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AMD Radeon RX 9070 vs AMD Radeon R9 280X

AMD
VS
AMD
Performance
Radeon RX 9070721% better
88,61868% of 129,772
Radeon R9 280X
10,7928% of 129,772

The Radeon RX 9070 has 721% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon RX 9070347% better
161.4298% of 165.13
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 165.13

The Radeon RX 9070 has 347% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop Radeon RX 9070
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Summary

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About the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GPU

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q1 2025 with a MSRP of $549. It is built on the RDNA 4.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Navi 48) and is manufactured on a 4 nm process.

Memory

The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 2,518 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 644.6 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RX 9070 includes 3,584 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,330 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 2,520 MHz. It usually operates at 2,070 MHz during typical gaming workloads. Complementing the processing units are 224 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 128 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 112 AI accelerators optimized for AI workloads and 56 ray accelerators dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RX 9070 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.1b, DisplayPort 2.1a display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 550 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 220 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RX 9070 has the 5th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 566 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 68.29% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. Its 88,618 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 161.42. This is the 2nd best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 280X GPU

The AMD Radeon R9 280X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q4 2013 with a MSRP of $299. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Tahiti) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The R9 280X has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,500 MHz memory clock and a 384 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 288 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The R9 280X includes 2,048 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 850 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,000 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 128 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The R9 280X occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 250 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The R9 280X has the 192nd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 566 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 8.32% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. Its 10,792 score and $299 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 36.09. This is the 83rd best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureRDNA 4.0GCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2025Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$549$299
Production StatusActiveEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for God of War Ragnarök
God of War Ragnarök
Display FPS for Star Wars Outlaws
Star Wars Outlaws
Display FPS for Black Myth: Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong
Display FPS for Once Human
Once Human
Display FPS for The First Descendant
The First Descendant
Display FPS for F1 24
F1 24
Display FPS for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for God of War Ragnarök
God of War Ragnarök
Radeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
Low - 1080p
323 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
267 FPS
--
High - 1080p
231 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
212 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
162 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
94 FPS
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 9070 orRadeon R9 280X

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 9070 orRadeon R9 280X
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX 90705.84
GeForce RTX 50706.74+15%
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti (16 GB)6.84+17%
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti6.87+18%
Arc B5807.37+26%
GeForce RTX 40607.67+31%
GeForce RTX 50807.74+33%
GeForce RTX 50608.17+40%
GeForce RTX 40708.89+52%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon RX 9070721% better
88,61868% of 129,772
Radeon R9 280X
10,7928% of 129,772

The Radeon RX 9070 has 721% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon RX 9070 is ranked 5th with a score of 88,618, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 192nd with a score of 10,792.

Performance per dollar
Radeon RX 9070347% better
161.4298% of 165.13
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 165.13

The Radeon RX 9070 has 347% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon RX 9070 is ranked 2nd with a performance per dollar of 161.42, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 83rd with a performance per dollar of 36.09.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 9070 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce RTX 5080100,190+13%
Radeon RX 9070 XT98,912+12%
Radeon RX 907088,618
GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER87,055-2%
GeForce RTX 408086,267-3%
GeForce GTX 165013,645-85%
Radeon R9 38012,191-86%
Radeon R9 280X10,792-88%
GeForce GTX 96010,767.5-88%
GeForce GTX 68010,216.5-88%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 9070 or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Radeon RX 9070 XT165.13+2%
Radeon RX 9070161.42
GeForce RTX 5060157.86-2%
Arc B580153.65-5%
Radeon RX 7800 XT131.48-19%
Radeon R9 390X41.83-74%
GeForce GTX 750 Ti36.09-78%
Radeon R9 280X36.09-78%
GeForce GTX 98032.07-80%
GeForce GTX 76031.98-80%

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
26,511.5
(+1,099.62%)
2,210
3DMark Time Spy Score
24,081
(+906.31%)
2,393
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
207,806
(+298.73%)
52,117
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
60,292
(+622.67%)
8,343
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
227,303
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
64,415.5
(+529%)
10,241
PassMark G3D Mark
25,204
(+307.96%)
6,178
PassMark G2D Mark
1,278
(+86.3%)
686
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
95.2
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
CodenameNavi 48Tahiti
ArchitectureRDNA 4.0GCN 1.0
Process Size4 nm28 nm
Transistors53,900 million4,313 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
Memory Size16 GB3 GB
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth644.6 Gb/s288 Gb/s
Memory Clock2,518 MHz1,500 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit384 bit
L1 Cache--16 KB
L2 Cache8 MB768 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 5.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)220 W250 W
Suggested PSU550 W600 W
Power Connectors2x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsHDMI 2.1b, DisplayPort 2.1aDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
Stream Processors (SP)3,5842,048
Compute Units (CU)5632
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)224128
Render Output Units (ROP)12832
AI Accelerators112--
Ray Accelerators56--
Core Clock Speed1,330 MHz850 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)2,520 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Game)2,070 MHz--

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
Pixel Fill Rate322.6 GPixel/s32 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate564.5 GTexel/s128 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance36.13 TFLOPS4.1 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance1,129 GFLOPS1,024 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon RX 9070Radeon R9 280X
DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12 (11_1)
OpenCL2.22.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.5 (5.1)

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.