GeForce 9600 GSO vs Radeon HD 6870

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6870 and GeForce 9600 GSO, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 6870
2010
1 GB GDDR5, 151 Watt
5.74
+575%

HD 6870 outperforms 9600 GSO by a whopping 575% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking5921128
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.920.09
Power efficiency2.740.73
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code nameBartsG92
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date21 October 2010 (14 years ago)28 April 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$239 $49.99

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6870 has 922% better value for money than 9600 GSO.

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 cores112096
Core clock speedno data550 MHz
Boost clock speed900 MHzno data
Number of transistors1,700 million754 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)151 Watt105 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate50.4026.40
Floating-point processing power2.016 TFLOPS0.264 TFLOPS
ROPs3212
TMUs5648

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 supportPCIe 2.0 x16PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length220 mm229 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin
SLI options-2-way

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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB384 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1050 MHz800 MHz
Memory bandwidth134.4 GB/s38.4 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortDual Link DVIHDTV
Multi monitor supportno data+
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataS/PDIF

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® 1111.1 (10_0)
Shader Model5.04.0
OpenGL4.42.1
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan-N/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.

HD 6870 5.74
+575%
9600 GSO 0.85

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 6870 2216
+578%
9600 GSO 327

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:

900p61
+578%
9−10
−578%
Full HD61
+578%
9−10
−578%
1200p39
+680%
5−6
−680%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+650%
2−3
−650%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Battlefield 5 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+1200%
1−2
−1200%
Far Cry New Dawn 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+640%
5−6
−640%
Hitman 3 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+620%
5−6
−620%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+650%
2−3
−650%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+900%
2−3
−900%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+600%
7−8
−600%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+650%
2−3
−650%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Battlefield 5 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+1200%
1−2
−1200%
Far Cry New Dawn 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+640%
5−6
−640%
Hitman 3 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+620%
5−6
−620%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+650%
2−3
−650%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+900%
2−3
−900%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+850%
2−3
−850%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+600%
7−8
−600%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+650%
2−3
−650%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+1200%
1−2
−1200%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+640%
5−6
−640%
Hitman 3 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+620%
5−6
−620%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+900%
2−3
−900%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+850%
2−3
−850%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+600%
7−8
−600%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+1000%
1−2
−1000%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4 0−1
Far Cry 5 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+700%
2−3
−700%
Hitman 3 10−11
+900%
1−2
−900%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+1200%
1−2
−1200%
Metro Exodus 4−5 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 1−2 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+620%
5−6
−620%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+900%
1−2
−900%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 4−5 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5 0−1
Hitman 3 2−3 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+1200%
1−2
−1200%
Metro Exodus 3−4 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 3−4 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 5−6 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7 0−1

This is how HD 6870 and 9600 GSO compete in popular games:

  • HD 6870 is 578% faster in 900p
  • HD 6870 is 578% faster in 1080p
  • HD 6870 is 680% faster in 1200p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.74 0.85
Recency 21 October 2010 28 April 2008
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 384 MB
Chip lithography 40 nm 65 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt 105 Watt

HD 6870 has a 575.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 62.5% more advanced lithography process.

9600 GSO, on the other hand, has 43.8% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600 GSO 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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AMD Radeon HD 6870
Radeon HD 6870
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9600 GSO

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.


3.8 342 votes

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Questions & comments

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