GeForce GTX 260 vs ATI Radeon HD 3850

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 3850 and GeForce GTX 260, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 3850
2007
1 GB GDDR3, 75 Watt
1.02

GTX 260 outperforms ATI HD 3850 by a whopping 209% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking1104751
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.040.16
Power efficiency0.931.19
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code nameRV670GT200
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2007 (17 years ago)16 June 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 $449

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 260 has 300% better value for money than ATI HD 3850.

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 cores320192
Core clock speed668 MHz576 MHz
Number of transistors666 million1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Watt182 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate10.6936.86
Floating-point processing power0.4275 TFLOPS0.4769 TFLOPS
ROPs1628
TMUs1664

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 mm267 mm
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width1-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin2x 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 typeGDDR3GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB896 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit448 Bit
Memory clock speed830 MHz999 MHz
Memory bandwidth53.12 GB/s111.9 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-VideoDual 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.

DirectX10.1 (10_1)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model4.14.0
OpenGL3.32.1
OpenCLN/A1.1
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 3850 1.02
GTX 260 3.15
+209%

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
GTX 260 1215
+210%

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 3.15
Recency 19 November 2007 16 June 2008
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 896 MB
Chip lithography 55 nm 65 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 182 Watt

ATI HD 3850 has a 14.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 18.2% more advanced lithography process, and 142.7% lower power consumption.

GTX 260, on the other hand, has a 208.8% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 6 months.

The GeForce GTX 260 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 3850 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 3850
Radeon HD 3850
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
GeForce GTX 260

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

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