Radeon HD 7870M vs Maxwell GPU Surface Book
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Maxwell GPU Surface Book and Radeon HD 7870M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 7870M outperforms Maxwell GPU Surface Book by a small 6% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 723 | 713 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 5.92 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2017) | GCN 1.0 (2011−2020) |
| GPU code name | Surface Book | Heathrow |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 October 2015 (9 years ago) | 24 April 2012 (12 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 384 | 640 |
| Core clock speed | 954 MHz | 800 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 993 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | no data | 1,500 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 45 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 32.00 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 1.024 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | no data | 16 |
| TMUs | no data | 40 |
Form factor & 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).
| Laptop size | no data | large |
| Interface | no data | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
VRAM capacity and type
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 | 1 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 5012 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | no data | 64 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Connectivity and outputs
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 data | No outputs |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | + | - |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (FL 11_0) | 12 (11_1) |
| Shader Model | no data | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | no data | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | - | 1.2.131 |
| CUDA | + | - |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score.
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.
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:
| Full HD | 22
+4.8%
| 21−24
−4.8%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−8.3%
|
12−14
+8.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
−7.7%
|
14−16
+7.7%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−8.3%
|
12−14
+8.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
−12.5%
|
9−10
+12.5%
|
| Fortnite | 18−20
−5.3%
|
20−22
+5.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
−6.3%
|
16−18
+6.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
−6.7%
|
16−18
+6.7%
|
| Valorant | 50−55
−4%
|
50−55
+4%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
−7.7%
|
14−16
+7.7%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−8.3%
|
12−14
+8.3%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 60−65
−4.8%
|
65−70
+4.8%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Dota 2 | 30−35
−3.1%
|
30−35
+3.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
−12.5%
|
9−10
+12.5%
|
| Fortnite | 18−20
−5.3%
|
20−22
+5.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
−6.3%
|
16−18
+6.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 10−11
−10%
|
10−12
+10%
|
| Metro Exodus | 6−7
−16.7%
|
7−8
+16.7%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
−6.7%
|
16−18
+6.7%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
−10%
|
10−12
+10%
|
| Valorant | 50−55
−4%
|
50−55
+4%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
−7.7%
|
14−16
+7.7%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
−14.3%
|
8−9
+14.3%
|
| Dota 2 | 30−35
−3.1%
|
30−35
+3.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
−12.5%
|
9−10
+12.5%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
−6.3%
|
16−18
+6.3%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
−6.7%
|
16−18
+6.7%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
−10%
|
10−12
+10%
|
| Valorant | 50−55
−4%
|
50−55
+4%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 18−20
−5.3%
|
20−22
+5.3%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 4−5
−25%
|
5−6
+25%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 24−27
−3.8%
|
27−30
+3.8%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 27−30
−3.6%
|
27−30
+3.6%
|
| Valorant | 35−40
−8.6%
|
35−40
+8.6%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 8−9
−12.5%
|
9−10
+12.5%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 4−5
−25%
|
5−6
+25%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Valorant | 16−18
−5.9%
|
18−20
+5.9%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 3−4
−33.3%
|
4−5
+33.3%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
This is how Maxwell GPU Surface Book and HD 7870M compete in popular games:
- Maxwell GPU Surface Book is 5% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870M is 33% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- HD 7870M is ahead in 42 tests (74%)
- there's a draw in 15 tests (26%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 3.17 | 3.37 |
| Recency | 1 October 2015 | 24 April 2012 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 2 GB |
Maxwell GPU Surface Book has an age advantage of 3 years.
HD 7870M, on the other hand, has a 6.3% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Maxwell GPU Surface Book and Radeon HD 7870M.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
