Radeon RX 550X vs R9 280X

Place in performance ranking	327	560
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	11.93	2.33
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Thaiti XTL	Lexa
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	8 October 2013 (10 years ago)	16 December 2018 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	no data
Current price	$11.99 (0x MSRP)	$259

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 280X has 412% better value for money than RX 550X.

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	512
Core clock speed	no data	1100 MHz
Boost clock speed	1000 MHz	1183 MHz
Number of transistors	4,313 million	2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	50 Watt
Texture fill rate	128.0	37.86
Floating-point performance	4,096 gflops	1,211 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	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	275 mm	145 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	None

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	4 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	6000 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, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	no data
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	no data

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	no data
CrossFire	1	no data
Enduro	-	no data
FreeSync	1	no data
HD3D	+	no data
LiquidVR	1	no data
PowerTune	-	no data
TressFX	1	no 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.

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	+	1.2.131
Mantle	-	no data

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
+159%

RX 550X 5.82

R9 280X outperforms RX 550X by 159% 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
+159%

RX 550X 2252

R9 280X outperforms RX 550X by 159% in Passmark.

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 +210%	10−12 −210%

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%

This is how R9 280X and RX 550X compete in popular games:

R9 280X is 171% faster than RX 550X in 1080p
R9 280X is 210% faster than RX 550X in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	15.08	5.82
Recency	8 October 2013	16 December 2018
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	50 Watt