Radeon RX 6500 vs R9 280X

Place in performance ranking	331	272
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	11.93	no data
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	no data
GPU code name	Thaiti XTL	no data
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	8 October 2013 (10 years ago)	no data
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	no data
Current price	$11.99 (0x 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 cores	2048	no data
Boost clock speed	1000 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	4,313 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	no data
Texture fill rate	128.0	no data
Floating-point performance	4,096 gflops	no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on Radeon R9 280X and Radeon RX 6500 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data
Length	275 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin	no 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 type	GDDR5	no data
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	no data
Memory bus width	384 Bit	no data
Memory bandwidth	288 GB/s	no data
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	no data
Eyefinity	+	no data
HDMI	+	no data
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	no data
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.6	no data
OpenCL	1.2	no data
Vulkan	+	no data
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 15.10

RX 6500 19.26
+27.5%

RX 6500 outperforms R9 280X by 28% 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

RX 6500 7448
+27.6%

RX 6500 outperforms R9 280X by 28% 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 −23.1%	80−85 +23.1%
4K	34 −17.6%	40−45 +17.6%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

24−27

−29.2%

30−35
+29.2%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −25.8%	35−40 +25.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −32%	30−35 +32%
Battlefield 5	45−50 −28.6%	60−65 +28.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 −27.3%	40−45 +27.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −29.2%	30−35 +29.2%
Far Cry 5	40−45 −19.5%	45−50 +19.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 −26.2%	50−55 +26.2%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −23.5%	60−65 +23.5%
Hitman 3	35−40 −31.4%	45−50 +31.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −28.6%	60−65 +28.6%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −19.6%	55−60 +19.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 −26.2%	50−55 +26.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −31%	55−60 +31%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 −28.6%	35−40 +28.6%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −25.8%	35−40 +25.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −32%	30−35 +32%
Battlefield 5	45−50 −28.6%	60−65 +28.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 −27.3%	40−45 +27.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −29.2%	30−35 +29.2%
Far Cry 5	40−45 −19.5%	45−50 +19.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45 −26.2%	50−55 +26.2%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −23.5%	60−65 +23.5%
Hitman 3	35−40 −31.4%	45−50 +31.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −28.6%	60−65 +28.6%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −26.1%	55−60 +26.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 −26.2%	50−55 +26.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −31%	55−60 +31%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	48 +17.1%	40−45 −17.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 −28.6%	35−40 +28.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 −25.8%	35−40 +25.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −32%	30−35 +32%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 −21.2%	40−45 +21.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −29.2%	30−35 +29.2%
Far Cry 5	40−45 −19.5%	45−50 +19.5%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −23.5%	60−65 +23.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −22.4%	60−65 +22.4%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −19.6%	55−60 +19.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20 −105%	40−45 +105%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 −28.6%	35−40 +28.6%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

−19%

50−55
+19%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −20.7%	35−40 +20.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −25%	35−40 +25%
Hitman 3	21−24 −27.3%	27−30 +27.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 −25%	20−22 +25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −41.7%	16−18 +41.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −26.3%	24−27 +26.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −37.5%	10−12 +37.5%
Far Cry 5	24−27 −28%	30−35 +28%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −27.6%	35−40 +27.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 −12.9%	35−40 +12.9%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 −44.4%	12−14 +44.4%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry 5	30−35 −25%	40−45 +25%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −20%	18−20 +20%
Hitman 3	10−12 −36.4%	14−16 +36.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 −31.3%	21−24 +31.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	9−10 −44.4%	12−14 +44.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 −42.9%	20−22 +42.9%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −33.3%	12−14 +33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
Battlefield 5	16−18 −37.5%	21−24 +37.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −20%	12−14 +20%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −100%	4−5 +100%
Forza Horizon 4	20−22 −30%	24−27 +30%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Metro Exodus	14−16 −14.3%	16−18 +14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 −33.3%	8−9 +33.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

−14.3%

16−18
+14.3%

This is how R9 280X and RX 6500 compete in popular games:

RX 6500 is 23% faster in 1080p
RX 6500 is 18% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the R9 280X is 17% faster than the RX 6500.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6500 is 105% faster than the R9 280X.

All in all, in popular games: