GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 6850

When choosing between GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 6850, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 6850.

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Radeon HD 6850
Power consumption (TDP) 236 Watt 127 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 6-pin & 8-pin 1x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x S-Video 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • GeForce GTX 280 has 85% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6850.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 2.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 6850 have maximum RAM of 1 GB.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is build with Tesla 2.0 architecture, and Radeon HD 6850 - with TeraScale 2.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is manufactured by 65 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 6850 - by 40 nm process technology.
  • Radeon HD 6850 is 188 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 280.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 1−2 9−10
ultra / 1080p 0−1 5−6
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 12−14 21−24
medium / 1080p 3−4 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6850 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 150% more, than GeForce GTX 280.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Radeon HD 6850
Architecture Tesla 2.0 TeraScale 2
Code name GT200 Barts
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 16 June 2008 21 October 2010
Pipelines 240 960
Core clock speed 1296 MHz
Transistor count 1,400 million 1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 48.2 billion/sec 37.20
Floating-point performance 622.1 gflops 1,488.0 gflops
Length 10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm) 198 mm
Memory bus width 512 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1107 MHz
Memory bandwidth 141.7 GB/s 128.0 GB/s
DirectX 11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model 4.0 5.0
OpenGL 2.1 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
CUDA cores 240
Bus support AGP
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI S/PDIF
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 139 Mh/s
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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