Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon RX 480 mobile

When choosing between Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon RX 480 mobile, 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 6870 and Radeon RX 480 mobile.

Radeon RX 480 mobile is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon RX 480 mobile 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 RX 480 mobile here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6870 Radeon RX 480 mobile
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 8 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 6870 has 51% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 480 mobile.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon RX 480 mobile uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • Radeon RX 480 mobile has 7 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6870.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is used in Desktops, and Radeon RX 480 mobile - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon RX 480 mobile - with Polaris.
  • Radeon HD 6870 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 480 mobile - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 480 mobile is 6950 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6870.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 12−14
ultra / 1080p 6−7 7−8
QHD / 1440p 1−2 0−1
low / 720p 24−27 27−30
medium / 1080p 12−14 14−16
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 480 mobile in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 14% more, than Radeon HD 6870.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6870 Radeon RX 480 mobile
Architecture Terascale 2 Polaris
Code name RV940 Barts Polaris
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 October 2010 1 August 2016
Pipelines 1120 2304
Boost Clock 900 MHz 1077 MHz
Transistor count 1,700 million 5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 50.40 155.1
Floating-point performance 2,016.0 gflops 4,963 gflops
Length 220 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1050 MHz 8000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 134.4 GB/s 256.0 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 5.0 6.4
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan 1.2.131
Bus support PCIe 2.0 x16
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 213 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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