GeForce 9500 GT vs Radeon HD 7870

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 and GeForce 9500 GT, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
11.87
+2660%

HD 7870 outperforms 9500 GT by a whopping 2660% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking4101256
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.97no data
Power efficiency4.730.60
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code namePitcairnG96
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years ago)29 July 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349 $85.99

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 cores128032
Core clock speed1000 MHz550 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million314 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt50 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate80.009.600
Floating-point processing power2.56 TFLOPS0.096 TFLOPS
ROPs328
TMUs8016

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 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length241 mm175 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinNone
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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz800 (GDDR3) and 500 (DDR2) MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s25.6 (GDDR3) and 16.0 (DDR2)
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-DisplayPortDual Link DVISingle Link DVI
Multi monitor supportno data+
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataS/PDIF

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model5.14.0
OpenGL4.62.1
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 11.87
+2660%
9500 GT 0.43

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 4619
+2683%
9500 GT 166

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:

900p84
+2700%
3−4
−2700%
Full HD66
+3200%
2−3
−3200%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.29
+713%
43.00
−713%
  • HD 7870 has 713% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27 0−1

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+3800%
1−2
−3800%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+4700%
1−2
−4700%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+3000%
1−2
−3000%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+3200%
1−2
−3200%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+3000%
1−2
−3000%
Valorant 45−50
+4700%
1−2
−4700%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+3800%
1−2
−3800%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27 0−1
Dota 2 40−45
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+4500%
1−2
−4500%
Fortnite 65−70
+3350%
2−3
−3350%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+4700%
1−2
−4700%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+3000%
1−2
−3000%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+3200%
1−2
−3200%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+2900%
3−4
−2900%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+3000%
1−2
−3000%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+3500%
1−2
−3500%
Valorant 45−50
+4700%
1−2
−4700%
World of Tanks 160−170
+3200%
5−6
−3200%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+3800%
1−2
−3800%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27 0−1
Dota 2 40−45
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+4500%
1−2
−4500%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+4700%
1−2
−4700%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35
+3000%
1−2
−3000%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+2900%
3−4
−2900%
Valorant 45−50
+4700%
1−2
−4700%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 16−18 0−1
Grand Theft Auto V 16−18 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 75−80
+3850%
2−3
−3850%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11 0−1
World of Tanks 85−90
+2733%
3−4
−2733%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10 0−1
Far Cry 5 27−30 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+2700%
1−2
−2700%
Forza Horizon 5 18−20 0−1
Metro Exodus 24−27 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18 0−1
Valorant 30−33
+2900%
1−2
−2900%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 7−8 0−1
Dota 2 21−24 0−1
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24 0−1
Metro Exodus 7−8 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 35−40
+3400%
1−2
−3400%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12 0−1
Counter-Strike 2 7−8 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4 0−1
Dota 2 21−24 0−1
Far Cry 5 14−16 0−1
Fortnite 12−14 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 16−18 0−1
Forza Horizon 5 9−10 0−1
Valorant 12−14 0−1

This is how HD 7870 and 9500 GT compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 2700% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 3200% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.87 0.43
Recency 5 March 2012 29 July 2008
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 65 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 50 Watt

HD 7870 has a 2660.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 132.1% more advanced lithography process.

9500 GT, on the other hand, has 250% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9500 GT 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
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT
GeForce 9500 GT

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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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