Quadro FX 4800 vs Radeon HD 7870

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 with Quadro FX 4800, including specs and performance data.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
12.01
+373%

HD 7870 outperforms FX 4800 by a whopping 373% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking404829
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.910.04
Power efficiency5.041.24
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code namePitcairnGT200B
Market segmentDesktopWorkstation
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years ago)11 November 2008 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349 $1,799

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 7175% better value for money than FX 4800.

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 cores1280192
Core clock speed1000 MHz602 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt150 Watt
Texture fill rate80.0038.53
Floating-point processing power2.56 TFLOPS0.4623 TFLOPS
ROPs3224
TMUs8064

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 mm267 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin

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 GB1536 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz800 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s76.8 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-DisplayPort1x DVI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x S-Video
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

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
OpenGL4.63.3
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.2.131N/A
CUDA-1.3

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 12.01
+373%
FX 4800 2.54

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 4634
+374%
FX 4800 978

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
+425%
16−18
−425%
Full HD65
+442%
12−14
−442%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+460%
5−6
−460%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+375%
8−9
−375%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+380%
5−6
−380%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+460%
5−6
−460%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+400%
16−18
−400%
Hitman 3 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+433%
12−14
−433%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+400%
8−9
−400%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+388%
8−9
−388%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+393%
14−16
−393%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+460%
5−6
−460%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+375%
8−9
−375%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+380%
5−6
−380%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+460%
5−6
−460%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+400%
16−18
−400%
Hitman 3 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+433%
12−14
−433%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+400%
8−9
−400%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+388%
8−9
−388%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+400%
6−7
−400%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+393%
14−16
−393%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+460%
5−6
−460%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+380%
5−6
−380%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+460%
5−6
−460%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+400%
16−18
−400%
Hitman 3 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+433%
12−14
−433%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+388%
8−9
−388%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+400%
4−5
−400%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+393%
14−16
−393%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+450%
6−7
−450%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+475%
4−5
−475%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
+500%
3−4
−500%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+500%
2−3
−500%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
+700%
1−2
−700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+550%
2−3
−550%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+600%
2−3
−600%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+383%
12−14
−383%
Hitman 3 14−16
+400%
3−4
−400%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+400%
5−6
−400%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+375%
4−5
−375%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+500%
2−3
−500%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+436%
14−16
−436%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+400%
4−5
−400%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%
Hitman 3 8−9
+700%
1−2
−700%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+460%
10−11
−460%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+400%
2−3
−400%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3 0−1
Far Cry 5 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+433%
3−4
−433%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+400%
2−3
−400%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%

This is how HD 7870 and FX 4800 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 425% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 442% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.01 2.54
Recency 5 March 2012 11 November 2008
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1536 MB
Chip lithography 28 nm 55 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 150 Watt

HD 7870 has a 372.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 96.4% more advanced lithography process.

FX 4800, on the other hand, has 16.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Quadro FX 4800 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7870 is a desktop card while Quadro FX 4800 is a workstation 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

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AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800
Quadro FX 4800

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.


3.7 622 votes

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4.1 61 vote

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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.