Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon R9 280

In this comparison between Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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 7970 will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 280 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 7970 Check Price

Radeon R9 280 Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 7970	Radeon R9 280
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	200 Watt
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	3 GB
Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
	Check Price	Check Price

Radeon HD 7970 has 50% more power consumption, than Radeon R9 280.
Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 have maximum RAM of 3 GB.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 7970 is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon R9 280 - with GCN 1.0.
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon R9 280 is 1 mm longer, than Radeon HD 7970.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7970 is 125 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 280.

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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 have the same average FPS in Battlefield 5.
low / 768p	50−55	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 have the same average FPS in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
low / 768p	60−65	60−65
medium / 1080p	55−60	55−60
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 have the same average FPS in Metro Exodus.
low / 768p	130−140	130−140
medium / 1080p	120−130	120−130
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 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
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 280 have the same average FPS in World of Tanks.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 7970	Radeon R9 280
Architecture	GCN	GCN 1.0
Code name	Tahiti XT	Tahiti
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 December 2011	4 March 2014
Pipelines	2048	1792
Boost Clock	925 MHz	933 MHz
Transistor count	4,313 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	118.4	104.5
Floating-point performance	3,789 gflops	3,344 gflops
Length	274 mm	275 mm
Memory bus width	384 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	264 GB/s	240 GB/s
Shared memory	-
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan		+
FreeSync	+	+
Bus support	PCIe 2.1 x16	PCIe 3.0
HDMI	+	+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	485 Mh/s	408 Mh/s
Eyefinity	+	+
HD3D		+
TrueAudio		+
Design	reference	reference
CrossFire	+	+
DDMA audio		+
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)	20.71 Mh/s	21.5 Mh/s
LiquidVR		+
TressFX		+
UVD		+
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Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon R9 280

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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