Radeon HD 7870 vs GeForce GTX 970M

Place in performance ranking	328	372
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	3.91	2.73
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	GM204	Pitcairn XT
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	7 October 2014 (9 years old)	5 March 2012 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)	$2,560.89	$412.83
Current price	$848 (0.3x MSRP)	$200 (0.5x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970M has 43% 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	1280	1280
CUDA cores	1280	no data
Core clock speed	924 MHz	1000 MHz
Boost clock speed	1038 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,200 million	2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	unknown	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	83.04	80.00
Floating-point performance	2,657 gflops	no data

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon HD 7870 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop size	large	no data
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	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	6 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	120 GB/s	153.6 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 Connectors	No outputs	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	no data	+
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	+
G-SYNC support	+	no data

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream	+	no data
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	no data
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	no data
Optimus	+	no data
BatteryBoost	+	no data
Ansel	+	no data

API support

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	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 970M 14.77
+23.4%

HD 7870 11.97

GeForce GTX 970M outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 23% 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 970M 5720
+23.4%

HD 7870 4636

GeForce GTX 970M outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 23% 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 970M 28845
+35.1%

HD 7870 21348

GeForce GTX 970M outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 35% 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 970M 9878
+59.5%

HD 7870 6194

GeForce GTX 970M outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 59% 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:

900p	136 +61.9%	84 −61.9%
Full HD	58 −13.8%	66 +13.8%
1440p	27 +28.6%	21−24 −28.6%
4K	21 +31.3%	16−18 −31.3%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24
+27.8%

18−20

−27.8%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	42 +68%	24−27 −68%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +31.6%	18−20 −31.6%
Battlefield 5	66 +61%	40−45 −61%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +22.6%	30−35 −22.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +27.8%	18−20 −27.8%
Far Cry 5	46 +48.4%	30−35 −48.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	41 +28.1%	30−35 −28.1%
Forza Horizon 4	61 +45.2%	40−45 −45.2%
Hitman 3	40−45 +28.1%	30−35 −28.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +25%	20−22 −25%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40 +60%	24−27 −60%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 +27.3%	21−24 −27.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	36 +44%	24−27 −44%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +31.6%	18−20 −31.6%
Battlefield 5	54 +31.7%	40−45 −31.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +22.6%	30−35 −22.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +27.8%	18−20 −27.8%
Far Cry 5	43 +38.7%	30−35 −38.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	38 +18.8%	30−35 −18.8%
Forza Horizon 4	53 +26.2%	40−45 −26.2%
Hitman 3	40−45 +28.1%	30−35 −28.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Metro Exodus	24 +33.3%	18−20 −33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +25%	20−22 −25%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	34 +36%	24−27 −36%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45 +25%	36 −25%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 +27.3%	21−24 −27.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21 −19%	24−27 +19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +31.6%	18−20 −31.6%
Battlefield 5	49 +19.5%	40−45 −19.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +27.8%	18−20 −27.8%
Far Cry 5	39 +25.8%	30−35 −25.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	35 +9.4%	30−35 −9.4%
Forza Horizon 4	36 −16.7%	40−45 +16.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	26 +30%	20 −30%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 +27.3%	21−24 −27.3%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +29.4%	16−18 −29.4%
Hitman 3	21−24 +21.1%	18−20 −21.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 +16.7%	18−20 −16.7%
Metro Exodus	14 +40%	10−11 −40%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 +22.2%	9−10 −22.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	20 +33.3%	14−16 −33.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	17 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
Battlefield 5	33 +43.5%	21−24 −43.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	27 +42.1%	18−20 −42.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	25 +19%	21−24 −19%
Forza Horizon 4	23 +0%	21−24 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +25%	12−14 −25%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Hitman 3	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	10−11 +11.1%	9−10 −11.1%
Metro Exodus	7 +40%	5−6 −40%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	9 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16 +60%	10−11 −60%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Battlefield 5	15 +36.4%	10−12 −36.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	13 +44.4%	9−10 −44.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	12 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	6 −167%	16−18 +167%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%

This is how GTX 970M and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

GTX 970M is 61.9% faster than HD 7870

1080p resolution:

HD 7870 is 13.8% faster than GTX 970M

1440p resolution:

GTX 970M is 28.6% faster than HD 7870

4K resolution:

GTX 970M is 31.3% faster than HD 7870

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

in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 970M is 68% faster than the HD 7870.
in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870 is 167% faster than the GTX 970M.

All in all, in popular games: