GeForce GTX 970M vs Radeon R9 280X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X, 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 970M stacks up against Radeon R9 280X, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 970M Check Price

Radeon R9 280X Check Price

GeForce GTX 970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 970M 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 970M here:

GeForce GTX 970M Laptops

Main Specs

	GeForce GTX 970M	Radeon R9 280X
Power consumption (TDP)		250 Watt
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	None	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	3 GB
Display Connectors	No outputs	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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GeForce GTX 970M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon R9 280X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
GeForce GTX 970M has 3 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 280X.
GeForce GTX 970M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 280X - in Desktops.
GeForce GTX 970M is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon R9 280X - with GCN.
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	35−40	35−40
ultra / 1080p	21−24	21−24
QHD / 1440p	16−18	16−18
4K / 2160p	10−11	10−11
low / 720p	60−65	60−65
medium / 1080p	40−45	40−45
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
high / 1080p	55−60	55−60
ultra / 1080p	45−50	45−50
QHD / 1440p	35−40	35−40
4K / 2160p	18−20	18−20
low / 720p	100−110	100−110
medium / 1080p	60−65	60−65
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Battlefield 5.
low / 768p	50−55	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Call of Duty: Warzone.
low / 768p	250−260	250−260
medium / 768p	220−230	220−230
ultra / 1080p	180−190	180−190
QHD / 1440p	110−120	110−120
4K / 2160p	70−75	70−75
high / 768p	210−220	210−220
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
low / 768p	60−65	60−65
medium / 1080p	55−60	55−60
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Cyberpunk 2077.
low / 768p	120−130	120−130
medium / 768p	110−120	110−120
ultra / 1080p	100−110	100−110
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Dota 2.
high / 1080p	45−50	45−50
ultra / 1080p	40−45	40−45
QHD / 1440p	27−30	27−30
4K / 2160p	14−16	14−16
low / 720p	80−85	80−85
medium / 1080p	45−50	45−50
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Far Cry 5.
high / 1080p	60−65	60−65
ultra / 1080p	45−50	45−50
QHD / 1440p	27−30	27−30
4K / 2160p	27−30	27−30
low / 720p	180−190	180−190
medium / 1080p	110−120	110−120
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Fortnite.
high / 1080p	60−65	60−65
ultra / 1080p	45−50	45−50
QHD / 1440p	30−35	30−35
4K / 2160p	24−27	24−27
low / 720p	100−110	100−110
medium / 1080p	65−70	65−70
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Forza Horizon 4.
low / 768p	140−150	140−150
medium / 768p	120−130	120−130
high / 1080p	70−75	70−75
ultra / 1080p	30−35	30−35
QHD / 1440p	21−24	21−24
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Grand Theft Auto V.
high / 1080p	24−27	24−27
ultra / 1080p	20−22	20−22
QHD / 1440p	16−18	16−18
4K / 2160p	8−9	8−9
low / 720p	65−70	65−70
medium / 1080p	30−35	30−35
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Metro Exodus.
low / 768p	130−140	130−140
medium / 1080p	120−130	120−130
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Minecraft.
ultra / 1080p	14−16	14−16
low / 720p	100−110	100−110
medium / 1080p	18−20	18−20
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS.
high / 1080p	24−27	24−27
ultra / 1080p	16−18	16−18
QHD / 1440p	10−11	10−11
4K / 2160p	7−8	7−8
low / 720p	65−70	65−70
medium / 1080p	35−40	35−40
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Red Dead Redemption 2.
low / 768p	130−140	130−140
medium / 768p	85−90	85−90
high / 1080p	45−50	45−50
ultra / 1080p	24−27	24−27
4K / 2160p	16−18	16−18
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
low / 768p	90−95	90−95
medium / 768p	60−65	60−65
ultra / 1080p	50−55	50−55
high / 768p	60−65	60−65
GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in World of Tanks.

Full Specs

	GeForce GTX 970M	Radeon R9 280X
Architecture	Maxwell	GCN
Code name	GM204	Thaiti XTL
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	7 October 2014	8 October 2013
Pipelines	1280	2048
Core clock speed	924 MHz
Boost Clock	1038 MHz	1000 MHz
Transistor count	5,200 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	83.04	128.0
Floating-point performance	2,657 gflops	4,096 gflops
Length		275 mm
Memory bus width	192 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	120 GB/s	288 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-
G-SYNC support	+
DirectX	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	+
CUDA	+
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)		0.5 kh/s
FreeSync		+
CUDA cores	1280
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	PCIe 3.0
SLI options	+
HDMI	+	+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	314 Mh/s	494 Mh/s
Laptop size	large
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+
Optimus	+
Eyefinity		+
HD3D		+
TrueAudio		+
Design		reference
DisplayPort support		+
CrossFire		+
DDMA audio		+
Decred / DCR (Decred)		1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)		14.42 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)		285 Sol/s
GameStream	+
GeForce ShadowPlay	+
GPU Boost	2.0
GameWorks	+
BatteryBoost	+
AppAcceleration		+
LiquidVR		+
TressFX		+
UVD		+
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GeForce GTX 970M vs Radeon R9 280X

GeForce GTX 970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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