NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 vs AMD Radeon HD 7870

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Combined performance score

HD 7870
11.96

GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 152% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking371170
Place by popularitynot in top-10048
Value for money2.7025.03
ArchitectureGCN (2011−2017)Turing (2018−2021)
GPU code namePitcairn XTTuring TU116
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years old)14 March 2019 (5 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$412.83 $219
Current price$200 (0.5x MSRP)$252 (1.2x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1660 has 827% better value for money than HD 7870.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores12801408
Core clock speed1000 MHz1530 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1785 MHz
Number of transistors2800 Million6,600 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt120 Watt
Texture fill rate80.00157.1

Size and 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 3.0 x16
Length241 mm229 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1x 8-pin

Memory

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 GB6 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed4800 MHz8000 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s192.1 GB/s
Shared memory--

Video outputs and ports

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-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity+no data
HDMI++

API support

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (12_1)
Shader Model5.16.5
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131
CUDAno data7.5

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 11.96
GTX 1660 30.16
+152%

GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 152% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

HD 7870 4634
GTX 1660 11692
+152%

GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 152% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 7870 21348
GTX 1660 71229
+234%

GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 234% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 7870 6194
GTX 1660 21131
+241%

GeForce GTX 1660 outperforms Radeon HD 7870 by 241% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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
−150%
210−220
+150%
Full HD66
−30.3%
86
+30.3%
1440p18−20
−167%
48
+167%
4K10−12
−180%
28
+180%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
−274%
71
+274%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−128%
55−60
+128%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
−211%
59
+211%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−129%
90−95
+129%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
−261%
112
+261%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
−205%
58
+205%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−223%
100
+223%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−197%
95
+197%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
−214%
132
+214%
Hitman 3 30−35
−244%
110
+244%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
−228%
82
+228%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
−265%
73
+265%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−272%
93
+272%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−255%
78
+255%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−128%
55−60
+128%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
−121%
42
+121%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−129%
90−95
+129%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
−174%
85
+174%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
−147%
47
+147%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−197%
92
+197%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−178%
89
+178%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
−193%
123
+193%
Hitman 3 30−35
−181%
90
+181%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
−144%
61
+144%
Metro Exodus 18−20
−217%
57
+217%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
−100%
40
+100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−212%
78
+212%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 36
−183%
102
+183%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−200%
66
+200%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−128%
55−60
+128%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
−94.7%
37
+94.7%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−129%
90−95
+129%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
−111%
40
+111%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−177%
86
+177%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−156%
82
+156%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
−133%
98
+133%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
−185%
57
+185%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−31.8%
29
+31.8%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
−235%
57
+235%
Hitman 3 18−20
−200%
57
+200%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
−122%
40
+122%
Metro Exodus 10−11
−230%
33
+230%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
−178%
25
+178%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
−220%
48
+220%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
−175%
30−35
+175%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
−238%
27
+238%
Battlefield 5 21−24
−187%
65−70
+187%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−300%
24
+300%
Far Cry 5 18−20
−211%
59
+211%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−181%
59
+181%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
−230%
76
+230%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
−225%
35−40
+225%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
−217%
19
+217%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
−300%
32
+300%
Hitman 3 10−12
−182%
31
+182%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
−22.2%
11
+22.2%
Metro Exodus 5−6
−300%
20
+300%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
−167%
16−18
+167%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
−243%
24
+243%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
−250%
35
+250%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
−186%
20−22
+186%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
−200%
15
+200%
Battlefield 5 10−12
−227%
35−40
+227%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−400%
10
+400%
Far Cry 5 10−11
−200%
30
+200%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
−158%
31
+158%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
−213%
50
+213%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
−200%
12
+200%

This is how HD 7870 and GTX 1660 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 1660 is 150% faster than HD 7870

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 1660 is 30.3% faster than HD 7870

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 1660 is 167% faster than HD 7870

4K resolution:

  • GTX 1660 is 180% faster than HD 7870

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 1660 is 400% faster than the HD 7870.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 1660 surpassed HD 7870 in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 11.96 30.16
Recency 5 March 2012 14 March 2019
Cost $412.83 $219
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 6 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 12 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 120 Watt

The GeForce GTX 1660 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 in performance tests.


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

User ratings

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
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
GeForce GTX 1660

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