GeForce GTX 280M SLI vs Radeon R9 M385X

Place in the ranking	620	728
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	no data	1.58
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	G9x (2007−2010)
GPU code name	Strato	N10E-GTX
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	5 May 2015 (9 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	896	256
Core clock speed	1000 MHz	585 MHz
Boost clock speed	1100 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,080 million	1508 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	no data	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	61.60	no data
Floating-point processing power	1.971 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	16	no data
TMUs	56	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	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	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	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	950 MHz
Memory bandwidth	76.8 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® 12	10
Shader Model	6.3	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 M385X 5.17
+50.3%

GTX 280M SLI 3.44

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 M385X 12453
+32%

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

28
+55.6%

18−20

−55.6%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

9−10
+50%

6−7

−50%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Battlefield 5	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Far Cry 5	10−12 +57.1%	7−8 −57.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +73.7%	18−20 −73.7%
Hitman 3	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Metro Exodus	12−14 +140%	5−6 −140%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 +75%	8−9 −75%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +17.5%	40−45 −17.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Battlefield 5	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Far Cry 5	10−12 +57.1%	7−8 −57.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +73.7%	18−20 −73.7%
Hitman 3	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Metro Exodus	12−14 +140%	5−6 −140%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 +75%	8−9 −75%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	41 +173%	14−16 −173%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +17.5%	40−45 −17.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +40%	10−11 −40%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Far Cry 5	10−12 +57.1%	7−8 −57.1%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +73.7%	18−20 −73.7%
Hitman 3	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20 +38.5%	12−14 −38.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +20%	14−16 −20%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +17.5%	40−45 −17.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16
+75%

8−9

−75%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−11 +66.7%	6−7 −66.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14	0−1
Hitman 3	9−10 +12.5%	8−9 −12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +65%	20−22 −65%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10
+28.6%

7−8

−28.6%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Hitman 3	1−2	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
Metro Exodus	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

6−7
+50%

4−5

−50%

This is how R9 M385X and GTX 280M SLI compete in popular games:

R9 M385X is 56% faster in 1080p

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M385X is 300% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

R9 M385X is ahead in 60 tests (97%)
there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.17	3.44
Recency	5 May 2015	2 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	55 nm

R9 M385X has a 50.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 96.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon R9 M385X 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.