Radeon R7 250X vs HD 6870

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon R7 250X, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 6870
2010
1 GB GDDR5, 151 Watt
5.75

R7 250X outperforms HD 6870 by a minimal 2% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking595589
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.930.63
Power efficiency2.655.12
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code nameBartsCape Verde
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferencereference
Release date21 October 2010 (14 years ago)13 February 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$239 $99

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6870 has 48% better value for money than R7 250X.

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 cores1120640
Boost clock speed900 MHz1000 MHz
Number of transistors1,700 million1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)151 Watt80 Watt
Texture fill rate50.4038.00
Floating-point processing power2.016 TFLOPS1.216 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs5640

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).

Bus supportPCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length220 mm210 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1 x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1050 MHz1625 MHz
Memory bandwidth134.4 GB/s96 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 HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity++
HDMI++

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire++
FreeSync-+
DDMA audiono data+

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 11DirectX® 12
Shader Model5.05.1
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.21.2

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.

HD 6870 5.75
R7 250X 5.88
+2.3%

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.

HD 6870 2217
R7 250X 2268
+2.3%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

HD 6870 3141
+9.8%
R7 250X 2860

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:

900p61
+1.7%
60−65
−1.7%
Full HD62
+3.3%
60−65
−3.3%
1200p39
+11.4%
35−40
−11.4%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.851.65

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Battlefield 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+5.7%
35−40
−5.7%
Hitman 3 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+2.9%
35−40
−2.9%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+11.1%
18−20
−11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
−2%
50−55
+2%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Battlefield 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+5.7%
35−40
−5.7%
Hitman 3 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+2.9%
35−40
−2.9%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+11.1%
18−20
−11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
−2%
50−55
+2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+5.7%
35−40
−5.7%
Hitman 3 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+2.9%
35−40
−2.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+11.1%
18−20
−11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
−2%
50−55
+2%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Hitman 3 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+2.9%
35−40
−2.9%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Hitman 3 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Metro Exodus 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

This is how HD 6870 and R7 250X compete in popular games:

  • HD 6870 is 2% faster in 900p
  • HD 6870 is 3% faster in 1080p
  • HD 6870 is 11% faster in 1200p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.75 5.88
Recency 21 October 2010 13 February 2014
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt 80 Watt

R7 250X has a 2.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 88.8% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon R7 250X.


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

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AMD Radeon HD 6870
Radeon HD 6870
AMD Radeon R7 250X
Radeon R7 250X

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.


3.8 343 votes

Rate Radeon HD 6870 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.9 162 votes

Rate Radeon R7 250X on a scale of 1 to 5:

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  • 5

Questions & comments

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