C 2018
Notebookcheck

AMD Radeon R9 M280X

AMD Radeon R9 M280X

The AMD Radeon R9 M280X is a 28 nm DirectX 12 graphics card based on the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture. Built primarily for large laptops, the card is positioned in the upper mid-range category as of 2014. It is based on the Saturn chip (Bonaire codename for Desktop R7 260(X)) and clocked at 900 to 1000 MHz (Boost). The R9 M280X offers 896 shader cores, 56 TMUs, 16 ROPs and a 128 Bit memory interface for up to 4 GB GDDR5 memory (1375 MHz / 5500 MHz effective, 88 GB/s).

The performance of the Radeon R9 M280X is on par with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 850M or GTX 950M. Games from 2015 therefore should run in middle to high settings in 1080p. Some more demanding games like Assassin's Creed Unity may only run fluently in reduced settings.

The 640 shader cores can be used with OpenCL 1.2 for general-purpose calculations (as 10 compute units).

Features of the R9 series include video decoding via UVD3 for decoding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Flash directly from the AMD GPU. Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos are now compatible as well.

The Radeon R9 also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU, called Enduro. The technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Other features include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off .

The Power consumption of the R9 M280X is not specified but should be around 70 to 80 Watt and therefore, the GPU is only suited for larger laptops and DTRs.

ManufacturerAMD
Radeon R9 M200 Series
Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire (compare) 2560 @ 850 - 900 (Boost) MHz2x 256 Bit @ 4800 MHz
Radeon R9 M295X (compare) 2048 @ 850 (Boost) MHz256 Bit @ 5448 MHz
Radeon R9 M290X (compare) 1280 @ 850 - 900 (Boost) MHz256 Bit @ 4800 MHz
Radeon R9 M280X 896 @ 900 - 1000 (Boost) MHz128 Bit @ 5500 MHz
Radeon R9 M275 (compare) 640 @ 925 MHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
Radeon R9 M270 (compare) 640 @ 725 MHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
Radeon R9 M265X (compare) 640 @ 625 MHz128 Bit @ 4000 MHz
CodenameSaturn XT
ArchitectureGCN
Pipelines896 - unified
Core Speed900 - 1000 (Boost) MHz
Memory Speed5500 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory4096 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 12 (FL 12_0), Shader 5.0
Transistor Count2080 Million
technology28 nm
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement01.02.2015

Benchmarks

3DMark - Time Spy Score 2560x1440
1041 Points (10%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Time Spy Graphics 2560x1440
1012 Points (8%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Cloud Gate Standard Score 1280x720
7236 Points (15%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Cloud Gate Standard Graphics 1280x720
23201 Points (13%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Fire Strike Score 1920x1080
2974 Points (11%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Fire Strike Graphics 1920x1080
3498 Points (9%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - Ice Storm Standard Graphics 1280x720
81300 Points (11%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance 1280x720
3823 points (13%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - Performance GPU 1280x720
4698 points (9%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
P Result 1280x1024 +
P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024 +
3DMark 06 Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - high, Tesselation (normal), DirectX11 1280x1024
47.7 fps (21%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit +
Cinebench R15
OpenGL 64Bit +
Ref. Match 64Bit +
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - Room GPUs-only
730 Samples/s (14%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - Sala GPUs-only
1322 Samples/s (13%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
ComputeMark v2.1 - Normal, Score 1024x600
2934 Points (13%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

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.

F1 2018

F1 2018

2018
low 1280x720
34.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
29.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
24.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
15.9  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
The Crew 2

The Crew 2

2018
low 1280x720
35.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
27.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
24.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
21.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5

2018
low 1280x720
32  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
12  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark

Final Fantasy XV Benchmark

2018
low 1280x720
10.3  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Star Wars Battlefront 2

Star Wars Battlefront 2

2017
low 1280x720
21.6  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Assassin´s Creed Origins

Assassin´s Creed Origins

2017
low 1280x720
15  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)

2017
low 1280x720
31.3  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

2017
ultra 1920x1080
46.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Dirt 4

Dirt 4

2017
med. 1920x1080
48  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
31  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Rocket League

Rocket League

2017
high 1920x1080
60.7  fps    + Compare
3840x2160
19.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Mass Effect Andromeda

Mass Effect Andromeda

2017
low 1280x720
25.2  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
For Honor

For Honor

2017
low 1280x720
67  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
28.6  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
25.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
21.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Additional Benchmarks
Medium Preset 4xAF TAA 1366x768
45.8
Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 7

2017
med. 1920x1080
54.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
35  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
22.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2

2016
low 1280x720
28.2  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1

2016
low 1280x720
37.8  fps    + Compare