NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M SLI vs AMD Radeon R9 270X

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Combined performance score

R9 270X
12.61

GeForce GTX 680M SLI outperforms Radeon R9 270X by 31% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking362300
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money4.4227.61
ArchitectureGCN (2011−2017)Kepler (2012−2018)
GPU code nameCuracao XTN13E-GTX
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date8 October 2013 (10 years old)4 June 2012 (11 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 no data
Current price$136 (0.7x MSRP)$149
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 680M SLI has 525% better value for money than R9 270X.

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 cores12802688
Core clock speedno data720 MHz
Boost clock speed1050 MHzno data
Number of transistors2,800 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)180 Wattno data
Texture fill rate84.00no data
Floating-point performance2,688 gflopsno data

Size and compatibility

Information on Radeon R9 270X and GeForce GTX 680M SLI compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizeno datalarge
Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2 x 6-pinno data
SLI optionsno 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2x 4 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speedno data3600 MHz
Memory bandwidth179.2 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPortno data
Eyefinity+no data
HDMI+no data
DisplayPort support+no data

Technologies

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

AppAcceleration+no data
CrossFire1no data
Enduro-no data
FreeSync1no data
HD3D+no data
LiquidVR1no data
PowerTune-no data
TressFX1no data
TrueAudio+no data
ZeroCore-no data
UVD+no data
DDMA audio+no data
Optimusno data+

API support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1211
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan+no data
Mantle-no data
CUDAno data+

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:

900p100−110
−33%
133
+33%
Full HD70−75
−40%
98
+40%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−30%
24−27
+30%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−25.9%
30−35
+25.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−33.3%
27−30
+33.3%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−30.2%
55−60
+30.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
−30.3%
40−45
+30.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−30%
24−27
+30%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−30.3%
40−45
+30.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−32.4%
45−50
+32.4%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−28.9%
55−60
+28.9%
Hitman 3 30−35
−35.3%
45−50
+35.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
−34.6%
35−40
+34.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−28.6%
27−30
+28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−34.6%
35−40
+34.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−34.8%
30−35
+34.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−25.9%
30−35
+25.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−33.3%
27−30
+33.3%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−30.2%
55−60
+30.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
−30.3%
40−45
+30.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−30%
24−27
+30%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−30.3%
40−45
+30.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−32.4%
45−50
+32.4%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−28.9%
55−60
+28.9%
Hitman 3 30−35
−35.3%
45−50
+35.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
−34.6%
35−40
+34.6%
Metro Exodus 18−20
−36.8%
24−27
+36.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−28.6%
27−30
+28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−34.6%
35−40
+34.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
−34.6%
35−40
+34.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−34.8%
30−35
+34.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−25.9%
30−35
+25.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−33.3%
27−30
+33.3%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−30.2%
55−60
+30.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−30%
24−27
+30%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−30.3%
40−45
+30.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−32.4%
45−50
+32.4%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−28.9%
55−60
+28.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
−34.6%
35−40
+34.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−34.8%
30−35
+34.8%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
−33.3%
24−27
+33.3%
Hitman 3 20−22
−30%
24−27
+30%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
−27.8%
21−24
+27.8%
Metro Exodus 10−12
−36.4%
14−16
+36.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
−33.3%
12−14
+33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16−18
−31.3%
21−24
+31.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
−30.8%
16−18
+30.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
−55.6%
14−16
+55.6%
Battlefield 5 24−27
−44%
35−40
+44%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−50%
9−10
+50%
Far Cry 5 20−22
−35%
27−30
+35%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−40.9%
30−35
+40.9%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
−37.5%
30−35
+37.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
−41.7%
16−18
+41.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 7−8
−57.1%
10−12
+57.1%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
−33.3%
12−14
+33.3%
Hitman 3 12−14
−25%
14−16
+25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
−22.2%
10−12
+22.2%
Metro Exodus 6−7
−50%
9−10
+50%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
−28.6%
9−10
+28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
−42.9%
10−11
+42.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
−45.5%
16−18
+45.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
−42.9%
10−11
+42.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
−33.3%
8−9
+33.3%
Battlefield 5 12−14
−50%
18−20
+50%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Far Cry 5 10−11
−30%
12−14
+30%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
−23.1%
16−18
+23.1%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
−35.3%
21−24
+35.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%

This is how R9 270X and GTX 680M SLI compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 680M SLI is 33% faster than R9 270X

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 680M SLI is 40% faster than R9 270X

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 680M SLI is 75% faster than the R9 270X.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 680M SLI surpassed R9 270X in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 12.61 16.51
Recency 8 October 2013 4 June 2012

The GeForce GTX 680M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 270X in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R9 270X is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 680M SLI is a notebook one.


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

User ratings

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AMD Radeon R9 270X
Radeon R9 270X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M SLI
GeForce GTX 680M SLI

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Questions and comments

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