Radeon R9 280X vs R9 285

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Radeon R9 280 Radeon R9 280X2 Radeon R9 285 Radeon R9 285X
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Radeon HD 7870 XT Radeon HD 7950 Radeon HD 7950 Boost Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition Radeon HD 7950 Monica BIOS 1 Radeon HD 7970 Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Radeon HD 8950 OEM Radeon HD 8970 OEM Radeon R9 280 Radeon R9 280X Radeon R9 280X2

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 285 and Radeon R9 280X, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 285
2014
2 GB GDDR5, 190 Watt
14.95
+14.5%

R9 285 outperforms R9 280X by a moderate 14% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

Share:
R9 285 R9 285
R9 280X R9 280X

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking332367
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.594.82
Power efficiency6.234.14
ArchitectureGCN 3.0 (2014−2019)GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code nameTongaTahiti
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date2 September 2014 (10 years ago)8 October 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$249 $299

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

R9 285 has 57% better value for money than R9 280X.

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 cores17922048
Core clock speed918 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data1000 MHz
Number of transistors5,000 million4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)190 Watt250 Watt
Texture fill rate102.8128.0
Floating-point processing power3.29 TFLOPS4.096 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs112128

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 supportno dataPCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length221 mm275 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB3 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth176.0 GB/s288 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 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.22x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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 audiono data+

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)DirectX® 12
Shader Model6.55.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.11.2
Vulkan1.2.170+

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.

R9 285 14.95
+14.5%
R9 280X 13.06

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

R9 285 6680
+14.4%
R9 280X 5837

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 285 8570
+2.7%
R9 280X 8343

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 HD70−75
+7.7%
65
−7.7%
4K35−40
+12.9%
31
−12.9%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.56
+29.3%
4.60
−29.3%
4K7.11
+35.6%
9.65
−35.6%
  • R9 285 has 29% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • R9 285 has 36% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Fortnite 158
+0%
158
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 190−200
+0%
190−200
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Dota 2 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Fortnite 60
+0%
60
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 54
+0%
54
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Metro Exodus 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 48
+0%
48
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Dota 2 137
+0%
137
+0%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 29
+0%
29
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+0%
20
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 48
+0%
48
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Valorant 140−150
+0%
140−150
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Metro Exodus 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Valorant 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Dota 2 68
+0%
68
+0%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

This is how R9 285 and R9 280X compete in popular games:

  • R9 285 is 8% faster in 1080p
  • R9 285 is 13% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 66 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 14.95 13.06
Recency 2 September 2014 8 October 2013
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 3 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 190 Watt 250 Watt

R9 285 has a 14.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 months, and 31.6% lower power consumption.

R9 280X, on the other hand, has a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The Radeon R9 285 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 280X in performance tests.

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 285
Radeon R9 285
AMD Radeon R9 280X
Radeon R9 280X
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Other comparisons

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

R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
RTX 3050 4 GB GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB
R9 280X Radeon R9 280X
vs
GTX 770 GeForce GTX 770
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Radeon 780M Radeon 780M
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vs
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R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
R5 M330 R5 M330
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vs
HD Graphics 4600 HD Graphics 4600
R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
R9 380 R9 380
R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
GTX 960 GTX 960
R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 Ti
R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
GTX 680 GTX 680
R9 285 Radeon R9 285
vs
HD 7970 HD 7970

Community ratings

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

4.2 79 votes

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4.1 719 votes

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

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Comments

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