Radeon R7 250X vs R9 280X

Place in performance ranking	327	557
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation	11.93	0.60
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code name	Thaiti XTL	Cape Verde
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	reference
Release date	8 October 2013 (10 years ago)	13 February 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	$99
Current price	$11.99 (0x MSRP)	$207 (2.1x MSRP)

Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 280X has 1888% better value for money than R7 250X.

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 cores	2048	640
Boost clock speed	1000 MHz	1000 MHz
Number of transistors	4,313 million	1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	80 Watt
Texture fill rate	128.0	38.00
Floating-point performance	4,096 gflops	1,216 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 support	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	275 mm	210 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	1 x 6-pin

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 type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	1625 MHz
Memory bandwidth	288 GB/s	96 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

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 Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	1
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	-

Supported GPU Technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	-
CrossFire	1	1
Enduro	-	-
FreeSync	1	1
HD3D	+	-
LiquidVR	1	no data
PowerTune	-	-
TressFX	1	no data
TrueAudio	+	-
ZeroCore	-	-
UVD	+	no data
DDMA audio	+	+

API Compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	DirectX® 12
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	+	no data
Mantle	-	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 15.08
+157%

R7 250X 5.86

R9 280X outperforms R7 250X by 157% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

R9 280X 5837
+157%

R7 250X 2268

R9 280X outperforms R7 250X by 157% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R9 280X 8343
+192%

R7 250X 2860

R9 280X outperforms R7 250X by 192% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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 HD	65 +171%	24−27 −171%
4K	31 +158%	12−14 −158%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24

+188%

8−9
−188%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +178%	9−10 −178%
Battlefield 5	50−55 +183%	18−20 −183%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +179%	14−16 −179%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +179%	14−16 −179%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 +193%	14−16 −193%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +194%	18−20 −194%
Hitman 3	40−45 +193%	14−16 −193%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +178%	9−10 −178%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 +180%	10−11 −180%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +178%	9−10 −178%
Battlefield 5	50−55 +183%	18−20 −183%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +179%	14−16 −179%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +179%	14−16 −179%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 +193%	14−16 −193%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +194%	18−20 −194%
Hitman 3	40−45 +193%	14−16 −193%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +178%	9−10 −178%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	48 +167%	18−20 −167%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 +180%	10−11 −180%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +178%	9−10 −178%
Battlefield 5	50−55 +183%	18−20 −183%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +188%	8−9 −188%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +179%	14−16 −179%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 +193%	14−16 −193%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +194%	18−20 −194%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20 +186%	7−8 −186%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 +180%	10−11 −180%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +175%	8−9 −175%
Hitman 3	24−27 +167%	9−10 −167%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 +163%	8−9 −163%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +180%	5−6 −180%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 +175%	4−5 −175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 +171%	7−8 −171%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +167%	6−7 −167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +200%	4−5 −200%
Battlefield 5	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Far Cry 5	24−27 +178%	9−10 −178%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 +180%	10−11 −180%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 +200%	10−11 −200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +200%	5−6 −200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
Hitman 3	14−16 +180%	5−6 −180%
Horizon Zero Dawn	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +180%	5−6 −180%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
Battlefield 5	16−18 +167%	6−7 −167%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3	0−1
Far Cry 5	12−14 +200%	4−5 −200%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +200%	5−6 −200%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +163%	8−9 −163%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%