GeForce 8800 GTX vs Radeon HD 6870

Place in the ranking	609	985
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.97	0.03
Power efficiency	2.63	0.67
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code name	Barts	G80
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	21 October 2010 (14 years ago)	8 November 2006 (18 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$239	$599

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

HD 6870 has 3133% better value for money than 8800 GTX.

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	1120	575
Core clock speed	no data	576 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	1,700 million	681 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	155 Watt
Texture fill rate	50.40	36.86
Floating-point processing power	2.016 TFLOPS	0.3456 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	24
TMUs	56	32

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	PCIe 2.0 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 1.0 x16
Length	220 mm	270 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	2x 6-pin
SLI options	-	+

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	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	768 MB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1050 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	134.4 GB/s	86.4 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, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	5.0	4.0
OpenGL	4.4	3.3
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	-	N/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.

HD 6870 5.57
+282%

8800 GTX 1.46

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.

HD 6870 2210
+282%

8800 GTX 579

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	61 +336%	14−16 −336%
Full HD	63 +294%	16−18 −294%
1200p	39 +290%	10−12 −290%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

3.79
+887%

37.44

−887%

HD 6870 has 887% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
Valorant	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Dota 2	18−20 +375%	4−5 −375%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +286%	7−8 −286%
Fortnite	30−35 +325%	8−9 −325%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +375%	4−5 −375%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
Valorant	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
World of Tanks	189 +320%	45−50 −320%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Dota 2	18−20 +375%	4−5 −375%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +286%	7−8 −286%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
Valorant	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Grand Theft Auto V	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +289%	9−10 −289%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
World of Tanks	40−45 +310%	10−11 −310%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
Forza Horizon 5	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Valorant	14−16 +400%	3−4 −400%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	16−18 +300%	4−5 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3	0−1
Dota 2	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Fortnite	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Forza Horizon 4	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Forza Horizon 5	3−4	0−1
Valorant	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%

This is how HD 6870 and 8800 GTX compete in popular games:

HD 6870 is 336% faster in 900p
HD 6870 is 294% faster in 1080p
HD 6870 is 290% faster in 1200p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.57	1.46
Recency	21 October 2010	8 November 2006
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	768 MB
Chip lithography	40 nm	90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	151 Watt	155 Watt

HD 6870 has a 281.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 125% more advanced lithography process, and 2.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 8800 GTX in performance tests.

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