NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 vs ATI Radeon HD 4870

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Combined performance score

ATI HD 4870
3.52

GeForce GTX 480 outperforms Radeon HD 4870 by 201% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking680395
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.261.27
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameRV770GF100
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date25 June 2008 (15 years old)7 December 2010 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 $499
Current price$162 (0.5x MSRP)$15.99 (0x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 480 has 388% better value for money than ATI HD 4870.

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 cores800480
CUDA coresno data480
Core clock speed750 MHz700 MHz
Number of transistors956 million3,100 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt295 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate30.0042 billion/sec
Floating-point performance1,200.0 gflops1,345.0 gflops

Size and 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 supportno data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length250 mm10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin6-pin & 8-pin
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 amount1 GB1536 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed3600 MHz1848 MHz (3696 data rate)
Memory bandwidth115.2 GB/s177.4 GB/s
Shared memoryno data-

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 S-VideoTwo Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMIno data+
HDCPno data+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

API support

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model4.15.1
OpenGL3.34.2
OpenCL1.11.1
VulkanN/AN/A
CUDAno data+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

ATI HD 4870 3.52
GTX 480 10.58
+201%

GeForce GTX 480 outperforms Radeon HD 4870 by 201% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

ATI HD 4870 1366
GTX 480 4100
+200%

GeForce GTX 480 outperforms Radeon HD 4870 by 200% in Passmark.

Gaming performance

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

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 3.52 10.58
Recency 25 June 2008 7 December 2010
Cost $299 $499
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 1536 MB
Chip lithography 55 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 295 Watt

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


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


ATI Radeon HD 4870
Radeon HD 4870
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
GeForce GTX 480

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User ratings: view and submit

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.3 217 votes

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3.4 194 votes

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Questions and comments

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