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GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 8790M

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 280

2008Core: 602 MHz
Buy on Amazon
VS
AMD

Radeon HD 8790M

2013Core: 850 MHzBoost: 900 MHz
Buy on Amazon

GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 8790M Performance Spectrum

GeForce GTX 280
1 GB 236
1,285
0.0%
brand logoGeForce 920M
brand logoGeForce 920A
brand logoGeForce GT 1010
brand logoGeForce 940M
brand logoGeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Mobile)
brand logoGeForce GTX 1070 (móvel)
brand logoRTX 2000 Ada Generation Embedded GPU
brand logoGeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU
Radeon HD 8790M
2 GB 50
1,306
+1.6%
brand logoRadeon HD 7550M/7650M
brand logoRadeon R7 G
brand logoRadeon HD 6700M
brand logoRadeon 610M
brand logoRadeon RX 5500M
brand logoRadeon RX 7600M
brand logoRadeon RX 6700S
brand logoRadeon RX 6700 XT

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 8790M FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low31 FPS
medium25 FPS
high15 FPS
ultra10 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low13 FPS
medium8 FPS
high4 FPS
ultra3 FPS
Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low58 FPS
medium38 FPS
high28 FPS
ultra20 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low59 FPS
medium47 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra29 FPS
League of Legends

League of Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low58 FPS
medium46 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra29 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low59 FPS
medium47 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra29 FPS
Valorant

Valorant

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low58 FPS
medium46 FPS
high32 FPS
ultra26 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low57 FPS
medium44 FPS
high25 FPS
ultra16 FPS
Among Us

Among Us

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low58 FPS
medium46 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra29 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low59 FPS
medium47 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra29 FPS
Apex Legends

Apex Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low9 FPS
medium5 FPS
high3 FPS
ultra3 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low6 FPS
medium3 FPS
high2 FPS
ultra2 FPS
ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low45 FPS
medium34 FPS
high28 FPS
ultra19 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low7 FPS
medium5 FPS
high3 FPS
ultra2 FPS
Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low51 FPS
medium35 FPS
high27 FPS
ultra21 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low27 FPS
medium17 FPS
high12 FPS
ultra9 FPS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low58 FPS
medium46 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra29 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low52 FPS
medium43 FPS
high28 FPS
ultra17 FPS
Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone

1080P
GeForce GTX 280
low46 FPS
medium34 FPS
high28 FPS
ultra23 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 8790M
low5 FPS
medium4 FPS
high3 FPS
ultra2 FPS
Check FPS with Custom Builds

GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 8790M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 280

2008

Why buy it

  • ✅73.9% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • ✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 2.0 vs 0 G3D/$ ($649 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).

Trade-offs

  • ❌Less VRAM, with 1 GB vs 2 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
  • ❌2008 hardware with 1 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • ❌372% higher power demand at 236W vs 50W.

Radeon HD 8790M

2013

Why buy it

  • ✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (2 GB vs 1 GB).
  • ✅Draws 50W instead of 236W, a 186W reduction.
  • ✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • ❌Lower average FPS than GeForce GTX 280 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • ❌2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 2.0 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $649 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
GeForce GTX 280 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 73.9% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward Radeon HD 8790M instead at 1,306 vs 1,285, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce GTX 280 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce GTX 280 makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 8790M Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 280

The GeForce GTX 280 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in June 16 2008. It features the Tesla 2.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 602 MHz. It has 240 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 236W. Manufactured using 65 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,285 points. Launch price was $649.

AMD

Radeon HD 8790M

The Radeon HD 8790M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 1 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 850 MHz to 900 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,306 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 280 scores 1,285 and the Radeon HD 8790M reaches 1,306 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.6% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 280 is built on Tesla 2.0 while the Radeon HD 8790M uses GCN 1.0, both on 65 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 240 (GeForce GTX 280) vs 384 (Radeon HD 8790M). Raw compute: 0.6221 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 280) vs 0.6912 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 8790M).

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
G3D Mark Score
1,285
1,306+2%
Architecture
Tesla 2.0
GCN 1.0
Process Node
65 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
240
384+60%
Compute (TFLOPS)
0.6221 TFLOPS
0.6912 TFLOPS+11%
ROPs
32+300%
8
TMUs
80+233%
24
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 280 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 8790M leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The GeForce GTX 280 has 1 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon HD 8790M carries 2 GB. Radeon HD 8790M gives you 100% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GTX 280 and System on the Radeon HD 8790M.

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
VRAM Capacity
1 GB
2 GB+100%
Memory Type
GDDR5
Shared
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
System
Bus Width
128-bit
System
L2 Cache
256 KB
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.1 (10_0) (GeForce GTX 280) vs 11.1 (11_1) (Radeon HD 8790M). Vulkan: N/A vs 1.2. OpenGL: 3.3 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 0.

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
DirectX
11.1 (10_0)
11.1 (11_1)
Vulkan
N/A
1.2
OpenGL
3.3
4.6+39%
Max Displays
2
0
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (GeForce GTX 280) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 8790M). Decoder: PureVideo HD (VP2) vs UVD 3.0. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2 (GeForce GTX 280) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 (Radeon HD 8790M).

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
Encoder
None
VCE 1.0
Decoder
PureVideo HD (VP2)
UVD 3.0
Codecs
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2
H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 280 draws 236W versus the Radeon HD 8790M's 50W — a 130.1% difference. The Radeon HD 8790M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 550W (GeForce GTX 280) vs 350W (Radeon HD 8790M). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin vs 1x 6-pin. Card length: 267mm vs 0mm, occupying 2 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 85 vs 75.

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
TDP
236W
50W-79%
Recommended PSU
550W
350W-36%
Power Connector
1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
1x 6-pin
Length
267mm
0mm
Height
111mm
0mm
Slots
2
0-100%
Temp (Load)
85
75-12%
Perf/Watt
5.4
26.1+383%
💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon HD 8790M (2013 vs 2008).

FeatureGeForce GTX 280Radeon HD 8790M
MSRP
$649
—
Codename
GT200
Mars
Release
June 16 2008
April 1 2013
Ranking
#802
#797
Search GeForce GTX 280 on AmazonSearch Radeon HD 8790M on Amazon

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