GeForce GTX 680M SLI vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

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HD 7870 XT HD 7950 HD 7950 Boost HD 7950 Mac Edition HD 7950 Monica BIOS 1 HD 7970 HD 7970 GHz Edition HD 8950 OEM HD 8970 OEM R9 280 R9 280X R9 280X2
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660M 660M Mac Edition 670M 670MX 670MX SLI 675M 675M SLI 675MX 675MX Mac Edition 680M 680M SLI 680MX 680MX Mac Edition

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT with GeForce GTX 680M SLI, including specs and performance data.

HD 7870 XT
2012, $270
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
10.64

680M SLI outperforms HD 7870 XT by a considerable 40% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

Share:
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
GTX 680M SLI GTX 680M SLI

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking469385
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.16no data
Power efficiency4.44no data
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)Kepler (2012−2018)
GPU code nameTahitiN13E-GTX
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date19 November 2012 (13 years ago)4 June 2012 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

no data

Performance to price scatter graph

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 cores15362688
Core clock speed925 MHz720 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Wattno data
Texture fill rate93.60no data
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs96no data
L1 Cache384 KBno data
L2 Cache512 KBno data

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).

Laptop sizeno datalarge
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
Length267 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinno data
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB2x 4 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz3600 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.0 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.

Display Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortno data
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

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

Optimus-+

API and SDK support

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan1.2.131-
CUDA-+

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:

900p95−100
−40%
133
+40%
Full HD70−75
−40%
98
+40%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.86no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Counter-Strike 2 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

Full HD
Medium

Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Fortnite 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Valorant 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%

Full HD
High

Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 229
+0%
229
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Dota 2 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Fortnite 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Valorant 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Dota 2 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Valorant 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 140−150
+0%
140−150
+0%
Valorant 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

4K
High

Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Dota 2 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Escape from Tarkov 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

This is how HD 7870 XT and GTX 680M SLI compete in popular games:

  • GTX 680M SLI is 40% faster in 900p
  • GTX 680M SLI is 40% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 64 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 10.64 14.85
Recency 19 November 2012 4 June 2012

HD 7870 XT has an age advantage of 5 months.

GTX 680M SLI, on the other hand, has a 39.6% higher aggregate performance score.

The GeForce GTX 680M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7870 XT is a desktop graphics card while GeForce GTX 680M SLI is a notebook one.

Vote for your favorite

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

AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M SLI
GeForce GTX 680M SLI
Like
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Other comparisons

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

HD 7870 XT Radeon HD 7870 XT
vs
R7 370 Radeon R7 370
GTX 680M SLI GeForce GTX 680M SLI
vs
RX 6300M Radeon RX 6300M
HD 7870 XT Radeon HD 7870 XT
vs
GTX 660 Ti GeForce GTX 660 Ti
HD 8970 OEM HD 8970 OEM
vs
Quadro T1000 T1000
HD 8970 OEM HD 8970 OEM
vs
Arc Pro A60M Arc Pro A60M
HD 8970 OEM HD 8970 OEM
vs
Apple M4 Max 40-Core GPU M4 Max 40-Core GPU
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
K4100M K4100M
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
Quadro 1000M 1000M
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
ION 2 ION 2
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
ATI X1950 PRO X1950 PRO
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
7950 GT 7950 GT
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
ATI Mobility HD 5850 Mac Edition Mobility HD 5850 Mac Edition
HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
vs
RTX 3050 Max-Q RTX 3050 Max-Q

Community ratings

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

4 45 votes

Rate Radeon HD 7870 XT on a scale of 1 to 5:

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  • 5
4.7 3 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 680M SLI on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Comments

Here you can give us your opinion about Radeon HD 7870 XT or GeForce GTX 680M SLI, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.