GeForce GTX 280M SLI vs Radeon HD 4890

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 280M SLI and Radeon HD 4890, 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 280M SLI stacks up against Radeon HD 4890, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 280M SLI is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 280M SLI 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 GeForce GTX 280M SLI here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 280M SLI Radeon HD 4890
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 190 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x S-Video
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  • Radeon HD 4890 has 26% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 280M SLI.
  • GeForce GTX 280M SLI has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 4890.
  • GeForce GTX 280M SLI is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 4890 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 280M SLI is build with G9x architecture, and Radeon HD 4890 - with TeraScale.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 4890 is 265 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 280M SLI.
  • GeForce GTX 280M SLI and Radeon HD 4890 are manufactured by 55 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 4890 is 2950 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 280M SLI.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 12−14 7−8
ultra / 1080p 7−8 4−5
QHD / 1440p 2−3 0−1
low / 720p 24−27 16−18
medium / 1080p 14−16 8−9
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 280M SLI in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 66% more, than Radeon HD 4890.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 280M SLI Radeon HD 4890
Architecture G9x TeraScale
Code name N10E-GTX RV790
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 2 March 2009 2 April 2009
Pipelines 256 800
Core clock speed 585 MHz 850 MHz
Transistor count 1508 Million 959 million
Manufacturing process technology 55 nm 55 nm
Texture fill rate 34.00
Floating-point performance 1,360.0 gflops
Length 241 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 950 MHz 3900 MHz
Memory bandwidth 124.8 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX DirectX 10, Shader 4.0 10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model 4.1
OpenGL 3.3
OpenCL 1.1
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
Laptop size large
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