GeForce GTX 460 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT and GeForce GTX 460, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
11.60
+97.6%

HD 7870 XT outperforms GTX 460 by an impressive 98% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking414595
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.611.25
Power efficiency4.302.52
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameTahitiGF104
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2012 (12 years ago)12 July 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 XT has 189% better value for money than GTX 460.

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 cores1536336
Core clock speed925 MHz675 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 million1,950 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Watt160 Watt
Texture fill rate93.6037.80
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPS0.9072 TFLOPS
ROPs3224
TMUs9656

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 data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length267 mm210 mm
Heightno data4.376"(111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 6-pin
SLI options-+

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 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.0 GB/s86.4 GB/s

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-DisplayPortTwo Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI++
HDCP-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.1
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.2.131N/A
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. 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 7870 XT 11.60
+97.6%
GTX 460 5.87

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
+97.6%
GTX 460 2262

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
+149%
GTX 460 2570

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.60 5.87
Recency 19 November 2012 12 July 2010
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 185 Watt 160 Watt

HD 7870 XT has a 97.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

GTX 460, on the other hand, has 15.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 460 in performance tests.


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 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
GeForce GTX 460

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.


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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.