GeForce GTX 860M vs Radeon Steam Deck 8CU

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 860M vs Radeon Steam Deck 8CU 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 860M vs Radeon Steam Deck 8CU: 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 860M

2014

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon Steam Deck 8CU across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2014 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌150% higher power demand at 75W vs 30W.

Radeon Steam Deck 8CU

2023

Why buy it

✅59.1% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Better long-term bet: RDNA 2 (2022−2023) on 6nm gives it a newer hardware base for upcoming games.
✅Draws 30W instead of 75W, a 45W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon Steam Deck 8CU is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 59.1% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward GeForce GTX 860M instead at 3,095 vs 3,000, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.

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

Radeon Steam Deck 8CU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: the newer upscaling stack, FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack, a 6nm process instead of 28nm, and a newer 2023 generation instead of 2014. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Radeon Steam Deck 8CU makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup.

GeForce GTX 860M vs Radeon Steam Deck 8CU Technical Specifications

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

GeForce GTX 860M

The GeForce GTX 860M is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in January 13 2014. It features the Maxwell architecture. The core clock ranges from 797 MHz to 1085 MHz. It has 1152 or 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,095 points.

Radeon Steam Deck 8CU

The Radeon Steam Deck 8CU is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 9 2023. It features the RDNA 2 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1900 MHz. It has 512 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 6 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,000 points.

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Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 860M scores 3,095 and the Radeon Steam Deck 8CU reaches 3,000 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3.2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 860M is built on Maxwell while the Radeon Steam Deck 8CU uses RDNA 2, both on 28 nm vs 6 nm. Shader units: 1,152 (GeForce GTX 860M) vs 512 (Radeon Steam Deck 8CU). Boost clocks: 1085 MHz vs 1900 MHz.

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
G3D Mark Score	3,095+3%	3,000
Architecture	Maxwell	RDNA 2
Process Node	28 nm	6 nm
Shading Units	1152 or 640+125%	512
Boost Clock	1085 MHz	1900 MHz+75%
L1 Cache	320 KB	512 KB+60%
L2 Cache	2 MB+100%	1 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 860M gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon Steam Deck 8CU leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
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 GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GTX 860M and 64-bit on the Radeon Steam Deck 8CU. L2 Cache: 2 MB (GeForce GTX 860M) vs 1 MB (Radeon Steam Deck 8CU) — the GeForce GTX 860M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Bus Width	128-bit+100%	64-bit
L2 Cache	2 MB+100%	1 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (GeForce GTX 860M) vs 12_0 (Radeon Steam Deck 8CU). Maximum simultaneous displays: 1 vs 0.

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
DirectX	11.0	12_0+9%
Max Displays	1	0

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 2.0 (GeForce GTX 860M) vs VCN 3.0 (Radeon Steam Deck 8CU). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP6 vs VCN 3.0.

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
Encoder	NVENC 2.0	VCN 3.0
Decoder	PureVideo HD VP6	VCN 3.0
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1,MPEG-4 ASP,H.265	—

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 860M draws 75W versus the Radeon Steam Deck 8CU's 30W — a 85.7% difference. The Radeon Steam Deck 8CU is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GTX 860M) vs 350W (Radeon Steam Deck 8CU). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 0mm vs 1mm, occupying 0 vs 0 slots.

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
TDP	75W	30W-60%
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	PCIe-powered
Length	0mm	1mm
Height	0mm	—
Slots	0	0
Temp (Load)	80°C	—
Perf/Watt	41.3	100.0+142%

💰

Value Analysis

The newer card here is Radeon Steam Deck 8CU (2023 vs 2014).

Feature	GeForce GTX 860M	Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
MSRP	—	$0
Codename	GM107	RDNA 2 Sephiroth
Release	January 13 2014	November 9 2023
Ranking	#578	#480

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