GeForce GTX 1050 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT and GeForce GTX 1050, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
11.56

GTX 1050 outperforms HD 7870 XT by a moderate 12% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking423396
Place by popularitynot in top-10013
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.6211.33
Power efficiency4.3111.96
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameTahitiGP107
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2012 (12 years ago)25 October 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 $109

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

GTX 1050 has 213% better value for money than HD 7870 XT.

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 cores1536640
Core clock speed925 MHz1290 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHz1392 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million3,300 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Watt75 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data97 °C
Texture fill rate93.6058.20
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPS1.862 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs9640

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 supportno dataPCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length267 mm145 mm
Heightno data4.38" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)no data300 Watt
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinNone
SLIno 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz1752 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.0 GB/s112 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortDP 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, Dual Link-DVI
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI++
HDCP-2.2
G-SYNC support-+

Supported technologies

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

GameStream-+
GPU Boostno data3.0
VR Readyno data+
Ansel-+

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (12_1)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.64.5
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131
CUDA-+

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.

HD 7870 XT 11.56
GTX 1050 13.00
+12.5%

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 7870 XT 4469
GTX 1050 5027
+12.5%

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 7870 XT 6390
GTX 1050 6797
+6.4%

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 HD35−40
−25.7%
44
+25.7%
1440p18−21
−27.8%
23
+27.8%
4K18−21
−27.8%
23
+27.8%

Cost per frame, $

1080p7.71
−211%
2.48
+211%
1440p15.00
−217%
4.74
+217%
4K15.00
−217%
4.74
+217%
  • GTX 1050 has 211% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 1050 has 217% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • GTX 1050 has 217% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 11
+0%
11
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Battlefield 5 56
+0%
56
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 6
+0%
6
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Fortnite 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Battlefield 5 43
+0%
43
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 250
+0%
250
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Dota 2 124
+0%
124
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Fortnite 53
+0%
53
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 49
+0%
49
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 53
+0%
53
+0%
Metro Exodus 17
+0%
17
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 38
+0%
38
+0%
Valorant 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 36
+0%
36
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Dota 2 112
+0%
112
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 34
+0%
34
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+0%
20
+0%
Valorant 28
+0%
28
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 42
+0%
42
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 7
+0%
7
+0%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 27
+0%
27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 24
+0%
24
+0%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 15
+0%
15
+0%
Valorant 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Dota 2 47
+0%
47
+0%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

This is how HD 7870 XT and GTX 1050 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 1050 is 26% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 1050 is 28% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 1050 is 28% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.56 13.00
Recency 19 November 2012 25 October 2016
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 185 Watt 75 Watt

GTX 1050 has a 12.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 146.7% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 1050 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT in performance tests.

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AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
GeForce GTX 1050

Other comparisons

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.


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