Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) vs HD 6870

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Aggregated performance score

HD 6870
2010
1024 MB GDDR5
5.73
+89.1%

HD 6870 outperforms RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 89% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in performance ranking562732
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.36no data
ArchitectureTerascale 2 (2009−2015)Vega (2017−2021)
GPU code nameRV940 BartsVega Raven Ridge
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date22 October 2010 (13 years ago)7 January 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$239 no data
Current price$332 (1.4x MSRP)no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores1120384
Boost clock speed900 MHz1100 MHz
Number of transistors1,700 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology40 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)151 Watt15 Watt
Texture fill rate50.40no data
Floating-point performance2,016.0 gflopsno data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 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.

Bus supportPCIe 2.0 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16no data
Length220 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 typeGDDR5no data
Maximum RAM amount1 GBno data
Memory bus width256 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1050 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth134.4 GB/sno data
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-DisplayPortno data
Eyefinity1no data
HDMI+no data
DisplayPort support-no data

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration-no data
CrossFire1no data
Enduro-no data
HD3D-no data
PowerTune-no data
TrueAudio-no data
ZeroCore-no data

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1112_1
Shader Model5.0no data
OpenGL4.4no data
OpenCL1.2no data
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 6870 5.73
+89.1%
RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 3.03

HD 6870 outperforms RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 89% based on our aggregated benchmark results.


3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 6870 17773
+117%
RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 8189

HD 6870 outperforms RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 117% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 6870 4218
+41%
RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 2991

HD 6870 outperforms RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 41% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

HD 6870 3141
+39.9%
RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 2245

HD 6870 outperforms RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 40% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

HD 6870 26437
+57.5%
RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 16787

HD 6870 outperforms RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 57% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

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:

900p57
+90%
30−35
−90%
Full HD63
+320%
15
−320%
1200p39
+117%
18−21
−117%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+37.5%
8
−37.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
−33.3%
8
+33.3%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+50%
12
−50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+50%
12−14
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+62.5%
8
−62.5%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+90%
10
−90%
Hitman 3 12−14
+0%
13
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+22.2%
9
−22.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+100%
7
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
−12.5%
9
+12.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+175%
4−5
−175%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
−16.7%
7
+16.7%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+50%
12−14
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+111%
9
−111%
Hitman 3 12−14
+117%
6−7
−117%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+120%
5−6
−120%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+167%
3
−167%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+367%
3
−367%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+33.3%
9
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+175%
4−5
−175%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+138%
8−9
−138%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+100%
6
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Hitman 3 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%
Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Battlefield 5 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Far Cry 5 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Hitman 3 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Battlefield 5 1−2 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Far Cry New Dawn 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2 0−1

This is how HD 6870 and RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) compete in popular games:

  • HD 6870 is 90% faster than RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) in 900p
  • HD 6870 is 320% faster than RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) in 1080p
  • HD 6870 is 117% faster than RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) in 1200p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 6870 is 367% faster than the RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000).
  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is 33.3% faster than the HD 6870.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 6870 is ahead in 51 test (93%)
  • RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is ahead in 3 tests (5%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.73 3.03
Recency 22 October 2010 7 January 2018
Chip lithography 40 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 151 Watt 15 Watt

The Radeon HD 6870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 6870 is a desktop card while Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is a notebook one.


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 RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

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.


3.8 323 votes

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3.5 55 votes

Rate Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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