Radeon RX 590 vs ATI HD 4870 X2

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 4870 X2 and Radeon RX 590, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 4870 X2
2008
1 GB GDDR5, 286 Watt
3.40

RX 590 outperforms ATI HD 4870 X2 by a whopping 617% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking732229
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.1525.04
Power efficiency0.819.55
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameR700Polaris 30
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date12 August 2008 (16 years ago)15 November 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$550 $279

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 590 has 16593% better value for money than ATI HD 4870 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 cores8002304
Core clock speed700 MHz1469 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1545 MHz
Number of transistors956 million5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)286 Watt175 Watt
Texture fill rate28.00222.5
Floating-point processing power1.12 TFLOPS7.119 TFLOPS
ROPs1632
TMUs40144

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-pin1x 8-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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB8 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed900 MHz2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth115.2 GB/s256.0 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 HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI-+

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync-+

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)12 (12_0)
Shader Model4.16.4
OpenGL3.34.6
OpenCL1.12.0
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. 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.

ATI HD 4870 X2 3.40
RX 590 24.38
+617%

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 4870 X2 1309
RX 590 9393
+618%

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 HD14−16
−621%
101
+621%
1440p8−9
−625%
58
+625%
4K4−5
−775%
35
+775%

Cost per frame, $

1080p39.292.76
1440p68.754.81
4K137.507.97

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 65
+0%
65
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 86
+0%
86
+0%
Battlefield 5 136
+0%
136
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 69
+0%
69
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Far Cry 5 90
+0%
90
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 90
+0%
90
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 274
+0%
274
+0%
Hitman 3 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 301
+0%
301
+0%
Metro Exodus 124
+0%
124
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 91
+0%
91
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 140
+0%
140
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 272
+0%
272
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 113
+0%
113
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 73
+0%
73
+0%
Battlefield 5 122
+0%
122
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 64
+0%
64
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Far Cry 5 74
+0%
74
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 71
+0%
71
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 259
+0%
259
+0%
Hitman 3 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 287
+0%
287
+0%
Metro Exodus 97
+0%
97
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 74
+0%
74
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 114
+0%
114
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 261
+0%
261
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 39
+0%
39
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 62
+0%
62
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 46
+0%
46
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Far Cry 5 55
+0%
55
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 91
+0%
91
+0%
Hitman 3 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 96
+0%
96
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 100
+0%
100
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 51
+0%
51
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35
+0%
35
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 64
+0%
64
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 55
+0%
55
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 38
+0%
38
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Hitman 3 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 72
+0%
72
+0%
Metro Exodus 58
+0%
58
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 70
+0%
70
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 203
+0%
203
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 43
+0%
43
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 39
+0%
39
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 26
+0%
26
+0%
Hitman 3 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 57
+0%
57
+0%
Metro Exodus 36
+0%
36
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 32
+0%
32
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 19
+0%
19
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 42
+0%
42
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20
+0%
20
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 17
+0%
17
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 46
+0%
46
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40
+0%
40
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 13
+0%
13
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30
+0%
30
+0%

This is how ATI HD 4870 X2 and RX 590 compete in popular games:

  • RX 590 is 621% faster in 1080p
  • RX 590 is 625% faster in 1440p
  • RX 590 is 775% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.40 24.38
Recency 12 August 2008 15 November 2018
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 8 GB
Chip lithography 55 nm 12 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 286 Watt 175 Watt

RX 590 has a 617.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 358.3% more advanced lithography process, and 63.4% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 590 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 4870 X2 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Radeon HD 4870 X2
AMD Radeon RX 590
Radeon RX 590

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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


4 44 votes

Rate Radeon HD 4870 X2 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.1 2497 votes

Rate Radeon RX 590 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.