Radeon HD 6850M vs Radeon R9 280X

When choosing between Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon R9 280X, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon R9 280X.

Radeon HD 6850M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 6850M 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 HD 6850M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6850M Radeon R9 280X
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type DDR3, GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 3 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 280X has 400% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6850M.
  • Radeon HD 6850M is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon R9 280X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon R9 280X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6850M.
  • Radeon HD 6850M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 280X - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 6850M is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon R9 280X - with GCN.
  • Radeon HD 6850M is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 280X - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 2−3 35−40
ultra / 1080p 0−1 21−24
QHD / 1440p 0−1 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 12−14 60−65
medium / 1080p 3−4 40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 683% more, than Radeon HD 6850M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6850M Radeon R9 280X
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN
Code name Granville Pro/LP Thaiti XTL
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 6 January 2011 8 October 2013
Pipelines 800 2048
Core clock speed 575 / 675 MHz
Boost Clock 1000 MHz
Transistor count 1,040 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 27.00 128.0
Floating-point performance 1,080.0 gflops 4,096 gflops
Length 275 mm
Memory bus width 128 Bit 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 25.6 GB/s 288 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan N/A +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.5 kh/s
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 494 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 14.42 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 285 Sol/s
AppAcceleration +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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