Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri vs Radeon R9 M280X

In this comparison between Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri 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 R7 384 Cores Kaveri will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 M280X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.
Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri

Radeon R9 M280X is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon R9 M280X 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 Radeon R9 M280X here:

Main Specs

  Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri Radeon R9 M280X
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16
Memory type Not Listed
Display Connectors No outputs
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  • Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M280X - in Laptops.
  • Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri and Radeon R9 M280X are build with GCN architecture.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M280X is 180 MHz higher, than Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri.
  • Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri and Radeon R9 M280X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 7−8 2−3
ultra / 1080p 4−5 1−2
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 18−20 14−16
medium / 1080p 9−10 4−5
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than Radeon R9 M280X.

Full Specs

  Radeon R7 384 Cores Kaveri Radeon R9 M280X
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Kaveri Spectre Saturn XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 14 January 2014 1 February 2015
Pipelines 384 896
Core clock speed 720 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 61.60
Floating-point performance 1,792 gflops
Memory bandwidth 96 GB/s
Shared memory + -
DirectX DirectX 12 (FL 12_0), Shader 5.2
Shader Model 6.3
OpenGL 4.4
OpenCL Not Listed
FreeSync +
Bus support Not Listed
Laptop size large
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
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