RTX A500 Mobile vs GeForce GTX 870M

Place in the ranking	488	314
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	6.20	20.10
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	GK104	GA107S
Market segment	Laptop	Mobile workstation
Release date	12 March 2014 (10 years ago)	22 March 2022 (2 years ago)

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	1344	2048
Core clock speed	941 MHz	832 MHz
Boost clock speed	967 MHz	1537 MHz
Number of transistors	3,540 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	60 Watt (20 - 60 Watt TGP)
Texture fill rate	108.3	98.37
Floating-point processing power	2.599 TFLOPS	6.296 TFLOPS
ROPs	24	48
TMUs	112	64
Tensor Cores	no data	64
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	16

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 size	large	no data
Bus support	PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 4.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	None	no 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 type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	4 GB
Standard memory configuration	GDDR5	no data
Memory bus width	192 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	Up to 2500 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	120.0 GB/s	96 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	No outputs	No outputs
eDP 1.2 signal support	Up to 3840x2160	no data
LVDS signal support	Up to 1920x1200	no data
VGA аnalog display support	Up to 2048x1536	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	Up to 3840x2160	no data
HDMI	+	-
HDCP content protection	+	-
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI	+	-
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming	+	-

Supported technologies

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

H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	-
Optimus	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.1	6.6
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	3.0
Vulkan	1.1.126	1.3
CUDA	+	8.6

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.

GTX 870M 9.01

RTX A500 Mobile 17.52
+94.5%

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.

GTX 870M 3462

RTX A500 Mobile 6737
+94.6%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 870M 7156

RTX A500 Mobile 10818
+51.2%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 870M 24035

RTX A500 Mobile 40923
+70.3%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 870M 4694

RTX A500 Mobile 7598
+61.9%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 870M 31322

RTX A500 Mobile 48496
+54.8%

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:

Full HD	45 +0%	45 +0%
1440p	12−14 −108%	25 +108%
4K	20 −75%	35−40 +75%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −147%	42 +147%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −94.4%	35−40 +94.4%
Elden Ring	24−27 −120%	55−60 +120%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −93.1%	55−60 +93.1%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −88.2%	32 +88.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −94.4%	35−40 +94.4%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −111%	76 +111%
Metro Exodus	24−27 −100%	45−50 +100%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −70.8%	40−45 +70.8%
Valorant	30−35 −122%	70−75 +122%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −93.1%	55−60 +93.1%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −41.2%	24 +41.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −94.4%	35−40 +94.4%
Dota 2	24 −83.3%	44 +83.3%
Elden Ring	24−27 −120%	55−60 +120%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −105%	78 +105%
Fortnite	50−55 −79.2%	95−100 +79.2%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −72.2%	62 +72.2%
Grand Theft Auto V	36 −83.3%	66 +83.3%
Metro Exodus	24−27 −100%	45−50 +100%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	70−75 −71.8%	120−130 +71.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −70.8%	40−45 +70.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	31 −74.2%	50−55 +74.2%
Valorant	30−35 −122%	70−75 +122%
World of Tanks	130−140 −60.9%	210−220 +60.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −93.1%	55−60 +93.1%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −17.6%	20 +17.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 −94.4%	35−40 +94.4%
Dota 2	30−35 −93.8%	60−65 +93.8%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −60.5%	60−65 +60.5%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −50%	54 +50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	70−75 −71.8%	120−130 +71.8%
Valorant	30−35 −122%	70−75 +122%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	10−12 −173%	30 +173%
Elden Ring	12−14 −133%	27−30 +133%
Grand Theft Auto V	10−12 −173%	30 +173%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 −266%	160−170 +266%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 −129%	16−18 +129%
World of Tanks	65−70 −86.2%	120−130 +86.2%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 −112%	35−40 +112%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −85.7%	12−14 +85.7%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −137%	45−50 +137%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 −105%	39 +105%
Metro Exodus	16−18 −144%	35−40 +144%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −109%	21−24 +109%
Valorant	21−24 −100%	40−45 +100%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	3−4 −333%	12−14 +333%
Dota 2	18−20 −57.9%	30−33 +57.9%
Elden Ring	5−6 −140%	12−14 +140%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 −57.9%	30−33 +57.9%
Metro Exodus	4−5 −200%	12−14 +200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 −100%	50−55 +100%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −83.3%	10−12 +83.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −57.9%	30−33 +57.9%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 −113%	16−18 +113%
Counter-Strike 2	3−4 −333%	12−14 +333%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −150%	5−6 +150%
Dota 2	18−20 −57.9%	30−33 +57.9%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −100%	21−24 +100%
Fortnite	9−10 −122%	20−22 +122%
Forza Horizon 4	10−12 −127%	24−27 +127%
Valorant	9−10 −122%	20−22 +122%

This is how GTX 870M and RTX A500 Mobile compete in popular games:

A tie in 1080p
RTX A500 Mobile is 108% faster in 1440p
RTX A500 Mobile is 75% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Counter-Strike 2, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RTX A500 Mobile is 333% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RTX A500 Mobile is ahead in 62 tests (98%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.01	17.52
Recency	12 March 2014	22 March 2022
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	60 Watt

RTX A500 Mobile has a 94.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 66.7% lower power consumption.

The RTX A500 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 870M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 870M is a notebook graphics card while RTX A500 Mobile is a mobile workstation one.

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