GeForce 8600M GT vs Radeon HD 7870

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 with GeForce 8600M GT, including specs and performance data.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
12.00
+4038%

HD 7870 outperforms 8600M GT by a whopping 4038% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking4051336
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.99no data
Power efficiency4.700.99
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code namePitcairnG84
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years ago)31 December 2007 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores128032
Core clock speed1000 MHz475 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million289 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm80 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt20 Watt
Texture fill rate80.007.600
Floating-point processing power2.56 TFLOPS0.0608 TFLOPS
ROPs328
TMUs8016

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).

Laptop sizeno datamedium sized
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-II
Length241 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinno data

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 typeGDDR5DDR2
Maximum RAM amount2 GB512 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz400 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s12.8 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model5.14.0
OpenGL4.63.3
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.2.131N/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.

HD 7870 12.00
+4038%
8600M GT 0.29

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 7870 4625
+4029%
8600M GT 112

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

HD 7870 21348
+1953%
8600M GT 1040

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:

900p84
+4100%
2−3
−4100%
Full HD69
+6800%
1−2
−6800%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.06no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+850%
2−3
−850%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+833%
3−4
−833%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20 0−1
Battlefield 5 35−40 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+1100%
2−3
−1100%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+850%
2−3
−850%
Far Cry 5 27−30 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+7900%
1−2
−7900%
Hitman 3 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+700%
8−9
−700%
Metro Exodus 40−45 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+875%
4−5
−875%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+146%
27−30
−146%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+833%
3−4
−833%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20 0−1
Battlefield 5 35−40 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+1100%
2−3
−1100%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+850%
2−3
−850%
Far Cry 5 27−30 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+7900%
1−2
−7900%
Hitman 3 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+700%
8−9
−700%
Metro Exodus 40−45 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+875%
4−5
−875%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+233%
9−10
−233%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+146%
27−30
−146%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+833%
3−4
−833%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+1100%
2−3
−1100%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+850%
2−3
−850%
Far Cry 5 27−30 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+7900%
1−2
−7900%
Hitman 3 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+700%
8−9
−700%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+875%
4−5
−875%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+122%
9−10
−122%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+146%
27−30
−146%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35 0−1

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20 0−1

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7 0−1
Far Cry 5 14−16 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+5700%
1−2
−5700%
Hitman 3 14−16
+150%
6−7
−150%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+1150%
2−3
−1150%
Metro Exodus 18−20 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+7400%
1−2
−7400%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+900%
2−3
−900%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10 0−1
Hitman 3 8−9 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+5500%
1−2
−5500%
Metro Exodus 10−12 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3 0−1
Far Cry 5 6−7 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 16−18 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%

This is how HD 7870 and 8600M GT compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 4100% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 6800% faster in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870 is 1150% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed 8600M GT in all 29 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.00 0.29
Recency 5 March 2012 31 December 2007
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 512 MB
Chip lithography 28 nm 80 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 20 Watt

HD 7870 has a 4037.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 185.7% more advanced lithography process.

8600M GT, on the other hand, has 775% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 8600M GT in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7870 is a desktop card while GeForce 8600M GT is a notebook one.


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

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
GeForce 8600M GT

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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