Radeon HD 6950 vs ATI HD 3870 X2

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 3870 X2 and Radeon HD 6950, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 3870 X2
2008
512 MB GDDR3, 165 Watt
1.83

HD 6950 outperforms ATI HD 3870 X2 by a whopping 270% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking913555
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.041.04
Power efficiency0.772.34
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)TeraScale 3 (2010−2013)
GPU code nameR680Cayman
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date26 January 2008 (16 years ago)14 December 2010 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$449 $299

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6950 has 2500% better value for money than ATI HD 3870 X2.

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 cores3201408
Core clock speed825 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data800 MHz
Number of transistors666 million2,640 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)165 Watt500 Watt
Texture fill rate13.2070.40
Floating-point processing power0.528 TFLOPS2.253 TFLOPS
ROPs1632
TMUs1688

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 supportno dataPCIe 2.0 x16
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length267 mm267 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin2x 6-pin

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 typeGDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount512 MB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed901 MHz1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth57.66 GB/sno data

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-Video2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity-+
HDMI-+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire-+

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)DirectX® 11
Shader Model4.15.0
OpenGL3.34.4
OpenCLN/A1.2
VulkanN/A-

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 3870 X2 1.83
HD 6950 6.77
+270%

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 3870 X2 708
HD 6950 2612
+269%

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 1.83 6.77
Recency 26 January 2008 14 December 2010
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 2 GB
Chip lithography 55 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 165 Watt 500 Watt

ATI HD 3870 X2 has 203% lower power consumption.

HD 6950, on the other hand, has a 269.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 37.5% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon HD 6950 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 3870 X2 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 3870 X2
Radeon HD 3870 X2
AMD Radeon HD 6950
Radeon HD 6950

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.


3.9 11 votes

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3.7 218 votes

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Questions & comments

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