Radeon RX Vega 3 vs HD 7870 XT

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT with Radeon RX Vega 3, including specs and performance data.

HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
9.99
+289%

HD 7870 XT outperforms RX Vega 3 by a whopping 289% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking426792
Place by popularitynot in top-10074
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.12no data
Power efficiency4.3013.66
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)GCN 5.0 (2017−2020)
GPU code nameTahitiPicasso
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date19 November 2012 (12 years ago)6 January 2019 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

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

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 cores1536192
Core clock speed925 MHz300 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHz1001 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million4,940 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Watt15 Watt
Texture fill rate93.6012.01
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPS0.3844 TFLOPS
ROPs324
TMUs9612

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).

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16IGP
Length267 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinNone

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 typeGDDR5System Shared
Maximum RAM amount2 GBSystem Shared
Memory bus width256 BitSystem Shared
Memory clock speed1500 MHzSystem Shared
Memory bandwidth192.0 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
HDMI+-

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
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131

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 9.99
+289%
RX Vega 3 2.57

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
+289%
RX Vega 3 1149

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
+445%
RX Vega 3 1172

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
+275%
12
−275%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.00no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 29
+0%
29
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Battlefield 5 7
+0%
7
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 22
+0%
22
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 5
+0%
5
+0%
Fortnite 14
+0%
14
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 9
+0%
9
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Valorant 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 5
+0%
5
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 23
+0%
23
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Dota 2 21
+0%
21
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Fortnite 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 9
+0%
9
+0%
Metro Exodus 2
+0%
2
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6
+0%
6
+0%
Valorant 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Dota 2 19
+0%
19
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4
+0%
4
+0%
Valorant 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Valorant 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Valorant 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Dota 2 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Far Cry 5 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

This is how HD 7870 XT and RX Vega 3 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 XT is 275% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 56 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.99 2.57
Recency 19 November 2012 6 January 2019
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 185 Watt 15 Watt

HD 7870 XT has a 288.7% higher aggregate performance score.

RX Vega 3, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 6 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 1133.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega 3 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7870 XT is a desktop card while Radeon RX Vega 3 is a notebook one.

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AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
AMD Radeon RX Vega 3
Radeon RX Vega 3

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.


4 39 votes

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3.5 2054 votes

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