GeForce GTX 280 vs Quadro M520

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 280 and Quadro M520, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce GTX 280 stacks up against Quadro M520, check out specs charts below.

Quadro M520 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Quadro M520 is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Quadro M520 here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Quadro M520
Power consumption (TDP) 236 Watt 25 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 6-pin & 8-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x S-Video
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  • GeForce GTX 280 has 844% more power consumption, than Quadro M520.
  • Quadro M520 has 1 GB more memory, than GeForce GTX 280.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is used in Desktops, and Quadro M520 - in Mobile workstations.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is build with Tesla 2.0 architecture, and Quadro M520 - with Maxwell.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 280 is 540 MHz higher, than Quadro M520.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is manufactured by 65 nm process technology, and Quadro M520 - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 1−2 9−10
ultra / 1080p 0−1 5−6
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 12−14 21−24
medium / 1080p 3−4 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Quadro M520 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 150% more, than GeForce GTX 280.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Quadro M520
Architecture Tesla 2.0 Maxwell
Code name GT200
Type Desktop Mobile workstation
Release date 16 June 2008 13 January 2017
Pipelines 240 384
Core clock speed 1296 MHz 756 MHz
Boost Clock 1019 MHz
Transistor count 1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 48.2 billion/sec
Floating-point performance 622.1 gflops
Length 10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)
Memory bus width 512 Bit 64 Bit
Memory clock speed 1107 MHz
Memory bandwidth 141.7 GB/s 40 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.1 (10_0) 12
Shader Model 4.0 5.0
OpenGL 2.1 4.5
OpenCL 1.1
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
CUDA cores 240
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI S/PDIF
Laptop size medium sized
Optimus +
nView Display Management +
3D Stereo +
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