Radeon HD 6850 X2 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 6850 X2 and Radeon HD 7870 XT, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the Radeon HD 6850 X2 stacks up against Radeon HD 7870 XT, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 6850 X2

Radeon HD 7870 XT

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 6850 X2	Radeon HD 7870 XT
Power consumption (TDP)	254 Watt	185 Watt
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	2x 8-pin	2x 6-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	2 GB
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort

Radeon HD 6850 X2 has 37% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
Radeon HD 6850 X2 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7870 XT uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
Radeon HD 6850 X2 and Radeon HD 7870 XT have maximum RAM of 2 GB.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 6850 X2 is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - with GCN 1.0.
Core clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 125 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
Radeon HD 6850 X2 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - by 28 nm process technology.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 1800 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	12−14	35−40
ultra / 1080p	7−8	21−24
QHD / 1440p	2−3	16−18
4K / 2160p	−	10−11
low / 720p	27−30	60−65
medium / 1080p	16−18	40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 176% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	21−24	55−60
ultra / 1080p	18−20	45−50
QHD / 1440p	4−5	35−40
4K / 2160p	−	18−20
low / 720p	45−50	100−110
medium / 1080p	21−24	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Battlefield 5 is 169% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	45−50	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	190−200	250−260
medium / 768p	160−170	220−230
ultra / 1080p	85−90	180−190
QHD / 1440p	45−50	110−120
4K / 2160p	30−33	70−75
high / 768p	120−130	210−220
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 63% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	35−40	−
medium / 1080p	45−50	55−60
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Cyberpunk 2077 is 15% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	100−110	120−130
medium / 768p	85−90	110−120
ultra / 1080p	55−60	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Dota 2 is 38% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	14−16	45−50
ultra / 1080p	14−16	40−45
QHD / 1440p	−	27−30
4K / 2160p	5−6	14−16
low / 720p	30−35	80−85
medium / 1080p	16−18	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Far Cry 5 is 176% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	21−24	60−65
ultra / 1080p	16−18	45−50
QHD / 1440p	16−18	27−30
4K / 2160p	−	27−30
low / 720p	85−90	180−190
medium / 1080p	45−50	110−120
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Fortnite is 128% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	21−24	60−65
ultra / 1080p	16−18	45−50
QHD / 1440p	7−8	30−35
4K / 2160p	−	24−27
low / 720p	45−50	100−110
medium / 1080p	24−27	65−70
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Forza Horizon 4 is 162% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	75−80	140−150
medium / 768p	65−70	120−130
high / 1080p	24−27	70−75
ultra / 1080p	10−11	30−35
QHD / 1440p	1−2	21−24
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Grand Theft Auto V is 119% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	8−9	24−27
ultra / 1080p	6−7	20−22
QHD / 1440p	−	16−18
4K / 2160p	2−3	8−9
low / 720p	24−27	65−70
medium / 1080p	10−12	30−35
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Metro Exodus is 210% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	100−110	130−140
ultra / 1080p	95−100	−
medium / 1080p	100−110	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Minecraft is 23% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	21−24	−
ultra / 1080p	16−18	14−16
low / 720p	50−55	100−110
medium / 1080p	21−24	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 53% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
high / 1080p	12−14	24−27
ultra / 1080p	9−10	16−18
QHD / 1440p	0−1	10−11
4K / 2160p	−	7−8
low / 720p	24−27	65−70
medium / 1080p	14−16	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 140% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	45−50	130−140
medium / 768p	27−30	85−90
high / 1080p	16−18	45−50
ultra / 1080p	9−10	24−27
4K / 2160p	7−8	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 181% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.
low / 768p	95−100	90−95
medium / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	30−35	50−55
high / 768p	50−55	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in World of Tanks is 11% more, than Radeon HD 6850 X2.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 6850 X2	Radeon HD 7870 XT
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 1.0
Code name	Barts	Tahiti
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	19 September 2011	19 November 2012
Pipelines	960	1536
Core clock speed	800 MHz	925 MHz
Boost Clock		975 MHz
Transistor count	1,700 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	38.40	93.60
Floating-point performance	2x 1,536.0 gflops	2,995 gflops
Length		267 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	4200 MHz	6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	134.4 GB/s	192.0 GB/s
DirectX	11.2 (11_0)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	5.0	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	N/A	1.2.131
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)		346 Mh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)		14.5 Mh/s

Radeon HD 6850 X2 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

Similar compares