AMD Radeon VII vs AMD Radeon R9 280X

VS
Performance
Radeon VII251% better
37,88136% of 104,598
Radeon R9 280X
10,79210% of 104,598

The Radeon VII has 251% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon VII50% better
54.1934% of 161.45
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 161.45

The Radeon VII has 50% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the AMD Radeon VII GPU

The AMD Radeon VII is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q1 2019 with a MSRP of $699. It is built on the GCN 5.1 GPU microarchitecture (codename Vega 20) and is manufactured on a 7 nm process.

Memory

The VII has 16 GB of HBM2 memory, with a 1,000 MHz memory clock and a 4,096 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 1.02 Tb/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 VII includes 3,840 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,400 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,750 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 240 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The VII occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 295 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The VII has the 46th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 36.22% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 37,881 score and $699 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 54.19. This is the 60th 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 171st best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 10.32% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 10,792 score and $299 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 36.09. This is the 73rd 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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureGCN 5.1GCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2019Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$699$299
Production StatusActiveEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Crysis Remastered
Crysis Remastered
Display FPS for Cyberpunk 2077 (1.0)
Cyberpunk 2077 (1.0)
Display FPS for Immortals Fenyx Rising
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Display FPS for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Display FPS for Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Display FPS for Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Display FPS for DIRT 5
DIRT 5

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 Crysis Remastered
Crysis Remastered
Radeon VIIRadeon R9 280X
Low - 720p
230 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
152 FPS
--
High - 1080p
80 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
64 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
49 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
31 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 VII 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 VII orRadeon R9 280X
GPUCost Per Frame
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER17.51-23%
Radeon RX 680019.3-15%
GeForce RTX 206019.83-13%
Radeon RX Vega 6421.32-6%
GeForce RTX 207022.28-2%
Radeon VII22.77
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER22.84+0%
Radeon RX 6600 XT24.29+7%
GeForce RTX 208024.61+8%
Radeon RX 660024.92+9%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon VII251% better
37,88136% of 104,598
Radeon R9 280X
10,79210% of 104,598

The Radeon VII has 251% better performance than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon VII is ranked 46th with a score of 37,881, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 171st with a score of 10,792.

Performance per dollar
Radeon VII50% better
54.1934% of 161.45
Radeon R9 280X
36.0922% of 161.45

The Radeon VII has 50% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 280X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon VII is ranked 60th with a performance per dollar of 54.19, and the Radeon R9 280X is ranked 73rd 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 VII or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce RTX 406038,191+1%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti37,941+0%
Radeon VII37,881
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti37,671.5-1%
Arc A75037,288-2%
GeForce GTX 165013,645-64%
Radeon R9 38012,191-68%
Radeon R9 280X10,792-72%
GeForce GTX 96010,767.5-72%
GeForce GTX 68010,216.5-73%

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 VII or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER58.6+8%
GeForce RTX 208057.62+6%
Radeon VII54.19
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti53.89-1%
GeForce GTX 108048.85-10%
Radeon R9 390X41.83-23%
GeForce GTX 750 Ti36.09-33%
Radeon R9 280X36.09-33%
GeForce GTX 98032.07-41%
GeForce GTX 76031.98-41%

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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
8,779.5
(+297.26%)
2,210
3DMark Time Spy Score
8,985
(+275.47%)
2,393
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
146,094
(+180.32%)
52,117
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
27,448.5
(+229%)
8,343
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
101,955
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
26,565
(+159.4%)
10,241
PassMark G3D Mark
16,660
(+169.67%)
6,178
PassMark G2D Mark
773
(+12.68%)
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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
CodenameVega 20Tahiti
ArchitectureGCN 5.1GCN 1.0
Process Size7 nm28 nm
Transistors13,230 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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
Memory Size16 GB3 GB
Memory TypeHBM2GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth1.02 Tb/s288 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,000 MHz1,500 MHz
Memory Interface4,096 bit384 bit
L1 Cache16 KB16 KB
L2 Cache4 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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)295 W250 W
Suggested PSU600 W600 W
Power Connectors2x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsHDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4aDVI, 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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
Stream Processors (SP)3,8402,048
Compute Units (CU)6032
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)240128
Render Output Units (ROP)6432
Core Clock Speed1,400 MHz850 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,750 MHz1,000 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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
Pixel Fill Rate112 GPixel/s32 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate420 GTexel/s128 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance13.44 TFLOPS4.1 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance3.36 TFLOPS1,024 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 VIIRadeon R9 280X
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_1)
OpenCL2.12.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.76.5 (5.1)

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