Compare any two graphics cards:
VS

GeForce GTX 980M vs Radeon HD 4870 X2

Intro

The GeForce GTX 980M comes with a GPU clock speed of 1038 MHz, and the 4096 MB of GDDR5 memory runs at 1000 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 1536 SPUs, 96 TAUs, and 64 ROPs.

Compare all that to the Radeon HD 4870 X2, which makes use of a 55 nm design. AMD has clocked the core frequency at 750 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM runs at a frequency of 900 MHz on this particular model. It features 800(160x5) SPUs along with 40 TAUs and 16 ROPs.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 980M 100 Watts
Radeon HD 4870 X2 350 Watts
Difference: 250 Watts (250%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 should be much faster than the GeForce GTX 980M in general. (explain)

Radeon HD 4870 X2 230400 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 980M 128000 MB/sec
Difference: 102400 (80%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 980M will be a lot (about 66%) more effective at texture filtering than the Radeon HD 4870 X2. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980M 99648 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 4870 X2 60000 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 39648 (66%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 980M will be quite a bit (approximately 177%) better at anti-aliasing than the Radeon HD 4870 X2, and should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions better. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980M 66432 Mpixels/sec
Radeon HD 4870 X2 24000 Mpixels/sec
Difference: 42432 (177%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

One or more cards in this comparison are multi-core. This means that their bandwidth, texel and pixel rates are theoretically doubled - this does not mean the card will actually perform twice as fast, but only that it should in theory be able to. Actual game benchmarks will give a more accurate idea of what it's capable of.

Price Comparison

Display Prices

Hide Prices

GeForce GTX 980M

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Radeon HD 4870 X2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Specifications

Display Specifications

Hide Specifications

Model GeForce GTX 980M Radeon HD 4870 X2
Manufacturer nVidia AMD
Year October 7 2014 Aug 12, 2008
Code Name GM204 R700
Memory 4096 MB 1024 MB (x2)
Core Speed 1038 MHz 750 MHz (x2)
Memory Speed 4000 MHz 3600 MHz (x2)
Power (Max TDP) 100 watts 350 watts
Bandwidth 128000 MB/sec 230400 MB/sec
Texel Rate 99648 Mtexels/sec 60000 Mtexels/sec
Pixel Rate 66432 Mpixels/sec 24000 Mpixels/sec
Unified Shaders 1536 800(160x5) (x2)
Texture Mapping Units 96 40 (x2)
Render Output Units 64 16 (x2)
Bus Type GDDR5 GDDR5
Bus Width 256-bit 256-bit (x2)
Fab Process 28 nm 55 nm
Transistors (Unknown) million 956 million
Bus PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 2.0 x16 (PCIe bridge)
DirectX Version DirectX 12 DirectX 10.1
OpenGL Version OpenGL 4.5 OpenGL 3.0

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the maximum amount of data (counted in megabytes per second) that can be moved across the external memory interface within a second. It is calculated by multiplying the card's interface width by its memory speed. In the case of DDR memory, it must be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied per second. This is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The better this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels applied per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels that the graphics card could possibly record to its local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the clock speed of the card. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.

Display Prices

Hide Prices

GeForce GTX 980M

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Radeon HD 4870 X2

Amazon.com

Check prices at:

Please note that the price comparisons are based on search keywords - sometimes it might show cards with very similar names that are not exactly the same as the one chosen in the comparison. We do try to filter out the wrong results as best we can, though.

Comments

Be the first to leave a comment!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*

WordPress Anti Spam by WP-SpamShield