AMD · Radeon

AMD Radeon R9 280

The AMD Radeon R9 280 is a graphics card released on March 4, 2014, built on the GCN architecture using a 28 nm process. It has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, 240.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, a boost clock of 933 MHz and a 250 W board power rating. It scores 5,523 in the PassMark G3D benchmark. It supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5.

GCNTahiti Pro28 nm

9/10 key specs recorded · 52 facts

Depth: 43 recorded fields, 1 feature, 5 PassMark workloads

Specification data last verified October 1, 2026 against PassMark Videocard Benchmark, AMD.com Specifications and Wikipedia GPU list tables (wikigrid-2026-09). Coverage: 9 of 10 tracked specifications recorded.

PassMark Videocard Benchmark AMD.com Specifications PassMark Videocard Benchmark Wikipedia GPU list tables (wikigrid-2026-09)

Shading units

n/a

Memory

3 GB

GDDR5 · 384-bit

Boost clock

933 MHz

827 MHz base

Board power

250 W

Performance

The AMD Radeon R9 280 scores 5,523 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 81.9% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked (PassMark rank #496), measured across 3,841 submitted results. Its PassMark G2D score is 671.

PassMark G3D Mark

5,523

Rank #496
Faster than 81.9% of 2,658 GPUs
3,841 samples

0relative to the fastest GPU on record (41,928)

PassMark workload tests

DirectX 9 85 fps

reference: fastest recorded 526 fps · faster than 72.4% of 1,675 GPUs

DirectX 10 31 fps

reference: fastest recorded 231 fps · faster than 67.7% of 1,602 GPUs

DirectX 11 29 fps

reference: fastest recorded 362 fps · faster than 58.7% of 1,430 GPUs

DirectX 12 27 fps

reference: fastest recorded 213 fps · faster than 63.1% of 1,274 GPUs

GPU Compute 2,444 ops/s

reference: fastest recorded 26,591 ops/s · faster than 68.6% of 1,447 GPUs

Averages of PassMark PerformanceTest submissions; frames/sec are PassMark test-scene rates, not game FPS. Tests PassMark does not report for this card are omitted. PassMark listing

In the PassMark workload tests the AMD Radeon R9 280 averages DirectX 9 85 fps, DirectX 10 31 fps, DirectX 11 29 fps, DirectX 12 27 fps and GPU Compute 2,444 ops/s, across 3,841 submitted results. Frames per second are PassMark test-scene rates, not game frame rates.

Theoretical throughput

Texture fill rate 104.496 GTexel/s calculatedcalculated from TMUs x boost clock (MHz) / 1000 = 112 x 933 / 1000

Texture fill rate (104.496 GTexel/s) is calculated by Feex from stored specifications, not stated by AMD.

As stated by PassMark

Category Desktop

Bus interface PCIe 3.0 x16

Max memory 3 GB

Core clock 827 MHz

Memory clock 1250 MHz

DirectX 12.0

OpenGL 4.5

Max TDP 250 W

First benchmarked 2016-04-01

Samples 3,841

PassMark listing (collected 2026-09-30)

PassMark's own listing for the AMD Radeon R9 280 states the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, up to 3 GB of memory, a core clock of 827 MHz, DirectX 12.0 and OpenGL 4.5, first benchmarked on 2016-04-01. These are PassMark's figures, shown separately from the specification tables above.

Not to be confused with

This page covers the AMD Radeon R9 280 specifically. It is a different product from AMD Radeon R9 280X, which have their own specifications. Check the exact model name before comparing figures.

Graphics processor

Architecture GCN

Codename Tahiti Pro

Chip Not recorded

Process node 28 nm

Transistors 4,313 M

Die size 352 mm²

The AMD Radeon R9 280 is based on the GCN architecture, uses the Tahiti Pro graphics processor, is manufactured on a 28 nm process, contains 4,313 million transistors and has a die size of 352 mm².

Shader configuration

Shading units Not recorded

Compute units Not recorded

Streaming multiprocessors Not recorded

Execution units Not recorded

Texture units (TMUs) 112

Render output units (ROPs) 32

Ray tracing cores Not recorded

Tensor / AI cores Not recorded

XMX engines Not recorded

Infinity cache Not recorded

The AMD Radeon R9 280 112 texture mapping units and 32 render output units.

The AMD Radeon R9 280 does not use XMX engines; those are specific to Intel Arc graphics.

Clock speeds

Base clock 827 MHz

Boost clock 933 MHz

Game clock Not recorded

Memory clock Not recorded

Effective memory clock Not recorded

The AMD Radeon R9 280 runs at a base clock of 827 MHz and boosts to 933 MHz.

Memory

Size 3 GB

Type GDDR5

Bus width 384-bit

Bandwidth 240.0 GB/s

The AMD Radeon R9 280 is equipped with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, uses a 384-bit memory bus and delivers 240.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Board and power

The AMD Radeon R9 280 has a board power rating of 250 W and it connects over PCIe 3.0 x16.

Board power (TDP) 250 W

Total board power Not recorded

Suggested PSU Not recorded

Power connectors Not recorded

Slot width Not recorded

Length Not recorded

Width Not recorded

Height Not recorded

Cooler Not recorded

Max temperature Not recorded

Bus interface PCIe 3.0 x16

Market

Launched March 4, 2014

Launch price $249

Status Not recorded

Form factor Not recorded

Segment Desktop

Series Radeon

The AMD Radeon R9 280 was released on March 4, 2014 and launched at a price of $249.

Benchmarks

PassMark G3D 5,523

PassMark G2D 671

Rank #496

Samples 3,841

Graphics and compute APIs

The AMD Radeon R9 280 supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5.

DirectX 12

OpenGL 4.5

CUDA is an NVIDIA technology and does not apply to the AMD Radeon R9 280. Feex has no recorded Vulkan version for the AMD Radeon R9 280. Feex has no recorded OpenCL version for the AMD Radeon R9 280.

Media engine

Feex holds no codec support statement for the AMD Radeon R9 280.

AMD Unified Video Decoder SupportedAMD's older dedicated video-decoding block found on many GCN-era and earlier Radeon GPUs.

Not listed: H.264 (AVC), HEVC (H.265), AV1 and VP9. No source Feex holds states whether the AMD Radeon R9 280 supports these codecs; that is silence, not a statement that they are unsupported.

Media engines recorded for the AMD Radeon R9 280: AMD Unified Video Decoder.

Display outputs

The AMD Radeon R9 280 offers outputs HDMI, Dual Link DVI.

Outputs HDMI, Dual Link DVI

Frequently asked questions

How much VRAM does the AMD Radeon R9 280 have?

The AMD Radeon R9 280 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus. Its memory bandwidth is 240.0 GB/s.

How much power does the AMD Radeon R9 280 use and what power supply does it need?

The AMD Radeon R9 280 has a board power rating of 250 W.

How fast is the AMD Radeon R9 280?

The AMD Radeon R9 280 scores 5,523 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 81.9% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked. Its PassMark rank is #496. In the PassMark DirectX 12 test it averages 27 fps.

What bus interface does the AMD Radeon R9 280 use?

The AMD Radeon R9 280 connects over PCIe 3.0 x16.

When was the AMD Radeon R9 280 released and how much did it cost at launch?

The AMD Radeon R9 280 was released on March 4, 2014 and launched at a price of $249.

Corrections to this record

After an audit, 1 empty field was filled from sources. Each change is listed with its old value, new value, rule and sources.

1 filled value

Architecture: GCN (was Not recorded). Rule: Architecture from chip codename. chip Tahiti -> GCN 1. Sources: Wikipedia: List of AMD graphics processing units (revision 1376670003).

The audit log is public: all changes for this GPU, the corrections overview and the method.