Radeon R9 280X vs R9 380X

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 380X and Radeon R9 280X, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 380X
2015
4 GB GDDR5, 190 Watt
16.07
+5.9%

R9 380X outperforms R9 280X by a small 6% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking335351
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation8.185.59
Power efficiency5.844.19
ArchitectureGCN 3.0 (2014−2019)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameAntiguaTahiti
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferencereference
Release date19 November 2015 (9 years ago)8 October 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$229 $299

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 380X has 46% 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 cores20482048
Compute units32no data
Boost clock speed970 MHz1000 MHz
Number of transistors5,000 million4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)190 Watt250 Watt
Texture fill rate124.2128.0
Floating-point processing power3.973 TFLOPS4.096 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs128128

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 3.0PCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length221 mm275 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Form factorfull height / full lengthno data
Supplementary power connectors​2 x 6-pin1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Bridgeless CrossFire+-

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
High bandwidth memory (HBM)-no data
Maximum RAM amount4 GB3 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed970 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth182.4 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, 1x DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity++
Number of Eyefinity displays6no data
HDMI++
DisplayPort support++

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration-+
CrossFire++
FRTC+-
FreeSync++
HD3D++
LiquidVR++
PowerTune+-
TressFX-+
TrueAudio++
ZeroCore+-
UVD-+
VCE+-
DDMA audio++

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 12DirectX® 12
Shader Model6.35.1
OpenGL4.54.6
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan++
Mantle+-

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. 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 380X 16.07
+5.9%
R9 280X 15.18

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 380X 6180
+5.9%
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 380X 9510
+14%
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 HD65−70
+1.6%
64
−1.6%
4K30−35
−10%
33
+10%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.52
+32.6%
4.67
−32.6%
4K7.63
+18.7%
9.06
−18.7%
  • R9 380X has 33% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • R9 380X has 19% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Elden Ring 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Valorant 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Dota 2 36
+0%
36
+0%
Elden Ring 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Fortnite 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 54
+0%
54
+0%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 52
+0%
52
+0%
Valorant 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
World of Tanks 190−200
+0%
190−200
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Dota 2 137
+0%
137
+0%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Valorant 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Elden Ring 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
World of Tanks 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Valorant 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Dota 2 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Elden Ring 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Metro Exodus 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Dota 2 68
+0%
68
+0%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Fortnite 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

This is how R9 380X and R9 280X compete in popular games:

  • R9 380X is 2% faster in 1080p
  • R9 280X is 10% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 16.07 15.18
Recency 19 November 2015 8 October 2013
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 3 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 190 Watt 250 Watt

R9 380X has a 5.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 31.6% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 380X and Radeon R9 280X.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Radeon R9 380X
Radeon R9 380X
AMD Radeon R9 280X
Radeon R9 280X

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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


3.8 184 votes

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4.1 701 vote

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

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Questions & comments

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