Radeon HD 7870 vs ATI HD 3870 X2

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 3870 X2 and Radeon HD 7870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 3870 X2
2008
512 MB GDDR3, 165 Watt
1.80

HD 7870 outperforms ATI HD 3870 X2 by a whopping 552% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking925416
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.052.93
Power efficiency0.774.71
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameR680Pitcairn
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date26 January 2008 (17 years ago)5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$449 $349

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

HD 7870 has 5760% better value for money than ATI HD 3870 X2.

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 cores320 ×21280
Core clock speed825 MHz1000 MHz
Number of transistors666 million2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)165 Watt175 Watt
Texture fill rate13.20 ×280.00
Floating-point processing power0.528 TFLOPS ×22.56 TFLOPS
ROPs16 ×232
TMUs16 ×280

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).

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length267 mm241 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin2x 6-pin

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 typeGDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount512 MB ×22 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit ×2256 Bit
Memory clock speed901 MHz1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth57.66 GB/s ×2153.6 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x S-Video1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity-+
HDMI-+

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX10.1 (10_1)12 (11_1)
Shader Model4.15.1
OpenGL3.34.6
OpenCLN/A1.2
VulkanN/A1.2.131

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.

ATI HD 3870 X2 1.80
HD 7870 11.73
+552%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

ATI HD 3870 X2 708
HD 7870 4617
+552%

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:

900p12−14
−600%
84
+600%
Full HD10−12
−560%
66
+560%

Cost per frame, $

1080p44.90
−749%
5.29
+749%
  • HD 7870 has 749% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Fortnite 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Dota 2 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Fortnite 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 36
+0%
36
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Dota 2 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+0%
20
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Valorant 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Metro Exodus 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Valorant 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Dota 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

This is how ATI HD 3870 X2 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 600% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 560% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.80 11.73
Recency 26 January 2008 5 March 2012
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 2 GB
Chip lithography 55 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 165 Watt 175 Watt

ATI HD 3870 X2 has 6.1% lower power consumption.

HD 7870, on the other hand, has a 551.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 96.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 3870 X2 in performance tests.

Vote for your favorite

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ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
Radeon HD 3870 X2
AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.9 11 votes

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3.7 648 votes

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