ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 vs HD 6850

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6850 and Radeon HD 4870 X2, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 6850
2010
1 GB GDDR5, 127 Watt
5.10
+50%

HD 6850 outperforms ATI HD 4870 X2 by an impressive 50% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking625732
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.050.15
Power efficiency2.750.81
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code nameBartsR700
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date21 October 2010 (14 years ago)12 August 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 $550

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6850 has 600% better value for money than ATI HD 4870 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 cores960800
Core clock speedno data700 MHz
Number of transistors1,700 million956 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)127 Watt286 Watt
Texture fill rate37.2028.00
Floating-point processing power1.488 TFLOPS1.12 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs4840

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 supportAGPno data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length198 mm267 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speedno data900 MHz
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/s115.2 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 HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x S-Video
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.

DirectXDirectX® 1110.1 (10_1)
Shader Model5.04.1
OpenGL4.43.3
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan-N/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.

HD 6850 5.10
+50%
ATI HD 4870 X2 3.40

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.

HD 6850 1964
+50%
ATI HD 4870 X2 1309

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 5.10 3.40
Recency 21 October 2010 12 August 2008
Chip lithography 40 nm 55 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 127 Watt 286 Watt

HD 6850 has a 50% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 37.5% more advanced lithography process, and 125.2% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6850 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 4870 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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AMD Radeon HD 6850
Radeon HD 6850
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Radeon HD 4870 X2

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

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