How the Radeon R9 280 performs at 1080p, 1440p and 4K
At 1080p the Radeon R9 280 averages about 12 fps on High across the 14 games people check most. Newer games need Low or Medium, and some will not reach 60 fps at all.
At 1440p the typical result drops to 8 fps. 1440p is a stretch; stay at 1080p or use upscaling. At 4K it is about 4 fps. 4K is not what this card is for.
The heaviest game we checked is Hogwarts Legacy, at 7 fps on High at 1080p. The lightest is VALORANT, which the card handles at 161 fps. If your own games are somewhere in between, the table above shows where.
Memory and power
Four gigabytes of video memory is the tight spot on this card. Many games from 2023 on want 6 to 8 GB at High textures, so set textures to Medium first. It costs little in looks and often removes stutter.
The Radeon R9 280 is rated at 250 W. With a mid-range processor, plan on a 650 W power supply (550 W is the minimum). That is a moderate load. Any case with a front intake fan will keep it cool.
Where it sits
Released in 2014, the Radeon R9 280 is 12 years old, and the newest games already treat it as an entry level card. The next card up in our list is the Radeon HD 7950, about 2% faster (launch price $449). The next card down is the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, about 7% slower.
It launched at $279, which works out to 1.6 points of performance per $100. Prices on the used and discount market are different, so treat this as a way to compare cards, not as today's price.
Which processor to pair it with, and who it suits
To keep a processor from holding it back at 1080p, you want something like a Ryzen 3 1200, and the same chip is enough at 1440p. Slower processors will still work, but you give up some of the card's speed.
The Radeon R9 280 is a basic or old card. It handles esports titles and older games at Low to Medium, and not much else from this decade.