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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M

► remove from comparison NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M

The NVidia GeForce GTX 280M is a high-end graphics card as part of the 200M series and is based on the G92b core (Desktop GeForce 9800 GTX+). Therefore, it is actually more related to the GeForce 9800 GTX+, both performance-wise and architecturally, than to the GTX 280. The chip is produced in 55nm with all 128 pipelines enabled, as opposed to the GT 9800M with only 112 pipelines produced in a 65nm process.

Hybrid Power makes an appearance on the GTX 280M as well, but with much improved performance. Switch times on the graphics card now completes in just a fraction of a second, compared to a full 7 seconds on the 9800M GTX,

As with all DirectX 10 graphics cards, the GeForce GTX 280M renders 3D images using "Unified Shaders". Dedicated pixel and vertex shaders of yesteryear are gone in favor of 128 stream processors running at 1250MHz on the GTX 280M.  The stream processors handle all of the workload that would have otherwise been processed by pixel or vertex shaders. VRAM can be up to 1024 MB GDDR3 clocked at either 800MHz (on MXM2 boards) or 950MHz (on MXM3 boards).

Due to the full 128 shader cores, the GTX 280M is about 10-25% faster than the older 9800M GTX and slightly faster than the 260M. Compared to the performance of the Mobility Radeon HD 4870, the GTX 280M is about equal in synthetic benchmarks, if not slightly lower. The Nvidia card, however, has proven to be slightly faster in games, so the GTX 280M can therefore be rated more highly in terms of real-life performance. Specifically, games with PhysX support (e.g., Mirrors Edge) can have significant performance advantages if PhysX effects are enabled. 

Another feature of the GeForce GTX 280M is the integrated PureVideo HD video processor. The card is able to assist the CPU in decoding of H.264-, VC-1-, MPEG2- and WMV9 video material.

HybridPower is a Windows Vista-only technique used to switch between the integrated (only with Nvidia chipset) and dedicated graphics cores for power-saving purposes. Eventually, Nvidia will have its future chips switch automatically between dedicated or integrated through drivers (now known as Optimus Technology). GeForceBoost is not supported with this card, as there would be no performance gain from combining the integrated GPU with the discrete video card.

A high power consumption of up to 75 Watts (including the VRAM and MXM board) means that only large notebooks with powerful (and possibly loud) cooling systems can run the GTX 280M.

The newer GTX 285M is based on the same core as the GTX 280M, but with only slightly altered clock rates. As a result, the performance of the GeForce GTX285M is very similar to the GTX 280M.

Compared with Desktop graphic cards, the performance can be considered somewhere in between the 9800 GT and the 9800 GTX, the latter of which has considerably higher clock rates at 675/1675/1100MHz.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

► remove from comparison NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

The NVidia GeForce GTX 260M is a high-end graphics card of the 200M series based on the G92b core. Therefore, the 55nm chip is essentially a 9800M GTX with slightly higher clock rates (550/1375/950 vs. 500/1250/800). As a result, the 260M is more similar to the desktop 9800GT than the GTX 260.

As with all native DirectX 10 cards, the GeForce GTX 260M renders 3D images using "Unified Shaders". Dedicated pixel shaders and vertex shaders have been replaced with 112 stream processors in the 260M, which now take over most of the graphics workload. The shader units themselves are also clocked higher (1375 MHz) than the core chip.

In general, the performance of the GTX 260M is somewhat higher than the 9800M GTX due to the higher clock speed. For current DirectX 10 games such as Crysis, World in Conflict, Bioshock or Age of Conan, the 260M is sufficient for gameplay under medium to high detail settings. Meanwhile, older games should be able to run fluently under high resolutions and full details. VRAM can be up to 1024 MB GDDR3 at 950MHz  in MXM 3.0 or 800MHz in MXM 2.0.

The GeForce GTX 260M integrates the PureVideo HD video decoder. The GPU is thus able to assist the CPU in the decoding of H.264-, VC-1-, MPEG2- and WMV9 videos.

HybridPower is a Windows Vista-only technology that allows users to switch between the integrated and dedicated graphics core for power-saving purposes. In the future, Nvidia intends to evolve the software for automatic switching depending on the active application (now known as Optimus). GeForceBoost is not supported with the GTX 260M as there would be no performance gain from combining with the integrated GPU.

The high current consumption of up to 75 Watts (of the entire MXM board) means that the GTX 260M can typically only be found in larger notebooks with loud and powerful cooling systems.

Compared with Desktop graphics cards, the GTX 260M is most similar to the GeForce 9800 GT.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280MNVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
GeForce GTX 200M Series
GeForce GTX 285M SLI compare 256 @ 0.58 GHz256 Bit @ 1020 MHz
GeForce GTX 280M SLI compare 256 @ 0.59 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 260M SLI compare 224 @ 0.55 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 285M compare 128 @ 0.58 GHz256 Bit @ 1020 MHz
GeForce GTX 280M 128 @ 0.59 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 260M 112 @ 0.55 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 285M SLI compare 256 @ 0.58 GHz256 Bit @ 1020 MHz
GeForce GTX 280M SLI compare 256 @ 0.59 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 260M SLI compare 224 @ 0.55 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 285M compare 128 @ 0.58 GHz256 Bit @ 1020 MHz
GeForce GTX 280M 128 @ 0.59 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
GeForce GTX 260M 112 @ 0.55 GHz256 Bit @ 950 MHz
CodenameN10E-GTXN10E-GT
ArchitectureG9xG9x
Pipelines128 - unified112 - unified
Core Speed585 MHz550 MHz
Shader Speed1463 MHz1375 MHz
Memory Speed950 MHz950 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3GDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB1024 MB
Shared Memorynono
APIDirectX 10, Shader 4.0DirectX 10, Shader 4.0
Transistors754 Million754 Million
technology55 nm55 nm
FeaturesHybridPower, PureVideo HD, CUDA, PhysX readyHybridPower, PureVideo HD, CUDA, PhysX ready
Notebook Sizelargelarge
Date of Announcement02.03.2009 02.03.2009
InformationMXM 3MXM 3
Link to Manufacturer Pagewww.nvidia.comwww.nvidia.com
Power Consumption75 Watt

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 5314     avg: 6328     median: 6672 (2%)     max: 6779 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
min: 4080     avg: 4953     median: 4901 (1%)     max: 5686 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 5071     avg: 5243     median: 5257.5 (3%)     max: 5319 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
min: 3840     avg: 4316     median: 4207 (2%)     max: 5058 Points
3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
min: 36607     avg: 38714     median: 38780 (40%)     max: 40754 Points
min: 32699     avg: 34053     median: 34304 (36%)     max: 34905 Points
3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
min: 34632     avg: 35749     median: 35748.5 (19%)     max: 36865 Points
min: 27301     avg: 29794     median: 30595.5 (16%)     max: 30685 Points
3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 16800     avg: 18414     median: 18669 (20%)     max: 20713 Points
min: 12669     avg: 14773     median: 15079 (17%)     max: 16611 Points
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M
3DMark 06
min: 11767     avg: 12569     median: 12551 (17%)     max: 13652 Points
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
min: 9458     avg: 10167     median: 10064 (13%)     max: 11209 Points
3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
3DMark 06
10370 Points (14%)
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x720 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
3DMark 06
10075 Points (13%)
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
6.8 Points (86%)
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
6.8 Points (86%)
Windows Vista Experience Index - Windows Vista Leistungsindex - Grafik (Spiele)
5.8 Points (85%)
Windows Vista Experience Index - Windows Vista Leistungsindex - Grafik
5.9 Points (87%)
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
min: 4111     avg: 5505     median: 5276.5 (4%)     max: 7845 Points
Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
min: 3702     avg: 3966     median: 3917 (3%)     max: 4425 Points
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
28 fps (10%)

Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M → 100% n=7

Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M → 80% n=7

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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 detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Mafia 2

Mafia 2

2010
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
45  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
43.8  fps
low 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
154  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
47  fps
low 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
79.1  fps
med. 1366x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
54.8  fps
high 1366x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
41.6  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
23.2  fps
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
137.4  fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
59.1  fps
high 1366x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
55.4  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
40  fps
Risen

Risen

2009
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
51.3 80.3 ~ 66 fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
41.3 50.5 ~ 46 fps
high 1366x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
31.7 36.5 ~ 34 fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
26.9  fps
Need for Speed Shift

Need for Speed Shift

2009
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
66.5  fps
high 1366x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
61  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
39.1  fps
Colin McRae: DIRT 2

Colin McRae: DIRT 2

2009
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
92  fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
79.2  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
61.5  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
35.3  fps
Anno 1404

Anno 1404

2009
low 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
100  fps
129%
GeForce GTX 260M:
125.2 133 ~ 129 fps
ultra 1280x1024
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
40 51.5 52.7 ~ 48 fps
88%
GeForce GTX 260M:
36.2 39 44 49.5 ~ 42 fps
Sims 3

Sims 3

2009
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
313  fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
105  fps
high 1280x1024
GeForce GTX 260M:
89  fps
F.E.A.R. 2

F.E.A.R. 2

2009
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
132 151.2 ~ 142 fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
86.5 89 91.1 ~ 89 fps
high 1280x1024
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
82.5 86.1 91 ~ 87 fps
79%
GeForce GTX 260M:
63.8 65 67.4 73.4 77.4 ~ 69 fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
41.8  fps
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto

GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto

2008
low 800x600
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
48 55.7 63.9 65.3 ~ 58 fps
100%
GeForce GTX 260M:
57.9  fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
47 53.9 55.7 56.3 ~ 53 fps
91%
GeForce GTX 260M:
48  fps
high 1280x1024
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
33 38.4 39.3 41.5 ~ 38 fps
97%
GeForce GTX 260M:
36.7  fps
Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead

2008
low 640x480
GeForce GTX 260M:
107 135.8 ~ 121 fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
104 121.2 131.5 ~ 119 fps
77%
GeForce GTX 260M:
69 85.8 103.3 111.7 ~ 92 fps
Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

2008
low 640x480
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
98  fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
62  fps
Crysis Warhead

Crysis Warhead

2008
low 800x600
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
76  fps
ultra 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
17  fps
Racedriver: GRID

Racedriver: GRID

2008
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
105 111.9 ~ 108 fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
61.5 72 75.1 ~ 70 fps
high 1280x1024
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
72.8  fps
76%
GeForce GTX 260M:
52.7 53 56.2 59.1 ~ 55 fps
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

2007
low 800x600
GeForce GTX 260M:
211.3  fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
95.2 168.8 ~ 132 fps
high 1280x1024
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
75 78.8 117.5 ~ 90 fps
80%
GeForce GTX 260M:
52.8 67.3 77.8 88.5 ~ 72 fps
Supreme Commander - FA Bench

Supreme Commander - FA Bench

2007
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
54.6 54.9 56 ~ 55 fps
97%
GeForce GTX 260M:
53.4  fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
45 45.9 46.1 47.3 ~ 46 fps
107%
GeForce GTX 260M:
49.2  fps
Crysis - GPU Benchmark

Crysis - GPU Benchmark

2007
low 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
106 115.4 128.6 138.9 ~ 122 fps
89%
GeForce GTX 260M:
92 123.7 ~ 108 fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
60.9 65.9 66 67 ~ 65 fps
97%
GeForce GTX 260M:
56 57.2 76.9 ~ 63 fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
43.1 44 45 45.1 48.6 ~ 45 fps
84%
GeForce GTX 260M:
31 38 38.4 39.3 41.9 ~ 38 fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
12.2  fps
Crysis - CPU Benchmark

Crysis - CPU Benchmark

2007
low 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
95.2 102.1 117.1 ~ 105 fps
114%
GeForce GTX 260M:
110 129.5 ~ 120 fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
61.2 66.2 72.4 ~ 67 fps
90%
GeForce GTX 260M:
49 52.6 76.9 ~ 60 fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
41.2 43.8 47.3 49.5 ~ 45 fps
80%
GeForce GTX 260M:
30.7 35.5 37 37 39.2 ~ 36 fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GTX 260M:
11.5  fps
World in Conflict - Benchmark

World in Conflict - Benchmark

2007
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
77  fps
78%
GeForce GTX 260M:
47 72 ~ 60 fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
46  fps
87%
GeForce GTX 260M:
38 42 ~ 40 fps
Call of Juarez Benchmark

Call of Juarez Benchmark

2006
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
29.3 33 33.1 ~ 32 fps
81%
GeForce GTX 260M:
22.7 26.6 27.2 ~ 26 fps
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark

Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark

2005
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
144  fps
110%
GeForce GTX 260M:
158  fps
Quake 4

Quake 4

2005
ultra 1024x768
GeForce GTX 260M:
62  fps
World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

2005
high 1280x1024
GeForce GTX 260M:
51.8  fps
Counter-Strike Source

Counter-Strike Source

2004
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
265  fps
74%
GeForce GTX 260M:
121 270 ~ 196 fps
Doom 3

Doom 3

2004
low 640x480
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
161  fps
ultra 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
160  fps
111%
GeForce GTX 260M:
178  fps
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo

Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo

1999
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce GTX 280M:
695  fps
83%
GeForce GTX 260M:
575  fps

Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M → 100%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%

Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M → 92%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 89%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260Mlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Mafia 24543.8
StarCraft 215447
Battlefield: Bad Company 279.154.841.623.2
CoD Modern Warfare 2137.459.155.440
Risen66463426.9
Need for Speed Shift66.56139.1
Colin McRae: DIRT 29279.261.535.3
Anno 140412942
Sims 331310589
F.E.A.R. 2142896941.8
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto57.947.9736.74
Left 4 Dead12192
Racedriver: GRID1087055
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare211.313272
Supreme Commander - FA Bench53.449.2
Crysis - GPU Benchmark108633812.2
Crysis - CPU Benchmark120603611.5
World in Conflict - Benchmark6040
Call of Juarez Benchmark26
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark158
Quake 462
World of Warcraft51.8
Counter-Strike Source196
Doom 3178
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo575
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280Mlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Anno 140410048
F.E.A.R. 287
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto585338
Left 4 Dead119
Far Cry 29862
Crysis Warhead7617
Racedriver: GRID72.8
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare90
Supreme Commander - FA Bench5546
Crysis - GPU Benchmark1226545
Crysis - CPU Benchmark1056745
World in Conflict - Benchmark7746
Call of Juarez Benchmark32
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark144
Counter-Strike Source265
Doom 3161160
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo695
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps

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v1.26
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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)