GeForce GTX 480M vs Radeon HD 8870M

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 480M vs Radeon HD 8870M FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

GeForce GTX 480M vs Radeon HD 8870M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 480M

2010

Why buy it

✅65.4% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

❌2010 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌100% higher power demand at 100W vs 50W.

Radeon HD 8870M

2013

Why buy it

✅Draws 50W instead of 100W, a 50W reduction.
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than GeForce GTX 480M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

GeForce GTX 480M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 65.4% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 0.9% in PassMark G3D (1,653 vs 1,638), so the answer here is pretty clean.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce GTX 480M is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

GeForce GTX 480M makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

GeForce GTX 480M vs Radeon HD 8870M Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

GeForce GTX 480M

The GeForce GTX 480M is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 25 2010. It features the Fermi architecture. The core clock speed is 425 MHz. It has 352 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,653 points.

Radeon HD 8870M

The Radeon HD 8870M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in April 1 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 725 MHz to 775 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,638 points.

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Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 480M scores 1,653 and the Radeon HD 8870M reaches 1,638 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.9% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 480M is built on Fermi while the Radeon HD 8870M uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 352 (GeForce GTX 480M) vs 640 (Radeon HD 8870M). Raw compute: 0.5984 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 480M) vs 0.992 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 8870M).

Feature	GeForce GTX 480M	Radeon HD 8870M
G3D Mark Score	1,653	1,638
Architecture	Fermi	GCN 1.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	352	640+82%
Compute (TFLOPS)	0.5984 TFLOPS	0.992 TFLOPS+66%
ROPs	32+100%	16
TMUs	44+10%	40
L1 Cache	704 KB+340%	160 KB
L2 Cache	512 KB+100%	256 KB

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 480M gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 8870M leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

Feature	GeForce GTX 480M	Radeon HD 8870M
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	AMD Anti-Lag

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GTX 480M and System on the Radeon HD 8870M. L2 Cache: 512 KB (GeForce GTX 480M) vs 256 KB (Radeon HD 8870M) — the GeForce GTX 480M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce GTX 480M	Radeon HD 8870M
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	System
Bus Width	128-bit	System
L2 Cache	512 KB+100%	256 KB

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Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (11_0) (GeForce GTX 480M) vs 11.1 (Radeon HD 8870M). Vulkan: 1.2 vs 1.1. OpenGL: 4.0 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 4.

Feature	GeForce GTX 480M	Radeon HD 8870M
DirectX	12 (11_0)+8%	11.1
Vulkan	1.2+9%	1.1
OpenGL	4.0	4.6+15%
Max Displays	2	4+100%

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Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: PureVideo HD VP4 (GeForce GTX 480M) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 8870M). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP4 vs UVD 3.0. Supported codecs: H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 ASP (GeForce GTX 480M) vs H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,MVC (Radeon HD 8870M).

Feature	GeForce GTX 480M	Radeon HD 8870M
Encoder	PureVideo HD VP4	VCE 1.0
Decoder	PureVideo HD VP4	UVD 3.0
Codecs	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 ASP	H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,MVC

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Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 480M draws 100W versus the Radeon HD 8870M's 50W — a 66.7% difference. The Radeon HD 8870M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GTX 480M) vs 350W (Radeon HD 8870M). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs 1x 6-pin. Typical load temperature: 95°C vs 85.