AMD Radeon HD 8870M vs AMD Radeon HD 8850M
AMD Radeon HD 8870M
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The AMD Radeon HD 8870M is a 28nm DirectX 11 graphics card based on the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture. Built primarily for large laptops, the card is positioned in the performance category as of 2013. Compared to the similar Radeon HD 7870M, the 8870M offers higher memory clock speeds at the cost of a slightly slower core clock.
The design of the Radeon 8800M series has its roots to the Cape Verde chip as found, for example, on the desktop Radeon HD 7770 with 640 1D shader cores and 40 texture units. The core clock of the 8870M, however, is only 725 MHz (or up to 775 MHz with Boost) versus the 1000 MHz of the HD 7770.
As a result, general performance of the HD 8870M is somewhere between the 7750 and 7770 desktop Radeon cards and similar to the GeForce GTX 670M. Most games of 2013 can be played fluently in high detail settings and resolutions, some older titels even with additional AA/AF.
The 640 shader cores can be used with OpenCL 1.2 for general-purpose calculations (as 10 compute units).
Features of the 8870M include video decoding via UVD3 for decoding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Flash directly from the AMD GPU. Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos are now compatible as well.
The Radeon 8800M series also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU. Called Enduro. The technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Furthermore, the 8870M can directly support up to 6 connected monitors using Eyefinity Technology if Enduro is disabled.
Other features of the 8800M series include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off and Power Gating to power down areas of the chip that are not used. PowerTune allows automatic overclocking and underclocking of the graphics card as long as the GPU is within its TDP limit. For example, the chip may be underclocked when running FurMark and OCCT, but will overclock in certain games like Lost Planet, Crysis or Resident Evil 5.
The integrated HD audio processor is able to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos). Additionally, it now allows audio to output simultaneously and in parallel to multiple devices with the new Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio (DDMA) feature.
Power consumption of the 8870M should be around 50 W. Therefore, the 8870M is only suited for larger laptops and DTRs.
AMD Radeon HD 8850M
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The AMD Radeon HD 8850M is a 28nm DirectX 11 graphics card based on the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture. Built primarily for medium-sized laptops, the card is positioned in the performance category as of 2013. Compared to the similar Radeon HD 7850M, the 8850M offers slightly different clock speeds.
The design of the Radeon 8800M series has its roots to the Cape Verde chip as found, for example, on the desktop Radeon HD 7770 with 640 1D shader cores and 40 texture units. However the core clock of the 8850M is only 575-725 MHz (or up to 625-775 MHz with Boost) versus the 1000 MHz of the desktop HD 7770. As a result, general performance of the HD 8850M should be similar to the desktop HD 7750.
Equipped with GDDR5 memory, the HD 8850M competes with the Nvidia GTX 660M. The DDR3 version of the HD 8850M is expected to be a bit slower, although it could offer higher clock rates. Many games of 2013 can be played fluently in medium or high detail and resolution settings.
The 640 shader cores can be used with OpenCL 1.2 for general-purpose calculations.
Features of the 8850M include video decoding via UVD3 for decoding MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Flash directly from the AMD GPU. Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos are now compatible as well.
The 8800M series also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU. Called Enduro, the technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Furthermore, the 8850M can directly support up to 6 connected monitors using Eyefinity Technology if Enduro is disabled.
Other features of the 8800M series include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off and Power Gating to power down areas of the chip that are not used. PowerTune allows automatic overclocking and underclocking of the graphics card as long as the GPU is within its TDP limit. For example, the chip may be underclocked when running FurMark and OCCT, but will overclock in certain games like Lost Planet, Crysis or Resident Evil 5.
The integrated HD audio processor is able to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos). Additionally, it now allows audio to output simultaneously and in parallel to multiple devices with the new Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio (DDMA) feature.
Power consumption of the 8850M should be below that of the 8870M, corresponding to the core clock. Therefore, the 8850M is suited for medium-sized laptops and DTRs.
| AMD Radeon HD 8870M | AMD Radeon HD 8850M | |||||||||||||||||||
| Radeon HD 8800M Series |
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| Architecture | GCN | GCN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pipelines | 640 - unified | 640 - unified | ||||||||||||||||||
| Core Speed | 725 MHz | 575 - 725 (Boost) MHz | ||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Speed | 4500 MHz | 4500 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Bus Width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit | ||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Type | GDDR5, DDR3 | GDDR5, DDR3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Max. Amount of Memory | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shared Memory | no | no | ||||||||||||||||||
| API | DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1, OpenGL 4.1 | DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1, OpenGL 4.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Transistors | 1.5 Billion | 1.5 Billion | ||||||||||||||||||
| technology | 28 nm | 28 nm | ||||||||||||||||||
| Features | OpenCL 1.2 | OpenCL 1.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Notebook Size | large | large | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Announcement | 18.12.2012 | 18.12.2012 |
Benchmarks
3DM Vant. Perf. total + AMD Radeon HD 8870M
specvp11 snx-01 + AMD Radeon HD 8870M
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit + AMD Radeon HD 8850M
Average Benchmarks AMD Radeon HD 8870M → 100% n=20
Average Benchmarks AMD Radeon HD 8850M → 75% n=20
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
Titanfall
2014
Thief
2014
X-Plane 10.25
2013
Call of Duty: Ghosts
2013
Battlefield 4
2013
Fifa 14
2013
Total War: Rome II
2013
Saints Row IV
2013
Dota 2
2013
Company of Heroes 2
2013
GRID 2
2013
Metro: Last Light
2013
BioShock Infinite
2013
SimCity
2013
Tomb Raider
2013
Crysis 3
2013
Dead Space 3
2013
Far Cry 3
2012
Assassin´s Creed III
2012
Hitman: Absolution
2012
Dishonored
2012
Fifa 13
2012
Borderlands 2
2012
Guild Wars 2
2012
Counter-Strike: GO
2012
Darksiders II
2012
Sleeping Dogs
2012
Max Payne 3
2012
Dirt Showdown
2012
Diablo III
2012
Risen 2: Dark Waters
2012
Mass Effect 3
2012
Alan Wake
2012
Anno 2070
2011
Battlefield 3
2011
Batman: Arkham City
2011
Total War: Shogun 2
2011
Civilization 5
2010
Mafia 2
2010
Metro 2033
2010
Resident Evil 5
2009
Crysis - GPU Benchmark
2007
Crysis - CPU Benchmark
2007
World in Conflict - Benchmark
2007
World of Warcraft
2005Average Gaming AMD Radeon HD 8870M → 100%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%
Average Gaming AMD Radeon HD 8850M → 87%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 87%
| AMD Radeon HD 8870M | AMD Radeon HD 8850M | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |||
| The Elder Scrolls Online | 44.4 | 33.4 | 27.9 | 17.2 | ||||||||||
| Titanfall | 60 | 49.9 | 38.7 | 24.9 | ||||||||||
| Thief | 27.1 | 22.5 | 19.7 | 11.5 | ||||||||||
| X-Plane 10.25 | 56.4 | 27.2 | 13.5 | 11.7 | ||||||||||
| Call of Duty: Ghosts | 31.1 | 24.6 | 19.4 | 11.6 | 35.1 | 33.2 | 16.9 | |||||||
| Battlefield 4 | 46.7 | 39.1 | 35.3 | 15.1 | 40.7 | 30.6 | ||||||||
| Total War: Rome II | 96.5 | 78.2 | 62.6 | 51 | 16.8 | |||||||||
| Saints Row IV | 40 | 32.8 | 19.7 | 33.9 | 26.8 | 21.6 | 17.8 | |||||||
| The Bureau: XCOM Declassified | 60.8 | 30 | 15.7 | 39.8 | 27.8 | 20.8 | ||||||||
| Splinter Cell: Blacklist | 46.4 | 31.6 | 15 | 37.1 | 24.4 | |||||||||
| Dota 2 | 69.2 | 53.4 | 112 | 68 | 40 | |||||||||
| Company of Heroes 2 | 37.4 | 33.6 | 23.14 | 31.8 | 28.8 | 17.9 | ||||||||
| GRID 2 | 63 | 58.4 | 26.7 | 52.9 | 45.9 | 14.7 | ||||||||
| Metro: Last Light | 53.4 | 47.4 | 30.1 | 32 | 27 | 21 | 11.9 | |||||||
| BioShock Infinite | 70.3 | 55.7 | 51.4 | 19.3 | 88 | 56 | 46 | 17 | ||||||
| StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm | 194 | 89 | 72 | 26 | 89.2 | 64.5 | 21.3 | |||||||
| SimCity | 83.3 | 47.8 | 37.5 | 20.3 | 64 | 35.7 | 26.9 | 13.5 | ||||||
| Tomb Raider | 117 | 78 | 52 | 24 | 67.2 | 47.9 | 21.8 | |||||||
| Crysis 3 | 56 | 36 | 24 | 10 | 44.5 | 28.8 | ||||||||
| Dead Space 3 | 174.4 | 97.3 | 75.2 | 46.2 | 84.8 | 66.9 | 42 | |||||||
| Hitman: Absolution | 31.1 | 27.4 | 22.7 | 13 | 21.4 | 18.5 | ||||||||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 | 99.5 | 86.9 | 53.9 | 36.4 | 70.6 | 59.5 | 46.9 | 27.8 | ||||||
| Medal of Honor: Warfighter | 75 | 59 | 49 | 19 | 42.2 | 17.5 | ||||||||
| Dishonored | 85.5 | 81.1 | 79.1 | 51.8 | 59.3 | 53.2 | 51 | 42.6 | ||||||
| Counter-Strike: GO | 183.2 | 138.4 | 116.3 | 87.2 | 101.9 | 78.1 | ||||||||
| Sleeping Dogs | 55 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 55 | 36 | ||||||||
| Dirt Showdown | 73 | 47 | 37 | 25 | 70 | 46.7 | 31.9 | |||||||
| Diablo III | 132.9 | 96.2 | 85.4 | 54.2 | 111.6 | 77 | 67 | 44 | ||||||
| Anno 2070 | 97.3 | 67.6 | 47.5 | 24.6 | 136 | 67 | 47 | 21 | ||||||
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | 74.9 | 66 | 52 | 32 | 48.8 | 37.5 | 23.6 | |||||||
| Battlefield 3 | 51 | 41 | 39 | 19 | 40.2 | 36.9 | 16.4 | |||||||
| Deus Ex Human Revolution | 94.5 | 40.1 | 75.1 | 32.6 | ||||||||||
| Metro 2033 | 70.5 | 41.8 | 14.9 | 123.5 | 87 | |||||||||
| AMD Radeon HD 8870M | AMD Radeon HD 8850M | |||||||||||||
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 9 10 4 | 2 12 13 1 | 5 16 6 | 17 7 1 | | | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 2 8 7 2 | 7 15 8 | 10 14 5 | 18 5 1 | | |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
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