Radeon HD 7870 vs GeForce GTX 580

Place in performance ranking	374	372
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	8.17	2.73
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	GF110	Pitcairn XT
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	9 November 2010 (13 years old)	5 March 2012 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)	$499	$412.83
Current price	$14.89 (0x MSRP)	$200 (0.5x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 580 has 199% better value for money than HD 7870.

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 cores	512	1280
CUDA cores	512	no data
Core clock speed	772 MHz	1000 MHz
Number of transistors	3,000 million	2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	244 Watt	175 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	97 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	49.4 billion/sec	80.00
Floating-point performance	1,581.1 gflops	no data

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).

Bus support	PCI-E 2.0 x 16	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)	241 mm
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	One 6-pin and One 8-pin	2x 6-pin
SLI options	+	no data

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 type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1536 MB	2 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2004 MHz (4008 data rate)	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.4 GB/s	153.6 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 Connectors	Mini HDMITwo Dual Link DVI	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	+	no data
Eyefinity	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

API support

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.2	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	+	1.2.131
CUDA	+	no data

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.

GTX 580 11.78

HD 7870 11.97
+1.6%

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 580 by 2% based on our aggregated 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%

GTX 580 4562

HD 7870 4636
+1.6%

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 580 by 2% 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%

GTX 580 21941
+2.8%

HD 7870 21348

GeForce GTX 580 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 3% 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%

GTX 580 6065

HD 7870 6194
+2.1%

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 580 by 2% 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%

GTX 580 829
+9.7%

HD 7870 756

GeForce GTX 580 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 10% 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:

900p	53 −58.5%	84 +58.5%
Full HD	98 +48.5%	66 −48.5%
1200p	78 +4%	75−80 −4%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

18−20

+0%

18−20

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Battlefield 5	40−45 −2.5%	40−45 +2.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−33 −3.3%	30−35 +3.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Hitman 3	30−35 −3.2%	30−35 +3.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −4.2%	24−27 +4.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Battlefield 5	40−45 −2.5%	40−45 +2.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−33 −3.3%	30−35 +3.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Hitman 3	30−35 −3.2%	30−35 +3.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −4.2%	24−27 +4.2%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −50%	36 +50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Battlefield 5	40−45 −2.5%	40−45 +2.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−33 −3.3%	30−35 +3.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +20%	20 −20%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Hitman 3	18−20 −5.6%	18−20 +5.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 −5.9%	18−20 +5.9%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −4.5%	21−24 +4.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	20−22 −5%	21−24 +5%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −4.5%	21−24 +4.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 −9.1%	12−14 +9.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Hitman 3	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Metro Exodus	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Battlefield 5	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −6.7%	16−18 +6.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%

This is how GTX 580 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

HD 7870 is 58.5% faster than GTX 580

1080p resolution:

GTX 580 is 48.5% faster than HD 7870

1200p resolution:

GTX 580 is 4% faster than HD 7870

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

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 580 is 20% faster than the HD 7870.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 50% faster than the GTX 580.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 580 is ahead in 1 test (1%)
HD 7870 is ahead in 19 tests (28%)
there's a draw in 48 tests (71%)

Advantages and disadvantages

Performance score	11.78	11.97
Recency	9 November 2010	5 March 2012
Cost	$499	$412.83
Maximum RAM amount	1536 MB	2 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	244 Watt	175 Watt