Radeon HD 7870 vs ATI HD 3870 X2
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 3870 X2 and Radeon HD 7870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 7870 outperforms ATI HD 3870 X2 by a whopping 551% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 926 | 414 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.05 | 2.88 |
| Power efficiency | 0.77 | 4.73 |
| Architecture | TeraScale (2005−2013) | GCN 1.0 (2011−2020) |
| GPU code name | R680 | Pitcairn |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 26 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 5660% 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 cores | 320 | 1280 |
| Core clock speed | 825 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 666 million | 2,800 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 55 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 165 Watt | 175 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 13.20 | 80.00 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.528 TFLOPS | 2.56 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 16 | 32 |
| TMUs | 16 | 80 |
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).
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 267 mm | 241 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 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 type | GDDR3 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 901 MHz | 1200 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 57.66 GB/s | 153.6 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 Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video | 1x 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.
| DirectX | 10.1 (10_1) | 12 (11_1) |
| Shader Model | 4.1 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 3.3 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | N/A | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | N/A | 1.2.131 |
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.
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.
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 | 12−14
−600%
| 84
+600%
|
| Full HD | 10−12
−560%
| 66
+560%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 44.90
−749%
| 5.29
+749%
|
- HD 7870 has 749% lower cost per frame in 1080p
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| Valorant | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Valorant | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| World of Tanks | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+0%
|
20−22
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Valorant | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 80−85
+0%
|
80−85
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| World of Tanks | 85−90
+0%
|
85−90
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Valorant | 30−33
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Valorant | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+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 64 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.77 | 11.53 |
| 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 551.4% 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.
Other comparisons
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