ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 vs GeForce GTX 480M

Place in the ranking	683	730
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	0.13
Power efficiency	2.92	0.83
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code name	GF100	R700
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	25 May 2010 (14 years ago)	12 August 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$550

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	352	800
Core clock speed	425 MHz	700 MHz
Number of transistors	3,100 million	956 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	286 Watt
Texture fill rate	18.70	28.00
Floating-point processing power	0.5984 TFLOPS	1.12 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	16
TMUs	44	40

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).

Laptop size	large	no data
Bus support	PCI-E 2.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	no data	267 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	76.8 GB/s	115.2 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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	No outputs	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 API	10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model	5.1	4.1
OpenGL	4.5	3.3
OpenCL	1.1	1.1
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.

GTX 480M 4.19
+23.6%

ATI HD 4870 X2 3.39

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.

GTX 480M 1617
+23.5%

ATI HD 4870 X2 1309

Gaming performance

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

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p	33 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Full HD	41 +36.7%	30−35 −36.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

no data

18.33

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

7−8
+40%

5−6

−40%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Battlefield 5	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%
Hitman 3	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +43.3%	30−33 −43.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Battlefield 5	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%
Hitman 3	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +43.3%	30−33 −43.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%
Hitman 3	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +43.3%	30−33 −43.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12

+37.5%

8−9
−37.5%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Far Cry 5	5−6 +25%	4−5 −25%
Forza Horizon 4	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Hitman 3	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +23.8%	21−24 −23.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9
+33.3%

6−7

−33.3%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Hitman 3	0−1	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	1−2	0−1
Metro Exodus	1−2	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6
+25%

4−5

−25%

This is how GTX 480M and ATI HD 4870 X2 compete in popular games:

GTX 480M is 38% faster in 900p
GTX 480M is 37% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	4.19	3.39
Recency	25 May 2010	12 August 2008
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	286 Watt

GTX 480M has a 23.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 37.5% more advanced lithography process, and 186% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 480M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 4870 X2 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 480M is a notebook card while Radeon HD 4870 X2 is a desktop one.

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