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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M

The NVidia GeForce GTX 280M is the high-end graphic card of the 200M series and based on the G92b core (Desktop GeForce 9800 GTX+). Therefore it can't be compared with the Desktop 280M. The chip is produced in 55nm (9800M GTX yet in 65nm). Its 128 pipelines are all enabled (for the 9800M GTX only 112). 

A further innovation, compared to the 9800M GTX, are the much more accelerated switch times at Hybrid Power (lower than 1 second compared to 7 seconds at the 9800M GTX).

As all cards with DirectX 10 capabilities, the GeForce GTX 280M renders the 3D images using "Unified Shaders". There don't exist any more dedicated pixel- and vertex shaders but 128 so called stream processors make the graphic work (which has been done by pixel and vertex shaders in former days). Furthermore, the shader units are higher clocked than the chip (1250 MHz).

Due to the full amount of 128 Shader Cores, the GTX 280M is about 10-25% faster than the older 9800M GTX and faster than the 260M. Compared with the Mobility Radeon HD 4870, the GTX 280M is lightly slower or equal in synthetic benchmarks. However, it is a few faster in the most games. Therefore, the overall performance can be rated a bit better. Games with PhysX support (e.g. like Mirrors Edge) have the advantage of a considerable better performance with enabled PhysX effects. The memory equipment is up to 1024 MB GDDR3 (which are clocked with max. 800 MHz at MXM2 cards and with up to 950 MHz at MXM3 cards).

An advantage of the GeForce GTX 280M is the integrated PureVideo HD video processor. It is able to help with the decoding of H.264-, VC-1-, MPEG2- and WMV9 video material in HD quality and therefore eases the CPU.

HybridPower is a technique to choose between the integrated and dedicated graphics core, if performance or battery runtime is needed. This works only in Windows Vista. Up to now the user has to use a tool to switch between the GPUs. Later Nvidia wants to switch automatically in the drivers. GeForceBoost is not supported with this card, as there would be no performance gain to combine the integrated GPU with the video card.

The power consumption of up to 75 Watts (of the whole board) allows the use of the card only in laptops with a strong cooling system. Therefore, the GTX 200M series can be found only in heavy and big notebooks.

Compared with Desktop graphic cards, the performance is about between the 9800 GT and the 9800 GTX (which has a considerably higher clock of 675/1675/1100).

ManufacturerNVIDIA
SeriesGeForce GTX 200M
CodenameN10E-GTX
Pipelines128 - unified
Core Speed *585 MHz
Shader Speed *1463 MHz
Memory Speed *950 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 10, Shader 4.0
Transistors754 Million
technology55 nm
FeaturesHybridPower, PureVideo HD, CUDA, PhysX ready
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement02.03.2009
InformationMXM 3
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.nvidia.com/object/product_gef...
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

benchmarks

3DMark 2001: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 36607, avg: 38714, max: 40754 Points
... More Details

3DMark 03: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 34632, avg: 35749, max: 36865 Points
... More Details

3DMark 05: - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
      min: 16800, avg: 18414, max: 20713 Points
... More Details

3DMark 06:
0% 100%
      min: 11750, avg: 12478, max: 13652 Points
... More Details

Cinebench R10: - Shading
0% 100%
      min: 4111, avg: 5846, max: 7891 Points
... More Details

3DMark Vantage: - P Result 1280x1024
0% 100%
      min: 5314, avg: 6356, max: 6779 Points
... More Details

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
Based on 38 benchmarks

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

CoD Modern Warfare 2 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
Risen (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Need for Speed Shift (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Colin McRae: DIRT 2 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Anno 1404
Anno 1404 (2009)
low:
100  fps
ultra:
40 51.5 52.7 ~ 48 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Sims 3 (2009): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
F.E.A.R. 2
F.E.A.R. 2 (2009)
high:
82.5 86.1 91 ~ 87 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto (2008)
low:
48 55.7 63.9 65.3 ~ 58 fps
med.:
47 53.9 55.7 56.3 ~ 53 fps
high:
33 38.4 39.3 41.5 ~ 38 fps
» With most tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead (2008)
high:
104 121.2 131.5 ~ 119 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 (2008)
low:
98  fps
high:
62  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead (2008)
low:
76  fps
ultra:
17  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Racedriver: GRID
Racedriver: GRID (2008)
high:
72.8  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare (2007)
high:
75 78.8 117.5 ~ 90 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Supreme Commander - FA Bench
Supreme Commander - FA Bench (2007)
med.:
54.6 54.9 56 ~ 55 fps
high:
45 45.9 46.1 47.3 ~ 46 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Crysis - GPU Benchmark
Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
106 115.4 128.6 139 ~ 122 fps
med.:
60.9 65.9 66 67 ~ 65 fps
high:
43.1 44 45 45.1 48.6 ~ 45 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Crysis - CPU Benchmark
Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
95.2 102.1 117.1 ~ 105 fps
med.:
61.2 66.2 72.4 ~ 67 fps
high:
41.2 43.8 47.3 49.5 ~ 45 fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
World in Conflict - Benchmark
World in Conflict - Benchmark (2007)
med.:
77  fps
high:
46  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Command and Conquer III (2007): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
Call of Juarez Benchmark
Call of Juarez Benchmark (2006)
high:
29.3 33 33.1 ~ 32 fps
» With most tested laptops not playable.
The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion (2006): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark (2005)
high:
144  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
F.E.A.R. (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Quake 4 (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
World of Warcraft (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Counter-Strike Source
Counter-Strike Source (2004)
high:
265  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Doom 3
Doom 3 (2004)
low:
161  fps
ultra:
160  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo (1999)
high:
695  fps
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

Notebook reviews with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M graphics card

AVADirect Clevo D900F Core i7 (Intel Core i7 (Desktop) 920, 17.0")
» AVADirect Clevo D900F Core i7 - External Review

Clevo M980NU (Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100, 18.4")
» Hands-On Clevo M980NU Notebook - Review
» Clevo M980NU - External Review

Deviltech Devil 9700 DTX (Intel Core i7 820QM, 15.6")
» Review Deviltech Devil 9700 DTX (W860CU) Notebook - Review
» Deviltech Devil 9700 DTX - External Review

Deviltech Fragbook DTX (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.3")
» Deviltech Fragbook DTX - External Review

Eurocom D900F Panther (Intel Core i7 (Desktop) 920, 17.0")
» Eurocom D900F Panther - External Review

Falcon Northwest Fragbook DRX (Intel Core i7 (Desktop) 920, 17.0")
» Falcon Northwest Fragbook DRX - External Review

Ibuypower Battalion 101 M571TU (Intel Core 2 Duo T9600, 17.0")
» Ibuypower Battalion 101 M571TU - External Review

Kobalt G860 (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.6")
» Kobalt G860 - External Review

Kobalt Mojave (Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 17.0")
» Kobalt Computers Mojave - External Review

mySN QXG7 (Intel Core i7 (Desktop) 920, 17")
» Review Intel Core i7 Processors in Notebooks - Review
» Review Intel Core i7 Processors in Notebooks - Review
» Review Intel Core i7 Processors in Notebooks - Review

mySN XMG7.c (Intel Core i7 720QM, 17.3")
» Review mySN XMG7.c Notebook - Review

Novatech X1 PRO (Intel Core 2 Duo T9900, 18.4")
» Novatech X1 PRO - External Review

Novatech X70 CA Pro (Intel Core i7 720QM, 15.6")
» Novatech X70 CA Pro - External Review

Origin PC EON18 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, 18.4")
» Origin PC EON18 - External Review

Rock Xtreme X790-I7-920 (Intel Core i7 (Desktop) 920, 17.0")
» Rock Xtreme X790-I7-920 - External Review

Sager NP5797 (Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300, 17.0")
» Sager NP5797 - External Review

 

Author: Klaus Hinum (Update: 2010-02- 4)