ATI Radeon HD 3870 vs GeForce 9800 GTX
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce 9800 GTX and Radeon HD 3870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
9800 GTX outperforms ATI HD 3870 by a substantial 38% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 893 | 992 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.07 | 0.04 |
| Power efficiency | 0.99 | 0.95 |
| Architecture | Tesla (2006−2010) | TeraScale (2005−2013) |
| GPU code name | G92 | RV670 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 28 March 2008 (16 years ago) | 19 November 2007 (17 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $299 | $269 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
9800 GTX has 75% better value for money than ATI HD 3870.
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 128 | 320 |
| Core clock speed | 675 MHz | 777 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 754 million | 666 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 65 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 106 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | 105 °C | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 43.20 | 12.43 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.4321 TFLOPS | 0.4973 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 16 | 16 |
| TMUs | 64 | 16 |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | PCI-E 2.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 267 mm | 241 mm |
| Height | 4.376" (11.1 cm) | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | 1x 6-pin |
| SLI options | + | - |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR3 | GDDR4 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1100 MHz | 1126 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 70.4 GB/s | 72.06 GB/s |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | HDTVDual Link DVI | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video |
| Multi monitor support | + | no data |
| HDMI | Via Adapter | - |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | no data |
| Audio input for HDMI | S/PDIF | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 (10_0) | 10.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 4.0 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 2.1 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | + | - |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.99 | 1.44 |
| Recency | 28 March 2008 | 19 November 2007 |
| Chip lithography | 65 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 106 Watt |
9800 GTX has a 38.2% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 4 months.
ATI HD 3870, on the other hand, has a 18.2% more advanced lithography process, and 32.1% lower power consumption.
The GeForce 9800 GTX is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 3870 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
