AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2

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Combined performance score

9800 GX2
2.06

Radeon HD 6850 outperforms GeForce 9800 GX2 by 147% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking831584
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.090.52
ArchitectureTesla (2006−2010)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameG92Barts
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date18 March 2008 (16 years old)21 October 2010 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$599 $179
Current price$140 (0.2x MSRP)$177 (1x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6850 has 478% better value for money than 9800 GX2.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores128960
CUDA cores256 (128 per GPU)no data
Core clock speed600 MHzno data
Number of transistors754 million1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology65 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)197 Watt127 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature105 °Cno data
Texture fill rate76.8 billion/sec37.20
Floating-point performance2x 384.0 gflops1,488.0 gflops

Size and 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 supportno dataAGP
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length10.5" (26.7 cm)198 mm
Height2-slotno data
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors6-pin & 8-pin1x 6-pin
SLI options+no data

Memory

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 typeGDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount512 MB1 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth128 (64 per GPU)128.0 GB/s

Video outputs and ports

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 ConnectorsHDMIDual Link DVI2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Multi monitor support+no data
Eyefinityno data1
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
DisplayPort supportno data-
Audio input for HDMIS/PDIFno data

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

AppAccelerationno data-
CrossFireno data1
Endurono data-
HD3Dno data-
PowerTuneno data-
TrueAudiono data-
ZeroCoreno data-

API support

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.1 (10_0)DirectX® 11
Shader Model4.05.0
OpenGL2.14.4
OpenCL1.11.2
VulkanN/Ano data
Mantleno data-
CUDA+no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

9800 GX2 2.06
HD 6850 5.09
+147%

Radeon HD 6850 outperforms GeForce 9800 GX2 by 147% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

9800 GX2 797
HD 6850 1973
+148%

Radeon HD 6850 outperforms GeForce 9800 GX2 by 148% in Passmark.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 2.06 5.09
Recency 18 March 2008 21 October 2010
Cost $599 $179
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 1 GB
Chip lithography 65 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 197 Watt 127 Watt

The Radeon HD 6850 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9800 GX2 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2
GeForce 9800 GX2
AMD Radeon HD 6850
Radeon HD 6850

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User ratings: view and submit

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3.3 11 votes

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.