NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti vs AMD Radeon HD 7870

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Combined performance score

HD 7870
11.96
+52.4%

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 52% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking371482
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money2.701.75
ArchitectureGCN (2011−2017)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code namePitcairn XTGF114
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years old)25 January 2011 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$412.83 $249
Current price$200 (0.5x MSRP)$130 (0.5x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 54% better value for money than GTX 560 Ti.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1280384
Core clock speed1000 MHz822 MHz
Number of transistors2800 Million1,950 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt170 Watt
Texture fill rate80.0052.67
Floating-point performanceno data1,263.4 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length241 mm229 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 6-pin

Memory

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed4800 MHz2004 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s128.3 GB/s
Shared memory-no data

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI
Eyefinity+no data
HDMI++

API support

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.2.131N/A
CUDAno data2.1

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

HD 7870 11.96
+52.4%
GTX 560 Ti 7.85

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 52% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

HD 7870 4634
+52.2%
GTX 560 Ti 3044

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 52% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 7870 21348
+37.8%
GTX 560 Ti 15494

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 38% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 7870 6194
+54.3%
GTX 560 Ti 4013

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 54% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

HD 7870 756
+36.2%
GTX 560 Ti 555

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 36% in Unigine Heaven 4.0.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p84
+33.3%
63
−33.3%
Full HD66
+1.5%
65
−1.5%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+57.7%
24−27
−57.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
+40.9%
21−24
−40.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+63.2%
18−20
−63.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+60%
20−22
−60%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+55.6%
27−30
−55.6%
Hitman 3 30−35
+68.4%
18−20
−68.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+42.9%
14−16
−42.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+47.1%
16−18
−47.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+57.7%
24−27
−57.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
+40.9%
21−24
−40.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+63.2%
18−20
−63.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+60%
20−22
−60%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+55.6%
27−30
−55.6%
Hitman 3 30−35
+68.4%
18−20
−68.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+63.6%
10−12
−63.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+42.9%
14−16
−42.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+47.1%
16−18
−47.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 36
+125%
16−18
−125%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+57.7%
24−27
−57.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+63.2%
18−20
−63.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+60%
20−22
−60%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+55.6%
27−30
−55.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+25%
16−18
−25%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
+41.7%
12−14
−41.7%
Hitman 3 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+28.6%
14−16
−28.6%
Metro Exodus 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
+167%
3−4
−167%
Battlefield 5 21−24
+130%
10−11
−130%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Far Cry 5 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+90.9%
10−12
−90.9%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+76.9%
12−14
−76.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Hitman 3 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Metro Exodus 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+100%
5−6
−100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Battlefield 5 10−12
+120%
5−6
−120%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry 5 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+77.8%
9−10
−77.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%

This is how HD 7870 and GTX 560 Ti compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 7870 is 33.3% faster than GTX 560 Ti

1080p resolution:

  • HD 7870 is 1.5% faster than GTX 560 Ti

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870 is 167% faster than the GTX 560 Ti.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed GTX 560 Ti in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 11.96 7.85
Recency 5 March 2012 25 January 2011
Cost $412.83 $249
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 170 Watt

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 560 Ti in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

User ratings

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AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
GeForce GTX 560 Ti

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