Radeon HD 7870 vs ATI HD 4890

Place in the ranking	699	408
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.46	3.00
Power efficiency	1.45	4.74
Architecture	TeraScale (2005−2013)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	RV790	Pitcairn
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	2 April 2009 (15 years ago)	5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$249	$349

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 552% better value for money than ATI HD 4890.

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	800	1280
Core clock speed	850 MHz	1000 MHz
Number of transistors	959 million	2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	190 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	34.00	80.00
Floating-point processing power	1.36 TFLOPS	2.56 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	40	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	241 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-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	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	975 MHz	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	124.8 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 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	1.1	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. 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 4890 3.99

HD 7870 12.02
+201%

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 4890 1532

HD 7870 4619
+202%

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	27−30 −211%	84 +211%
Full HD	21−24 −214%	66 +214%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

11.86

−124%

5.29
+124%

HD 7870 has 124% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +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	21−24 +0%	21−24 +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	21−24 +0%	21−24 +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

Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 +0%	65−70 +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%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +0%	30−35 +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	7−8 +0%	7−8 +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	7−8 +0%	7−8 +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 4890 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

HD 7870 is 211% faster in 900p
HD 7870 is 214% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 64 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.99	12.02
Recency	2 April 2009	5 March 2012
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	55 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	190 Watt	175 Watt

HD 7870 has a 201.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 96.4% more advanced lithography process, and 8.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 4890 in performance tests.

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