AMD Radeon HD 7870 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590

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Combined performance score

GTX 590
8.62

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 590 by 39% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking460371
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.462.70
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameGF110Pitcairn XT
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date24 March 2011 (13 years old)5 March 2012 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$699 $412.83
Current price$600 (0.9x MSRP)$200 (0.5x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 487% better value for money than GTX 590.

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 cores10241280
CUDA cores1024no data
Core clock speed607 MHz1000 MHz
Number of transistors3,000 million2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)365 Watt175 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature97 °Cno data
Texture fill rate77.7 billion/sec80.00
Floating-point performance2x 1,244.2 gflopsno 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 support16x PCI-E 2.0no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length11" (280 mm) (27.9 cm)241 mm
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsTwo 8-pin2x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)2 GB
Memory bus width768-bit (384-bit per GPU)256 Bit
Memory clock speed1707 MHz4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth327.7 GB/s153.6 GB/s
Shared memory--

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 ConnectorsThree Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Multi monitor support+no data
Eyefinityno data+
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

API support

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (11_1)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.24.6
OpenCL1.11.2
VulkanN/A1.2.131
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 590 8.62
HD 7870 11.96
+38.7%

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 590 by 39% 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%

GTX 590 3341
HD 7870 4634
+38.7%

Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 590 by 39% 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 590 25720
+20.5%
HD 7870 21348

GeForce GTX 590 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 20% 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 590 9167
+48%
HD 7870 6194

GeForce GTX 590 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 48% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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:

900p47
−78.7%
84
+78.7%
Full HD109
+65.2%
66
−65.2%
1200p112
−33.9%
150−160
+33.9%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−35.7%
18−20
+35.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−38.9%
24−27
+38.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Battlefield 5 27−30
−41.4%
40−45
+41.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−29.2%
30−35
+29.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−35.7%
18−20
+35.7%
Far Cry 5 21−24
−47.6%
30−35
+47.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−45.5%
30−35
+45.5%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
−40%
40−45
+40%
Hitman 3 21−24
−45.5%
30−35
+45.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
−47.1%
24−27
+47.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
−33.3%
20−22
+33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
−31.6%
24−27
+31.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
−46.7%
21−24
+46.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−38.9%
24−27
+38.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Battlefield 5 27−30
−41.4%
40−45
+41.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
−29.2%
30−35
+29.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−35.7%
18−20
+35.7%
Far Cry 5 21−24
−47.6%
30−35
+47.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−45.5%
30−35
+45.5%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
−40%
40−45
+40%
Hitman 3 21−24
−45.5%
30−35
+45.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
−47.1%
24−27
+47.1%
Metro Exodus 12−14
−38.5%
18−20
+38.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
−33.3%
20−22
+33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
−31.6%
24−27
+31.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
−100%
36
+100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
−46.7%
21−24
+46.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
−38.9%
24−27
+38.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Battlefield 5 27−30
−41.4%
40−45
+41.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−35.7%
18−20
+35.7%
Far Cry 5 21−24
−47.6%
30−35
+47.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−45.5%
30−35
+45.5%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
−40%
40−45
+40%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
−11.1%
20
+11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
−46.7%
21−24
+46.7%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
−30.8%
16−18
+30.8%
Hitman 3 14−16
−35.7%
18−20
+35.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−28.6%
18−20
+28.6%
Metro Exodus 7−8
−42.9%
10−11
+42.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
−50%
9−10
+50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
−25%
14−16
+25%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
−50%
12−14
+50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
−100%
8−9
+100%
Battlefield 5 12−14
−76.9%
21−24
+76.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Far Cry 5 14−16
−35.7%
18−20
+35.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
−61.5%
21−24
+61.5%
Forza Horizon 4 14−16
−53.3%
21−24
+53.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
−50%
12−14
+50%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
−33.3%
8−9
+33.3%
Hitman 3 8−9
−37.5%
10−12
+37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Metro Exodus 2−3
−150%
5−6
+150%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
−66.7%
10−11
+66.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
−40%
7−8
+40%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
Battlefield 5 6−7
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry 5 7−8
−42.9%
10−11
+42.9%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
−20%
12−14
+20%
Forza Horizon 4 10−11
−60%
16−18
+60%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−100%
4−5
+100%

This is how GTX 590 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 7870 is 78.7% faster than GTX 590

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 590 is 65.2% faster than HD 7870

1200p resolution:

  • HD 7870 is 33.9% faster than GTX 590

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

  • in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 150% faster than the GTX 590.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed GTX 590 in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 8.62 11.96
Recency 24 March 2011 5 March 2012
Cost $699 $412.83
Maximum RAM amount 3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) 2 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 365 Watt 175 Watt

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 590 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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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 590
AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870

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