Iris Graphics 540 vs Radeon HD 4870

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 4870 with Iris Graphics 540, including specs and performance data.

ATI HD 4870
2008
1 GB GDDR5, 150 Watt
3.55
+16.8%

ATI HD 4870 outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by a moderate 17% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in performance ranking684730
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.270.12
ArchitectureTeraScale (2005−2013)Gen. 9 Skylake (2015−2016)
GPU code nameRV770Skylake GT3e
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date25 June 2008 (16 years ago)1 September 2015 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 no data
Current price$162 (0.5x MSRP)$1043

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 4870 has 125% better value for money than Iris Graphics 540.

Detailed specifications

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 cores80048
Core clock speed750 MHz300 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1050 MHz
Number of transistors956 million189 million
Manufacturing process technology55 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt15 Watt
Texture fill rate30.0050.40
Floating-point performance1,200.0 gflopsno data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on Radeon HD 4870 and Iris Graphics 540 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.

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x1
Length250 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinno data

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 typeGDDR5eDRAM
Maximum RAM amount1 GB64 MB
Memory bus width256 BiteDRAM + 64/128 Bit
Memory clock speed3600 MHzSystem Shared
Memory bandwidth115.2 GB/sno data
Shared memoryno data+

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-VideoNo outputs

Supported technologies

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

Quick Syncno data+

API compatibility

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

DirectX10.1 (10_1)12 (12_1)
Shader Model4.16.4
OpenGL3.34.6
OpenCL1.12.1
VulkanN/A1.1.97

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.

ATI HD 4870 3.55
+16.8%
Iris Graphics 540 3.04

Radeon HD 4870 outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 17% based on our aggregate 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%

ATI HD 4870 1370
+8.8%
Iris Graphics 540 1259

Radeon HD 4870 outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 9% in Passmark.

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 HD30−35
+7.1%
28
−7.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Battlefield 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
Hitman 3 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Metro Exodus 1−2 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Battlefield 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
Hitman 3 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Metro Exodus 1−2 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Hitman 3 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 1−2 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 1−2 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 1−2 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Metro Exodus 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Watch Dogs: Legion 0−1 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%

This is how ATI HD 4870 and Iris Graphics 540 compete in popular games:

  • ATI HD 4870 is 7% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.55 3.04
Recency 25 June 2008 1 September 2015
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 64 MB
Chip lithography 55 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 15 Watt

The Radeon HD 4870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Iris Graphics 540 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 4870 is a desktop card while Iris Graphics 540 is a notebook one.


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
Radeon HD 4870
Intel Iris Graphics 540
Iris Graphics 540

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.


3.3 224 votes

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.5 91 vote

Rate Iris Graphics 540 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.