ATI Radeon HD 3870 vs GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and Radeon HD 3870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 3870 outperforms 5900 Ultra by a whopping 1220% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1519 | 1067 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 0.05 |
| Power efficiency | 0.13 | 0.96 |
| Architecture | Rankine (2003−2005) | TeraScale (2005−2013) |
| GPU code name | NV35 | RV670 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 23 October 2003 (22 years ago) | 19 November 2007 (18 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | $269 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
FX 5900 Ultra and ATI HD 3870 have a nearly equal value for money.
Performance to price scatter graph
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 | no data | 320 |
| Core clock speed | 450 MHz | 777 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 135 million | 666 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 130 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 59 Watt | 106 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 3.600 | 12.43 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 0.4973 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 4 | 16 |
| TMUs | 8 | 16 |
| L2 Cache | no data | 256 KB |
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).
| Interface | AGP 8x | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 218 mm | 241 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x Molex | 1x 6-pin |
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 | DDR | GDDR4 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 425 MHz | 1126 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 27.2 GB/s | 72.06 GB/s |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0a | 10.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | no data | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 1.5 (2.1) | 3.3 (full) 4.0 (partial) |
| OpenCL | N/A | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Synthetic benchmarks
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.
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 | 0.10 | 1.32 |
| Recency | 23 October 2003 | 19 November 2007 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Chip lithography | 130 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 59 Watt | 106 Watt |
FX 5900 Ultra has 80% lower power consumption.
ATI HD 3870, on the other hand, has a 1220% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 136% more advanced lithography process.
The Radeon HD 3870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
