GeForce GTX 280 vs Radeon HD 6870

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 6870 you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce GTX 280 will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 6870 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Radeon HD 6870
Power consumption (TDP) 236 Watt 151 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 6-pin & 8-pin 2x 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 56% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6870.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 2.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 280 and Radeon HD 6870 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 6870 - with Terascale 2.
  • GeForce GTX 280 is manufactured by 65 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 6870 - by 40 nm process technology.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is 210 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 280.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 280 is 57 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6870.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 1−2 10−12
ultra / 1080p 0−1 6−7
QHD / 1440p 0−1 1−2
low / 720p 12−14 24−27
medium / 1080p 3−4 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 166% more, than GeForce GTX 280.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 280 Radeon HD 6870
Architecture Tesla 2.0 Terascale 2
Code name GT200 RV940 Barts
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 16 June 2008 22 October 2010
Pipelines 240 1120
Core clock speed 1296 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 1,400 million 1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 48.2 billion/sec 50.40
Floating-point performance 622.1 gflops 2,016.0 gflops
Length 10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm) 220 mm
Memory bus width 512 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1107 MHz 1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth 141.7 GB/s 134.4 GB/s
Shared memory -
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 PCIe 2.0 x16
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
HDMI +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI S/PDIF
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 213 Mh/s
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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