Radeon R9 280 vs Radeon RX 550X

In this comparison between Radeon R9 280 and Radeon RX 550X 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 550X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Main Specs

  Radeon R9 280 Radeon RX 550X
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 50 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 280 has 300% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 550X.
  • Radeon R9 280 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon RX 550X uses PCIe 3.0 x8 interface.
  • Radeon RX 550X has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 280.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • Radeon R9 280 is build with GCN 1.0 architecture, and Radeon RX 550X - with GCN 4.0.
  • Radeon R9 280 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 550X - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Radeon R9 280 is 130 mm longer, than Radeon RX 550X.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 550X is 4750 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 280.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 10−11
ultra / 1080p 21−24 6−7
QHD / 1440p 16−18 0−1
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 21−24
medium / 1080p 40−45 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 280 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 215% more, than Radeon RX 550X.

Full Specs

  Radeon R9 280 Radeon RX 550X
Architecture GCN 1.0 GCN 4.0
Code name Tahiti Lexa
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 4 March 2014 16 December 2018
Pipelines 1792 512
Core clock speed 1100 MHz
Boost Clock 933 MHz 1183 MHz
Transistor count 4,313 million 2,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 104.5 37.86
Floating-point performance 3,344 gflops 1,211 gflops
Length 275 mm 145 mm
Memory bus width 384 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 1250 MHz 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 240 GB/s 96 GB/s
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
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 21.5 Mh/s
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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