Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon R9 280

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon R9 280, 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 Radeon HD 6870 stacks up against Radeon R9 280, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 6870 Check Price

Radeon R9 280 Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon R9 280
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	200 Watt
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	3 GB
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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Radeon R9 280 has 32% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6870.
Radeon HD 6870 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon R9 280 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
Radeon R9 280 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6870.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 6870 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon R9 280 - with GCN 1.0.
Radeon HD 6870 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 280 - by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon R9 280 is 55 mm longer, than Radeon HD 6870.
Memory clock speed of Radeon R9 280 is 200 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6870.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	10−12	35−40
ultra / 1080p	6−7	21−24
QHD / 1440p	1−2	16−18
4K / 2160p	−	10−11
low / 720p	24−27	60−65
medium / 1080p	12−14	40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 227% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	18−20	55−60
ultra / 1080p	14−16	45−50
QHD / 1440p	1−2	35−40
4K / 2160p	−	18−20
low / 720p	35−40	100−110
medium / 1080p	20−22	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Battlefield 5 is 244% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	45−50	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	180−190	250−260
medium / 768p	140−150	220−230
ultra / 1080p	75−80	180−190
QHD / 1440p	40−45	110−120
4K / 2160p	30−33	70−75
high / 768p	110−120	210−220
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 78% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	30−33	−
medium / 1080p	45−50	55−60
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 15% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	95−100	120−130
medium / 768p	75−80	110−120
ultra / 1080p	50−55	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Dota 2 is 53% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	12−14	45−50
ultra / 1080p	12−14	40−45
QHD / 1440p	−	27−30
4K / 2160p	5−6	14−16
low / 720p	27−30	80−85
medium / 1080p	14−16	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Far Cry 5 is 213% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	20−22	60−65
ultra / 1080p	14−16	45−50
QHD / 1440p	−	27−30
4K / 2160p	−	27−30
low / 720p	80−85	180−190
medium / 1080p	35−40	110−120
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Fortnite is 161% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	18−20	60−65
ultra / 1080p	14−16	45−50
QHD / 1440p	5−6	30−35
4K / 2160p	−	24−27
low / 720p	40−45	100−110
medium / 1080p	21−24	65−70
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Forza Horizon 4 is 215% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	70−75	140−150
medium / 768p	60−65	120−130
high / 1080p	21−24	70−75
ultra / 1080p	9−10	30−35
QHD / 1440p	0−1	21−24
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Grand Theft Auto V is 126% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	7−8	24−27
ultra / 1080p	5−6	20−22
QHD / 1440p	−	16−18
4K / 2160p	1−2	8−9
low / 720p	21−24	65−70
medium / 1080p	9−10	30−35
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Metro Exodus is 244% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	100−110	130−140
ultra / 1080p	90−95	−
medium / 1080p	100−105	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Minecraft is 26% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	18−20	−
ultra / 1080p	16−18	14−16
low / 720p	45−50	100−110
medium / 1080p	21−24	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 58% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
high / 1080p	12−14	24−27
ultra / 1080p	8−9	16−18
QHD / 1440p	0−1	10−11
4K / 2160p	−	7−8
low / 720p	20−22	65−70
medium / 1080p	12−14	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 176% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	40−45	130−140
medium / 768p	24−27	85−90
high / 1080p	14−16	45−50
ultra / 1080p	8−9	24−27
4K / 2160p	7−8	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 226% more, than Radeon HD 6870.
low / 768p	95−100	90−95
medium / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	27−30	50−55
high / 768p	45−50	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in World of Tanks is 17% more, than Radeon HD 6870.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon R9 280
Architecture	Terascale 2	GCN 1.0
Code name	RV940 Barts	Tahiti
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 October 2010	4 March 2014
Pipelines	1120	1792
Boost Clock	900 MHz	933 MHz
Transistor count	1,700 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	50.40	104.5
Floating-point performance	2,016.0 gflops	3,344 gflops
Length	220 mm	275 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1050 MHz	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	134.4 GB/s	240 GB/s
Shared memory	-
Shader Model	5.0	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan		+
FreeSync		+
Bus support	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0
HDMI	+	+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	213 Mh/s	408 Mh/s
Eyefinity	+	+
HD3D		+
TrueAudio		+
Design	reference	reference
CrossFire	+	+
DDMA audio		+
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)		21.5 Mh/s
LiquidVR		+
TressFX		+
UVD		+
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Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon R9 280

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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