Radeon HD 4870 vs HD 7970

Place in performance ranking	351	681
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	4.00	0.26
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code name	Tahiti XT	RV770
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	22 December 2011 (12 years old)	25 June 2008 (15 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$299
Current price	$89 (0.2x MSRP)	$162 (0.5x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7970 has 1438% better value for money than ATI HD 4870.

Technical specs

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 cores	2048	800
Core clock speed	no data	750 MHz
Boost clock speed	925 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	4,313 million	956 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	118.4	30.00
Floating-point performance	3,789 gflops	1,200.0 gflops

Size and 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).

Bus support	PCIe 2.1 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	274 mm	250 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	2x 6-pin

Memory

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	6 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	3600 MHz
Memory bandwidth	264 GB/s	115.2 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

Video outputs and ports

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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
Eyefinity	+	no data
HDMI	+	no data
DisplayPort support	-	no data

Technologies

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

AppAcceleration	-	no data
CrossFire	1	no data
Enduro	-	no data
FreeSync	1	no data
HD3D	-	no data
PowerTune	-	no data
TrueAudio	-	no data
ZeroCore	-	no data

API support

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model	5.1	4.1
OpenGL	4.6	3.3
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	no data	N/A
Mantle	-	no data

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.

HD 7970 13.55
+284%

ATI HD 4870 3.53

HD 7970 outperforms HD 4870 by 284% based on our aggregated 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%

HD 7970 5248
+284%

ATI HD 4870 1366

HD 7970 outperforms HD 4870 by 284% 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:

900p	105 +289%	27−30 −289%
Full HD	93 +288%	24−27 −288%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24

+320%

5−6
−320%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Battlefield 5	45−50 +360%	10−11 −360%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +289%	9−10 −289%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +289%	9−10 −289%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +311%	9−10 −311%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
Hitman 3	35−40 +311%	9−10 −311%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +360%	5−6 −360%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +317%	6−7 −317%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Battlefield 5	45−50 +360%	10−11 −360%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 +289%	9−10 −289%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +289%	9−10 −289%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +311%	9−10 −311%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
Hitman 3	35−40 +311%	9−10 −311%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +360%	5−6 −360%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +317%	6−7 −317%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Battlefield 5	45−50 +360%	10−11 −360%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +289%	9−10 −289%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +311%	9−10 −311%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 +300%	7−8 −300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +317%	6−7 −317%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 +300%	5−6 −300%
Hitman 3	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +375%	4−5 −375%
Metro Exodus	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
Battlefield 5	27−30 +286%	7−8 −286%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +340%	5−6 −340%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +300%	6−7 −300%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +333%	6−7 −333%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +333%	3−4 −333%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Hitman 3	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Horizon Zero Dawn	10−11 +400%	2−3 −400%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Battlefield 5	14−16 +367%	3−4 −367%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3	0−1
Far Cry 5	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 +333%	3−4 −333%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +350%	4−5 −350%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%

This is how HD 7970 and ATI HD 4870 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

HD 7970 is 289% faster than ATI HD 4870

1080p resolution:

HD 7970 is 288% faster than ATI HD 4870

Advantages and disadvantages

Performance score	13.55	3.53
Recency	22 December 2011	25 June 2008
Cost	$549	$299
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	150 Watt