GeForce GTX 280M SLI vs Radeon R9 M290X

Place in the ranking	500	729
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	5.89	1.59
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	G9x (2007−2010)
GPU code name	Neptune	N10E-GTX
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	9 January 2014 (11 years ago)	2 March 2009 (15 years ago)

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 cores	1280	256
Compute units	20	no data
Core clock speed	850 MHz	585 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,800 million	1508 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	72.00	no data
Floating-point processing power	2.304 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	32	no data
TMUs	80	no data

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).

Laptop size	large	large
Bus support	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	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	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	950 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	no data
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 Connectors	No outputs	no data
Eyefinity	+	-

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync	+	-
HD3D	+	-
PowerTune	+	-
DualGraphics	+	-
ZeroCore	+	-
Switchable graphics	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	10
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.4	no data
OpenCL	Not Listed	no data
Mantle	+	-
CUDA	-	+

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 M290X 8.54
+148%

GTX 280M SLI 3.45

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

R9 M290X 23961
+154%

GTX 280M SLI 9435

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

46
+156%

18−20

−156%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +54.5%	10−12 −54.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +143%	7−8 −143%
Elden Ring	24−27 +243%	7−8 −243%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +211%	9−10 −211%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +54.5%	10−12 −54.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +143%	7−8 −143%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +113%	16−18 −113%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +229%	7−8 −229%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +91.7%	12−14 −91.7%
Valorant	30−33 +650%	4−5 −650%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +211%	9−10 −211%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +54.5%	10−12 −54.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +143%	7−8 −143%
Dota 2	30−33 +200%	10−11 −200%
Elden Ring	24−27 +243%	7−8 −243%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +89.5%	18−20 −89.5%
Fortnite	50−55 +163%	18−20 −163%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +113%	16−18 −113%
Grand Theft Auto V	30−33 +200%	10−11 −200%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +229%	7−8 −229%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 +116%	30−35 −116%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +91.7%	12−14 −91.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35 +192%	12−14 −192%
Valorant	30−33 +650%	4−5 −650%
World of Tanks	120−130 +112%	60−65 −112%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +211%	9−10 −211%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +54.5%	10−12 −54.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +143%	7−8 −143%
Dota 2	30−33 +200%	10−11 −200%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +89.5%	18−20 −89.5%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +113%	16−18 −113%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 +116%	30−35 −116%
Valorant	30−33 +650%	4−5 −650%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Elden Ring	10−12 +267%	3−4 −267%
Grand Theft Auto V	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 +75%	24−27 −75%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
World of Tanks	60−65 +158%	24−27 −158%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 +300%	4−5 −300%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +11.1%	9−10 −11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +100%	3−4 −100%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +125%	8−9 −125%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +750%	2−3 −750%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +150%	6−7 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 +100%	5−6 −100%
Valorant	21−24 +90.9%	10−12 −90.9%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Dota 2	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Elden Ring	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Metro Exodus	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 +150%	10−11 −150%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Counter-Strike 2	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Dota 2	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Far Cry 5	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
Fortnite	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Valorant	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%

This is how R9 M290X and GTX 280M SLI compete in popular games:

R9 M290X is 156% faster in 1080p

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

in Dota 2, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the R9 M290X is 900% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, R9 M290X surpassed GTX 280M SLI in all 59 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.54	3.45
Recency	9 January 2014	2 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	150 Watt

R9 M290X has a 147.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 96.4% more advanced lithography process, and 50% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 M290X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280M SLI in performance tests.

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