Radeon HD 6870 vs Quadro K5000

Place in the ranking	441	602
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.67	0.99
Power efficiency	5.88	2.63
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	GK104	Barts
Market segment	Workstation	Desktop
Design	no data	reference
Release date	17 August 2012 (12 years ago)	21 October 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$2,499	$239

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6870 has 48% better value for money than Quadro K5000.

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	1536	1120
Core clock speed	706 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	no data	900 MHz
Number of transistors	3,540 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	122 Watt	151 Watt
Texture fill rate	90.37	50.40
Floating-point processing power	2.169 TFLOPS	2.016 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	128	56

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).

Bus support	no data	PCIe 2.0 x16
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	267 mm	220 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	2x 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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1350 MHz	1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth	172.8 GB/s	134.4 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	2x DVI, 2x DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	-	+
HDMI	-	+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	5.1	5.0
OpenGL	4.6	4.4
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	+	-
CUDA	3.0	-

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.

Quadro K5000 10.40
+80.9%

HD 6870 5.75

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.

Quadro K5000 3997
+80.9%

HD 6870 2209

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	110−120 +80.3%	61 −80.3%
Full HD	110−120 +74.6%	63 −74.6%
1200p	70−75 +79.5%	39 −79.5%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

22.72
−499%

3.79

+499%

HD 6870 has 499% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Elden Ring	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Elden Ring	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Fortnite	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
World of Tanks	189 +0%	189 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Elden Ring	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
World of Tanks	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Valorant	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Elden Ring	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Metro Exodus	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Fortnite	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Valorant	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

This is how Quadro K5000 and HD 6870 compete in popular games:

Quadro K5000 is 80% faster in 900p
Quadro K5000 is 75% faster in 1080p
Quadro K5000 is 79% faster in 1200p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 61 test (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	10.40	5.75
Recency	17 August 2012	21 October 2010
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	122 Watt	151 Watt

Quadro K5000 has a 80.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 23.8% lower power consumption.

The Quadro K5000 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6870 in performance tests.

Be aware that Quadro K5000 is a workstation graphics card while Radeon HD 6870 is a desktop one.

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