Graphics card comparison
GeForce GTX 660 vs Radeon HD 7850
Nvidia
GeForce GTX 660
2048 Mb GDDR5
Released 6 Sep 2012
DESKTOP
VS
AMD
Radeon HD 7850
2048 Mb GDDR5
Released 5 Mar 2012
DESKTOP
Summary
Synthetic performance index
- GeForce GTX 660100%
- Radeon HD 7850100%
Relative performance
Gaming performance index
- GeForce GTX 660112%
- Radeon HD 7850100%
Relative performance
Reasons to consider the GeForce GTX 660
- 12% higher gaming performance.
- Supports PhysX
- Supports G-Sync
- Supports ShadowPlay (allows game streaming/recording with minimum performance penalty)
- Based on an outdated architecture (Nvidia Kepler), there are less performance optimizations for current games and applications
Reasons to consider the Radeon HD 7850
- Supports Direct3D 12 Async Compute
- Supports ReLive (allows game streaming/recording with minimum performance penalty)
- Supports Mantle
- Based on an outdated architecture (AMD GCN), there may be no performance optimizations for current games and applications
Our verdict
HWSpot recommends the GeForce GTX 660
The GeForce GTX 660 is the better performing card based on the game benchmark suite used (62 combinations of games and resolutions).
Specifications
Core configuration
| GeForce GTX 660 | Radeon HD 7850 |
|---|
| GPU Name | GK106 (GK106-400-A1) | Pitcairn (Pitcairn PRO) |
| Fab Process | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Die Size | 221 mm² | 212 mm² |
| Transistors | 2,540 million | 2,800 million |
| Shaders | 960 | 1024 |
| Compute Units | 5 | 16 |
| Core clock | 980 MHz | 860 MHz |
| ROPs | 24 | 32 |
| TMUs | 80 | 64 |
Memory configuration
| GeForce GTX 660 | Radeon HD 7850 |
|---|
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Bus Width | 192 bit | 256 bit |
| Memory Speed | 1502 MHz
6008 MHz effective | 1200 MHz
4800 MHz effective |
| Memory Size | 2048 Mb | 2048 Mb |
Additional details
| GeForce GTX 660 | Radeon HD 7850 |
|---|
| TDP | 140 watts | 130 watts |
| Release Date | 6 Sep 2012 | 5 Mar 2012 |
Raw performance comparison
Pixel Rate
- GeForce GTX 66019.60 GP/s
- Radeon HD 785027.50 GP/s
GigaPixels - higher is better
Texel Rate
- GeForce GTX 66078.40 GT/s
- Radeon HD 785055.00 GT/s
GigaTexels - higher is better
Memory bandwidth
- GeForce GTX 660144.00 GB/s
- Radeon HD 7850154.00 GB/s
GB/s - higher is better
Single precision performance
- GeForce GTX 6601882.00 GFLOPs
- Radeon HD 78501761.00 GFLOPs
GFLOPs - higher is better
Synthetic benchmarks
3DMark 11
- GeForce GTX 6606800
- Radeon HD 78506820
Points (higher is better)
Game benchmarks
Alan Wake
- GeForce GTX 66053.7
- Radeon HD 785050.2
FPS (higher is better)
Batman: Arkham City
- GeForce GTX 66068.5
- Radeon HD 785059.1
FPS (higher is better)
Battlefield 3
- GeForce GTX 66049.7
- Radeon HD 785043.1
FPS (higher is better)
Battlefield 4
DX11, Ultra Quality,2x MSAA,16x AF, HBAO
- GeForce GTX 66043
- Radeon HD 785041
FPS (higher is better)
Bioshock Infinite
DX11, Ultra Quality,DDOD, FX AA
- GeForce GTX 66050
- Radeon HD 785037
FPS (higher is better)
Borderlands 2
- GeForce GTX 66088.6
- Radeon HD 785066.2
FPS (higher is better)
Crysis
- GeForce GTX 66038.4
- Radeon HD 785034.7
FPS (higher is better)
Crysis 2
- GeForce GTX 66046.1
- Radeon HD 785040.8
FPS (higher is better)
Diablo III
- GeForce GTX 660111.9
- Radeon HD 785090.3
FPS (higher is better)
Dragon Age II
- GeForce GTX 66046.1
- Radeon HD 785034.5
FPS (higher is better)
F1 2012
- GeForce GTX 66070.5
- Radeon HD 785061
FPS (higher is better)
Hitman Absolution
DX11, High Quality, 2x MSAA, 16x AF
- GeForce GTX 66042
- Radeon HD 785040
FPS (higher is better)
Max Payne 3
- GeForce GTX 66051.1
- Radeon HD 785048.6
FPS (higher is better)
Medal Of Honor Warfighter
DX11, Ultra Quality, 4xMSAA
- GeForce GTX 66039
- Radeon HD 785035
FPS (higher is better)
Metro 2033
- GeForce GTX 66021.7
- Radeon HD 785021.3
FPS (higher is better)
Metro Last Light
DX11, AAA standard, 16xAF, Motion Blur normal, Tesselation normal
- GeForce GTX 66032
- Radeon HD 785027
FPS (higher is better)
Sleeping Dogs
- GeForce GTX 66046.9
- Radeon HD 785046.8
FPS (higher is better)
Sniper Elite V2
- GeForce GTX 66043.9
- Radeon HD 785046
FPS (higher is better)
STALKER: Call of Pripyat
- GeForce GTX 66065.7
- Radeon HD 785057.9
FPS (higher is better)
StarCraft II
- GeForce GTX 660166.8
- Radeon HD 7850129.2
FPS (higher is better)
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
- GeForce GTX 66059.1
- Radeon HD 785056.9
FPS (higher is better)
Total War: Shogun 2
- GeForce GTX 66041
- Radeon HD 785028.9
FPS (higher is better)
Unigine Heaven 2.0
- GeForce GTX 66046.4
- Radeon HD 785042.4
FPS (higher is better)
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
- GeForce GTX 66072
- Radeon HD 785066.5
FPS (higher is better)
Alan Wake
- GeForce GTX 66032.8
- Radeon HD 785031.3
FPS (higher is better)
Batman: Arkham City
- GeForce GTX 66041.5
- Radeon HD 785037.4
FPS (higher is better)
Battlefield 3
- GeForce GTX 66030.2
- Radeon HD 785026.6
FPS (higher is better)
Borderlands 2
- GeForce GTX 66054.7
- Radeon HD 785041
FPS (higher is better)
Crysis
- GeForce GTX 66023.2
- Radeon HD 785021.4
FPS (higher is better)
Crysis 2
- GeForce GTX 66026.9
- Radeon HD 785024.2
FPS (higher is better)
Diablo III
- GeForce GTX 66075.9
- Radeon HD 785064.3
FPS (higher is better)
Dragon Age II
- GeForce GTX 66030.4
- Radeon HD 785023.7
FPS (higher is better)
F1 2012
- GeForce GTX 66049.7
- Radeon HD 785044.2
FPS (higher is better)
Max Payne 3
- GeForce GTX 66034.2
- Radeon HD 785032.8
FPS (higher is better)
Metro 2033
- GeForce GTX 66016.9
- Radeon HD 785015.2
FPS (higher is better)
Sleeping Dogs
- GeForce GTX 66026.9
- Radeon HD 785028.6
FPS (higher is better)
Sniper Elite V2
- GeForce GTX 66027.9
- Radeon HD 785029.8
FPS (higher is better)
STALKER: Call of Pripyat
- GeForce GTX 66040.6
- Radeon HD 785036.4
FPS (higher is better)
StarCraft II
- GeForce GTX 660109.5
- Radeon HD 785087.7
FPS (higher is better)
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
- GeForce GTX 66042.6
- Radeon HD 785041.8
FPS (higher is better)
Total War: Shogun 2
- GeForce GTX 66024.6
- Radeon HD 785017.3
FPS (higher is better)
Unigine Heaven 2.0
- GeForce GTX 66030.4
- Radeon HD 785028.9
FPS (higher is better)
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
- GeForce GTX 66049.9
- Radeon HD 785045.3
FPS (higher is better)
Alan Wake
- GeForce GTX 66021.8
- Radeon HD 785020.5
FPS (higher is better)
Batman: Arkham City
- GeForce GTX 66026.8
- Radeon HD 785024.1
FPS (higher is better)
Battlefield 3
- GeForce GTX 66020
- Radeon HD 785018.7
FPS (higher is better)
Borderlands 2
- GeForce GTX 66036.6
- Radeon HD 785026.7
FPS (higher is better)
Crysis
- GeForce GTX 66014.5
- Radeon HD 785013.8
FPS (higher is better)
Crysis 2
- GeForce GTX 66017.8
- Radeon HD 785015.6
FPS (higher is better)
Dragon Age II
- GeForce GTX 66025.5
- Radeon HD 785019.6
FPS (higher is better)
F1 2012
- GeForce GTX 66040.3
- Radeon HD 785034.3
FPS (higher is better)
Max Payne 3
- GeForce GTX 66024.5
- Radeon HD 785025
FPS (higher is better)
Metro 2033
- GeForce GTX 66012
- Radeon HD 785011.1
FPS (higher is better)
Sleeping Dogs
- GeForce GTX 66017.6
- Radeon HD 785052.4
FPS (higher is better)
Sniper Elite V2
- GeForce GTX 66018.1
- Radeon HD 785019.7
FPS (higher is better)
STALKER: Call of Pripyat
- GeForce GTX 66025.4
- Radeon HD 785023.1
FPS (higher is better)
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
- GeForce GTX 66032.3
- Radeon HD 785032
FPS (higher is better)
Total War: Shogun 2
- GeForce GTX 66014.9
- Radeon HD 78509.9
FPS (higher is better)
Unigine Heaven 2.0
- GeForce GTX 66019.8
- Radeon HD 785018.2
FPS (higher is better)
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
- GeForce GTX 66035.9
- Radeon HD 785030.2
FPS (higher is better)
Bioshock Infinite
DX11, Ultra, DDOD, FXAA
- GeForce GTX 66031
- Radeon HD 785023
FPS (higher is better)
Hitman Absolution
DX11, High Quality, 2x MSAA, 16x AF
- GeForce GTX 66027
- Radeon HD 785028
FPS (higher is better)