-point processing power4.096 TFLOPS2.176 TFLOPS ×2
ROPs3232 ×2
TMUs12880 ×2
L1 Cache512 KB320 KB
L2 Cache768 KB512 KB

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-slotno data
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 GB2 GB ×2
Memory bus width384 Bit256 Bit ×2
Memory clock speedno data1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth288 GB/s153.6 GB/s ×2
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, 1x DisplayPortPortable Device Dependent
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-
DisplayPort 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

API and SDK support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (11_1)
Shader Model5.16.5 (5.1)
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.1 (1.2)
Vulkan+1.2.170

Pros & cons summary


Recency 8 October 2013 24 April 2012
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 2 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 250 Watt 200 Watt

R9 280X has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount.

HD 7970M X2, on the other hand, has 25% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between Radeon R9 280X and Radeon HD 7970M X2. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that Radeon R9 280X is a desktop graphics card while Radeon HD 7970M X2 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 280X
Radeon R9 280X
AMD Radeon HD 7970M X2
Radeon HD 7970M X2

Other comparisons

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.


4.1 752 votes

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
1 1 vote

Rate Radeon HD 7970M X2 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Comments

Here you can give us your opinion about Radeon R9 280X or Radeon HD 7970M X2, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.