GeForce GTX 680 vs Radeon R9 M280X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon R9 M280X, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce GTX 680 stacks up against Radeon R9 M280X, check out specs charts below.

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 680 Radeon R9 M280X
Power consumption (TDP) 195 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors Two 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 Not Listed
Maximum RAM amount 2048 MB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M280X - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is build with Kepler architecture, and Radeon R9 M280X - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 680 is 106 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 M280X.
  • GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon R9 M280X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 2−3
ultra / 1080p 21−24 1−2
QHD / 1440p 16−18 0−1
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 14−16
medium / 1080p 40−45 4−5
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 680 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 720% more, than Radeon R9 M280X.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 680 Radeon R9 M280X
Architecture Kepler GCN
Code name GK104 Saturn XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 March 2012 1 February 2015
Pipelines 1536 896
Core clock speed 1006 MHz 900 MHz
Boost Clock 1058 MHz
Transistor count 3,540 million 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 128.8 billion/sec 61.60
Floating-point performance 3,090.4 gflops 1,792 gflops
Length 10.0" (25.4 cm)
Memory bus width 256-bit GDDR5
Memory clock speed 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 192.2 GB/s 96 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.2 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA +
FreeSync +
CUDA cores 1536
Bus support PCI Express 3.0 Not Listed
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
Laptop size large
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 15 Mh/s
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