AMD · Radeon

AMD Radeon R9 280X

The AMD Radeon R9 280X is a graphics card released on August 8, 2013, built on the GCN architecture using a 28 nm process. It has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, a boost clock of 1.00 GHz and a 250 W board power rating. It scores 6,069 in the PassMark G3D benchmark. It supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5.

GCNTahiti XTL28 nm

9/10 key specs recorded · 54 facts

Depth: 44 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

1.00 GHz

850 MHz base

Board power

250 W

Performance

The AMD Radeon R9 280X scores 6,069 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 83.1% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked (PassMark rank #458), measured across 5,552 submitted results. Its PassMark G2D score is 671.

PassMark G3D Mark

6,069

Rank #458
Faster than 83.1% of 2,658 GPUs
5,552 samples

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

PassMark workload tests

DirectX 9 93 fps

reference: fastest recorded 526 fps · faster than 73.8% of 1,675 GPUs

DirectX 10 33 fps

reference: fastest recorded 231 fps · faster than 68.9% of 1,602 GPUs

DirectX 11 33 fps

reference: fastest recorded 362 fps · faster than 61.6% of 1,430 GPUs

DirectX 12 30 fps

reference: fastest recorded 213 fps · faster than 66.1% of 1,274 GPUs

GPU Compute 2,683 ops/s

reference: fastest recorded 26,591 ops/s · faster than 71% 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 280X averages DirectX 9 93 fps, DirectX 10 33 fps, DirectX 11 33 fps, DirectX 12 30 fps and GPU Compute 2,683 ops/s, across 5,552 submitted results. Frames per second are PassMark test-scene rates, not game frame rates.

Theoretical throughput

Texture fill rate 128 GTexel/s calculatedcalculated from TMUs x boost clock (MHz) / 1000 = 128 x 1000 / 1000

Texture fill rate (128 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 850 MHz

Memory clock 1500 MHz

DirectX 12.0

OpenGL 4.5

Max TDP 250 W

First benchmarked 2016-04-02

Samples 5,552

PassMark listing (collected 2026-09-30)

PassMark's own listing for the AMD Radeon R9 280X states the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, up to 3 GB of memory, a core clock of 850 MHz, DirectX 12.0 and OpenGL 4.5, first benchmarked on 2016-04-02. These are PassMark's figures, shown separately from the specification tables above.

Graphics processor

Architecture GCN

Codename Tahiti XTL

Chip Not recorded

Process node 28 nm

Transistors 4,313 M

Die size 352 mm²

The AMD Radeon R9 280X is based on the GCN architecture, uses the Tahiti XTL 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) 128

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 280X 128 texture mapping units and 32 render output units.

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

Clock speeds

Base clock 850 MHz

Boost clock 1.00 GHz

Game clock Not recorded

Memory clock Not recorded

Effective memory clock Not recorded

The AMD Radeon R9 280X runs at a base clock of 850 MHz and boosts to 1.00 GHz.

Memory

Size 3 GB

Type GDDR5

Bus width 384-bit

Bandwidth 288.0 GB/s

The AMD Radeon R9 280X is equipped with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, uses a 384-bit memory bus and delivers 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Board and power

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

Board power (TDP) 250 W

Total board power 250 W

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 August 8, 2013

Launch price $299

Status Not recorded

Form factor Not recorded

Segment Desktop

Series Radeon

The AMD Radeon R9 280X was released on August 8, 2013 and launched at a price of $299.

Benchmarks

PassMark G3D 6,069

PassMark G2D 671

Rank #458

Samples 5,552

Graphics and compute APIs

The AMD Radeon R9 280X 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 280X. Feex has no recorded Vulkan version for the AMD Radeon R9 280X. Feex has no recorded OpenCL version for the AMD Radeon R9 280X.

Media engine

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

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 280X supports these codecs; that is silence, not a statement that they are unsupported.

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

Display outputs

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

Outputs DisplayPort, HDMI, Dual Link DVI

Frequently asked questions

How much VRAM does the AMD Radeon R9 280X have?

The AMD Radeon R9 280X has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus. Its memory bandwidth is 288.0 GB/s.

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

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

How fast is the AMD Radeon R9 280X?

The AMD Radeon R9 280X scores 6,069 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 83.1% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked. Its PassMark rank is #458. In the PassMark DirectX 12 test it averages 30 fps.

What bus interface does the AMD Radeon R9 280X use?

The AMD Radeon R9 280X connects over PCIe 3.0 x16.

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

The AMD Radeon R9 280X was released on August 8, 2013 and launched at a price of $299.

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.