GeForce GTX 680 vs Radeon R9 280X

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon R9 280X 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 GeForce GTX 680 will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 280X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 680 Radeon R9 280X
Power consumption (TDP) 195 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors Two 6-pin 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2048 MB 3 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 280X has 28% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 680.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 680 has 2045 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 280X.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is build with Kepler architecture, and Radeon R9 280X - with GCN.
  • GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon R9 280X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Radeon R9 280X is 265 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 680.

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
GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon R9 280X have the same average FPS in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 680 Radeon R9 280X
Architecture Kepler GCN
Code name GK104 Thaiti XTL
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 22 March 2012 8 October 2013
Pipelines 1536 2048
Core clock speed 1006 MHz
Boost Clock 1058 MHz 1000 MHz
Transistor count 3,540 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 128.8 billion/sec 128.0
Floating-point performance 3,090.4 gflops 4,096 gflops
Length 10.0" (25.4 cm) 275 mm
Memory bus width 256-bit GDDR5 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 192.2 GB/s 288 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.2 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126 +
CUDA +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.5 kh/s
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 1536
Bus support PCI Express 3.0 PCIe 3.0
Height 4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support 4 displays
HDMI + +
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 121 Mh/s 494 Mh/s
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 15 Mh/s 14.42 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 285 Sol/s
AppAcceleration +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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