GeForce GTX 480M vs Radeon HD 6870

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 480M 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 480M will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 6870 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

GeForce GTX 480M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 480M is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with GeForce GTX 480M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 480M Radeon HD 6870
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 151 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 6870 has 51% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 480M.
  • GeForce GTX 480M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 6870 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 480M has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6870.
  • GeForce GTX 480M is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 6870 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 480M is build with Fermi architecture, and Radeon HD 6870 - with Terascale 2.
  • GeForce GTX 480M and Radeon HD 6870 are manufactured by 40 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 480M is 150 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6870.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−11 10−12
ultra / 1080p 6−7 6−7
QHD / 1440p 0−1 1−2
low / 720p 21−24 24−27
medium / 1080p 12−14 12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 7% more, than GeForce GTX 480M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 480M Radeon HD 6870
Architecture Fermi Terascale 2
Code name N11E-GTX-A3 RV940 Barts
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 25 May 2010 22 October 2010
Pipelines 352 1120
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 3,100 million 1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 18.7 billion/sec 50.40
Floating-point performance 598.4 gflops 2,016.0 gflops
Length 220 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1200 MHz 1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth 76.8 GB/s 134.4 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 API
Shader Model 5.1 5.0
OpenGL 4.5 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
Bus support PCI-E 2.0 PCIe 2.0 x16
SLI options +
HDMI +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 213 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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