Radeon HD 3870 vs GeForce GTX 660M Mac Edition
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 660M Mac Edition and Radeon HD 3870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 660M Mac Edition outperforms ATI HD 3870 by a small 8% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 926 | 949 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| Architecture | Kepler (2012−2018) | TeraScale (2005−2013) |
| GPU code name | GK107 | RV670 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 1 April 2013 (11 years ago) | 19 November 2007 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $269 |
| Current price | $149 | $195 (0.7x MSRP) |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GTX 660M Mac Edition has 33% better value for money than ATI HD 3870.
Detailed specifications
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 cores | 384 | 320 |
| Core clock speed | 950 MHz | 777 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,270 million | 666 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 50 Watt | 106 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 30.40 | 12.43 |
| Floating-point performance | 729.6 gflops | 497.3 gflops |
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 | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 241 mm |
| Width | MXM Module | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | 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 | GDDR5 | GDDR4 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 5000 MHz | 2252 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 80 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 | No outputs | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 10.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | N/A |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | N/A |
| CUDA | 3.0 | no data |
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 | 1.56 | 1.44 |
| Recency | 1 April 2013 | 19 November 2007 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 55 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 50 Watt | 106 Watt |
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTX 660M Mac Edition and Radeon HD 3870.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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