GeForce GT 230 vs ATI Radeon HD 3850

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 3850 and GeForce GT 230, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 3850
2007
1 GB GDDR3, 75 Watt
1.02
+21.4%

ATI HD 3850 outperforms GT 230 by a significant 21% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking10971133
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.020.01
Power efficiency0.980.81
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code nameRV670G94B
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2007 (16 years ago)12 October 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 $43.99

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 3850 has 100% better value for money than GT 230.

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 cores32048
Core clock speed668 MHz650 MHz
Number of transistors666 million505 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Watt75 Watt
Texture fill rate10.6915.60
Floating-point processing power0.4275 TFLOPS0.156 TFLOPS
ROPs1616
TMUs1624

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).

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length208 mmno data
Width1-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinNone

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 typeGDDR3GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB512 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed830 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth53.12 GB/s57.6 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 S-VideoNo outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model4.14.0
OpenGL3.33.3
OpenCLN/A1.1
VulkanN/AN/A
CUDA-1.1

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 3850 1.02
+21.4%
GT 230 0.84

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 3850 392
+21.4%
GT 230 323

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 1.02 0.84
Recency 19 November 2007 12 October 2009
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 512 MB

ATI HD 3850 has a 21.4% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

GT 230, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year.

The Radeon HD 3850 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 230 in performance tests.


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

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ATI Radeon HD 3850
Radeon HD 3850
NVIDIA GeForce GT 230
GeForce GT 230

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.


3.4 205 votes

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2.9 64 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.