Radeon HD 6850M vs Radeon HD 6870

When choosing between Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon HD 6870, 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 Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon HD 6870.

Radeon HD 6850M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 6850M 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 Radeon HD 6850M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6850M Radeon HD 6870
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt 151 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type DDR3, GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 6870 has 202% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6850M.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 2.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon HD 6870 have maximum RAM of 1 GB.
  • Radeon HD 6850M is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 6870 - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon HD 6870 are build with Terascale 2 architecture.
  • Radeon HD 6850M and Radeon HD 6870 are manufactured by 40 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 6870 is 250 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6850M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 2−3 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 Radeon HD 6850M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6850M Radeon HD 6870
Architecture Terascale 2 Terascale 2
Code name Granville Pro/LP RV940 Barts
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 6 January 2011 22 October 2010
Pipelines 800 1120
Core clock speed 575 / 675 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 1,040 million 1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 27.00 50.40
Floating-point performance 1,080.0 gflops 2,016.0 gflops
Length 220 mm
Memory bus width 128 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 800 MHz 1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth 25.6 GB/s 134.4 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.0 5.0
OpenGL 4.4 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan N/A
Bus support PCIe 2.0 x16
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 213 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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