GeForce GTX 980M vs Radeon R9 280

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon R9 280. Here you can take a closer look at graphics cards specs, such as core clock speed, memory type and size, display connectors, etc. The price, overall benchmark and gaming performances are usually defining factors when it comes to choosing between GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon R9 280. Make sure that the graphics card has compatible dimensions and will properly fit in your new or current computer case. Also these graphics cards may have different system power recommendations, so take that into consideration and upgrade your PSU if necessary.

GeForce GTX 980M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 980M 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 980M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 980M Radeon R9 280
Power consumption (TDP) 200 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 8 GB 3 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • GeForce GTX 980M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon R9 280 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 980M has 5 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 280.
  • GeForce GTX 980M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 280 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 980M is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon R9 280 - with GCN 1.0.
  • GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon R9 280 are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 980M is 1250 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 280.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 35−40
ultra / 1080p 24−27 21−24
QHD / 1440p 18−20 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 60−65
medium / 1080p 45−50 40−45
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 980M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 3% more, than Radeon R9 280.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 980M Radeon R9 280
Architecture Maxwell GCN 1.0
Code name GM204 Tahiti
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 7 October 2014 4 March 2014
Pipelines 1536 1792
Core clock speed 1038 MHz
Boost Clock 1127 MHz 933 MHz
Transistor count 5,200 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 51.84 104.5
Floating-point performance 3,462 gflops 3,344 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 2500 MHz 1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth 160 GB/s 240 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 +
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 1536
Bus support PCI Express 3.0 PCIe 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI + +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 383 Mh/s 408 Mh/s
Laptop size large
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 21.5 Mh/s
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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