Radeon HD 8970M vs Radeon R9 M280X

In this comparison between Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M280X you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people Radeon HD 8970M will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 M280X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M280X are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M280X are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 Radeon HD 8970M or Radeon R9 M280X here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon R9 M280X
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Memory type GDDR5 Not Listed
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M280X are build with GCN architecture.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M280X is 50 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 M280X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 20−22 2−3
ultra / 1080p 12−14 1−2
QHD / 1440p 6−7 0−1
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 35−40 14−16
medium / 1080p 24−27 4−5
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 380% more, than Radeon R9 M280X.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon R9 M280X
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Neptune Saturn XT
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 15 May 2013 1 February 2015
Pipelines 1280 896
Core clock speed 850 MHz 900 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 2,800 million 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 72.00 61.60
Floating-point performance 2,304 gflops 1,792 gflops
Memory bus width 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 96 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.6 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan 1.2.131
FreeSync +
Bus support Not Listed
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large large
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
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