GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT with GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile, including specs and performance data.

HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
11.63

RTX 3050 Mobile outperforms HD 7870 XT by a whopping 104% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking416237
Place by popularitynot in top-10038
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.63no data
Power efficiency4.3421.82
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code nameTahitiGA107
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date19 November 2012 (12 years ago)11 May 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores15362048
Core clock speed925 MHz712 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHz1057 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Watt75 Watt
Texture fill rate93.6067.65
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPS4.329 TFLOPS
ROPs3240
TMUs9664
Tensor Coresno data64
Ray Tracing Coresno data16

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).

Laptop sizeno datalarge
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Length267 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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount2 GB4 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.0 GB/s192.0 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-DisplayPortNo outputs
HDMI+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.6
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.23.0
Vulkan1.2.1311.2
CUDA-8.6

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 11.63
RTX 3050 Mobile 23.73
+104%

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
RTX 3050 Mobile 9122
+104%

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
RTX 3050 Mobile 15685
+145%

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 HD45−50
−107%
93
+107%
1440p24−27
−117%
52
+117%
4K16−18
−106%
33
+106%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.00no data
1440p11.25no data
4K16.88no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 106
+0%
106
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 73
+0%
73
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 156
+0%
156
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 97
+0%
97
+0%
Metro Exodus 110
+0%
110
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Valorant 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 56
+0%
56
+0%
Dota 2 142
+0%
142
+0%
Far Cry 5 130
+0%
130
+0%
Fortnite 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 123
+0%
123
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 74
+0%
74
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 128
+0%
128
+0%
Metro Exodus 74
+0%
74
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%
Valorant 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
World of Tanks 250−260
+0%
250−260
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 51
+0%
51
+0%
Dota 2 155
+0%
155
+0%
Far Cry 5 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 106
+0%
106
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 69
+0%
69
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%
Valorant 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 57
+0%
57
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 57
+0%
57
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
World of Tanks 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 28
+0%
28
+0%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 78
+0%
78
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 47
+0%
47
+0%
Metro Exodus 69
+0%
69
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Valorant 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Dota 2 57
+0%
57
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 57
+0%
57
+0%
Metro Exodus 23
+0%
23
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 57
+0%
57
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 12
+0%
12
+0%
Dota 2 93
+0%
93
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Fortnite 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 45
+0%
45
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 24
+0%
24
+0%
Valorant 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%

This is how HD 7870 XT and RTX 3050 Mobile compete in popular games:

  • RTX 3050 Mobile is 107% faster in 1080p
  • RTX 3050 Mobile is 117% faster in 1440p
  • RTX 3050 Mobile is 106% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 64 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.63 23.73
Recency 19 November 2012 11 May 2021
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 8 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 185 Watt 75 Watt

RTX 3050 Mobile has a 104% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 146.7% lower power consumption.

The GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7870 XT is a desktop card while GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile is a notebook one.


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

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile
GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile

Other comparisons

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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

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