GeForce GTX 480 vs Radeon R9 M280X

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 480 and Radeon R9 M280X 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 480 will be the best choice, for others Radeon R9 M280X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon R9 M280X is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon R9 M280X 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 R9 M280X here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 480 Radeon R9 M280X
Power consumption (TDP) 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 6-pin & 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 Not Listed
Maximum RAM amount 1536 MB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 480 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon R9 M280X uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 480 is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M280X - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 480 is build with Fermi architecture, and Radeon R9 M280X - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon R9 M280X is 200 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 480.
  • GeForce GTX 480 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 M280X - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 21−24 2−3
ultra / 1080p 12−14 1−2
QHD / 1440p 6−7 0−1
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 40−45 14−16
medium / 1080p 24−27 4−5
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 480 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 400% more, than Radeon R9 M280X.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 480 Radeon R9 M280X
Architecture Fermi GCN
Code name GF100 Saturn XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 7 December 2010 1 February 2015
Pipelines 480 896
Core clock speed 700 MHz 900 MHz
Transistor count 3,100 million 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 42 billion/sec 61.60
Floating-point performance 1,345.0 gflops 1,792 gflops
Length 10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)
Memory bus width 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 1848 MHz (3696 data rate)
Memory bandwidth 177.4 GB/s 96 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.2 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 Not Listed
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 480
Bus support 16x PCI-E 2.0 Not Listed
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
HDMI +
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 117 Mh/s
Laptop size large
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
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