GeForce GTX 680 vs Radeon R9 270X

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 270X and GeForce GTX 680, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 270X
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 180 Watt
12.62

GTX 680 outperforms R9 270X by a moderate 14% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking389355
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.642.95
Power efficiency4.865.12
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Kepler (2012−2018)
GPU code nameCuracaoGK104
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date8 October 2013 (11 years ago)22 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 $499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 270X has 91% better value for money than GTX 680.

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 cores12801536
Core clock speedno data1006 MHz
Boost clock speed1050 MHz1058 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million3,540 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)180 Watt195 Watt
Texture fill rate84.00135.4
Floating-point processing power2.688 TFLOPS3.25 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs80128

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 3.0PCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Lengthno data254 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2 x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2048 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256-bit GDDR5
Memory clock speedno data1502 MHz
Memory bandwidth179.2 GB/s192.2 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, 1x DisplayPortOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort
Multi monitor supportno data4 displays
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
HDCP-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
DisplayPort support+-
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration+-
CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.2
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan+1.1.126
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.

R9 270X 12.62
GTX 680 14.42
+14.3%

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.

R9 270X 4870
GTX 680 5565
+14.3%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

R9 270X 6560
GTX 680 7587
+15.7%

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

R9 270X 735
GTX 680 964
+31.2%

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:

900p35−40
−28.6%
45
+28.6%
Full HD60−65
−21.7%
73
+21.7%
4K21−24
−23.8%
26
+23.8%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.326.84
4K9.4819.19

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−10%
21−24
+10%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−13.8%
30−35
+13.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 20−22
−15%
21−24
+15%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−17.5%
45−50
+17.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−16%
27−30
+16%
Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−10%
21−24
+10%
Far Cry 5 27−30
−17.2%
30−35
+17.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−11.4%
35−40
+11.4%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
−13.3%
90−95
+13.3%
Hitman 3 24−27
−12.5%
27−30
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
−12.1%
70−75
+12.1%
Metro Exodus 40−45
−16.7%
45−50
+16.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−14.6%
45−50
+14.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−7%
75−80
+7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−13.8%
30−35
+13.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 20−22
−15%
21−24
+15%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−17.5%
45−50
+17.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−16%
27−30
+16%
Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−10%
21−24
+10%
Far Cry 5 27−30
−17.2%
30−35
+17.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−11.4%
35−40
+11.4%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
−13.3%
90−95
+13.3%
Hitman 3 24−27
−12.5%
27−30
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
−12.1%
70−75
+12.1%
Metro Exodus 40−45
−16.7%
45−50
+16.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−14.6%
45−50
+14.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−203%
94
+203%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−7%
75−80
+7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
−13.8%
30−35
+13.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 20−22
−15%
21−24
+15%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−16%
27−30
+16%
Cyberpunk 2077 20−22
−10%
21−24
+10%
Far Cry 5 27−30
−17.2%
30−35
+17.2%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
−13.3%
90−95
+13.3%
Hitman 3 24−27
−12.5%
27−30
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
−12.1%
70−75
+12.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−14.6%
45−50
+14.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+40.9%
22
−40.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−7%
75−80
+7%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−14.3%
40−45
+14.3%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
−12%
27−30
+12%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
−15.8%
21−24
+15.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
−16.7%
14−16
+16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
−22.2%
10−12
+22.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Far Cry 5 14−16
−13.3%
16−18
+13.3%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
−19.4%
70−75
+19.4%
Hitman 3 16−18
−6.3%
16−18
+6.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
−11.5%
27−30
+11.5%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−19%
24−27
+19%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
−25%
24−27
+25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−12.7%
85−90
+12.7%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−14.3%
24−27
+14.3%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
−16.7%
14−16
+16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
−22.2%
10−12
+22.2%
Hitman 3 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
−18.3%
70−75
+18.3%
Metro Exodus 10−12
−27.3%
14−16
+27.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
−45.5%
16
+45.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
−11.8%
18−20
+11.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
−27.3%
14−16
+27.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−8.3%
12−14
+8.3%

This is how R9 270X and GTX 680 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 680 is 29% faster in 900p
  • GTX 680 is 22% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 680 is 24% faster in 4K

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 270X is 41% faster.
  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 680 is 203% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • R9 270X is ahead in 1 test (1%)
  • GTX 680 is ahead in 70 tests (97%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.62 14.42
Recency 8 October 2013 22 March 2012
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2048 MB
Power consumption (TDP) 180 Watt 195 Watt

R9 270X has an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 8.3% lower power consumption.

GTX 680, on the other hand, has a 14.3% higher aggregate performance score.

The GeForce GTX 680 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 270X 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 R9 270X
Radeon R9 270X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
GeForce GTX 680

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.


4 741 vote

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Questions & comments

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