GeForce 9600 GSO vs ATI Radeon HD 5870

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 5870 and GeForce 9600 GSO, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 5870
2009
1 GB GDDR5, 188 Watt
5.75
+576%

ATI HD 5870 outperforms 9600 GSO by a whopping 576% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking5911128
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.550.09
Power efficiency2.120.70
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code nameCypressG92
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date23 September 2009 (15 years ago)28 April 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$399 $49.99

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 5870 has 511% better value for money than 9600 GSO.

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 cores160096
Core clock speed850 MHz550 MHz
Number of transistors2,154 million754 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)188 Watt105 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate68.0026.40
Floating-point processing power2.72 TFLOPS0.264 TFLOPS
ROPs3212
TMUs8048

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 supportno dataPCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length282 mm229 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin
SLI options-2-way

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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB384 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz800 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s38.4 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPortDual Link DVIHDTV
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataS/PDIF

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model5.04.0
OpenGL4.42.1
OpenCL1.21.1
VulkanN/AN/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.

ATI HD 5870 5.75
+576%
9600 GSO 0.85

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.

ATI HD 5870 2220
+579%
9600 GSO 327

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 5.75 0.85
Recency 23 September 2009 28 April 2008
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 384 MB
Chip lithography 40 nm 65 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 188 Watt 105 Watt

ATI HD 5870 has a 576.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 62.5% more advanced lithography process.

9600 GSO, on the other hand, has 79% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 5870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600 GSO in performance tests.


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

Vote for your favorite

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ATI Radeon HD 5870
Radeon HD 5870
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9600 GSO

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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


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Questions & comments

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