Radeon R9 280 vs Radeon RX 560 mobile

In this comparison between Radeon R9 280 and Radeon RX 560 mobile 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 R9 280 will be the best choice, for others Radeon RX 560 mobile will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon RX 560 mobile is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon RX 560 mobile 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 RX 560 mobile here:

Main Specs

  Radeon R9 280 Radeon RX 560 mobile
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 55 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon R9 280 has 263% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 560 mobile.
  • Radeon R9 280 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon RX 560 mobile uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • Radeon RX 560 mobile has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 280.
  • Radeon R9 280 is used in Desktops, and Radeon RX 560 mobile - in Laptops.
  • Radeon R9 280 is build with GCN 1.0 architecture, and Radeon RX 560 mobile - with Polaris.
  • Radeon R9 280 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 560 mobile - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 560 mobile is 4750 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 280.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 18−20
ultra / 1080p 21−24 10−11
QHD / 1440p 16−18 4−5
4K / 2160p 10−11 4−5
low / 720p 60−65 35−40
medium / 1080p 40−45 21−24
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than Radeon RX 560 mobile.

Full Specs

  Radeon R9 280 Radeon RX 560 mobile
Architecture GCN 1.0 Polaris
Code name Tahiti Polaris 11
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 4 March 2014 5 January 2017
Pipelines 1792 1024
Core clock speed 1175 MHz
Boost Clock 933 MHz 1275 MHz
Transistor count 4,313 million 3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 104.5 58.97
Floating-point performance 3,344 gflops 2,462 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 384 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 1250 MHz 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 240 GB/s 96 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 5.1 6.4
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan + 1.2.131
FreeSync + +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 408 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 21.5 Mh/s
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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