ATI Radeon HD 5970 vs HD 7870
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 5970, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 7870 outperforms ATI HD 5970 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 ranking | 416 | 603 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.99 | 0.36 |
| Power efficiency | 4.71 | 1.37 |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2011−2020) | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) |
| GPU code name | Pitcairn | Hemlock |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 5 March 2012 (12 years ago) | 18 November 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $349 | $699 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
HD 7870 has 731% better value for money than ATI HD 5970.
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 cores | 1280 | 1600 ×2 |
| Core clock speed | 1000 MHz | 725 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,800 million | 2,154 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 175 Watt | 294 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 80.00 | 58.00 ×2 |
| Floating-point processing power | 2.56 TFLOPS | 2.32 TFLOPS ×2 |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 ×2 |
| TMUs | 80 | 80 ×2 |
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).
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 241 mm | 305 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 1 GB ×2 |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit ×2 |
| Memory clock speed | 1200 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 153.6 GB/s | 128.0 GB/s ×2 |
| 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 Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort | 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | + | - |
| HDMI | + | - |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 11.2 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | N/A |
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.
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.
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:
| 900p | 84
+110%
| 40−45
−110%
|
| Full HD | 66
+120%
| 30−35
−120%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 5.29
+341%
| 23.30
−341%
|
- HD 7870 has 341% lower cost per frame in 1080p
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Atomic Heart | 27−30
+133%
|
12−14
−133%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+122%
|
9−10
−122%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+130%
|
10−11
−130%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Atomic Heart | 27−30
+133%
|
12−14
−133%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 45−50
+104%
|
24−27
−104%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+122%
|
9−10
−122%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+130%
|
10−11
−130%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 35−40
+111%
|
18−20
−111%
|
| Fortnite | 65−70
+120%
|
30−33
−120%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+129%
|
21−24
−129%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 30−33
+114%
|
14−16
−114%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 40−45
+122%
|
18−20
−122%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
+127%
|
45−50
−127%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 27−30
+133%
|
12−14
−133%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 45−50
+104%
|
24−27
−104%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+122%
|
9−10
−122%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 160−170
+105%
|
80−85
−105%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+130%
|
10−11
−130%
|
| Dota 2 | 75−80
+120%
|
35−40
−120%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 35−40
+111%
|
18−20
−111%
|
| Fortnite | 65−70
+120%
|
30−33
−120%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+129%
|
21−24
−129%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 30−33
+114%
|
14−16
−114%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 40−45
+105%
|
21−24
−105%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
+130%
|
10−11
−130%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 40−45
+122%
|
18−20
−122%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 36
+125%
|
16−18
−125%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
+127%
|
45−50
−127%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 45−50
+104%
|
24−27
−104%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 20−22
+122%
|
9−10
−122%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+130%
|
10−11
−130%
|
| Dota 2 | 75−80
+120%
|
35−40
−120%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 35−40
+111%
|
18−20
−111%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+129%
|
21−24
−129%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 30−33
+114%
|
14−16
−114%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 40−45
+122%
|
18−20
−122%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 20
+122%
|
9−10
−122%
|
| Valorant | 100−110
+127%
|
45−50
−127%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 65−70
+120%
|
30−33
−120%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16
+133%
|
6−7
−133%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 85−90
+113%
|
40−45
−113%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
+113%
|
8−9
−113%
|
| Metro Exodus | 12−14
+117%
|
6−7
−117%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
+130%
|
30−33
−130%
|
| Valorant | 120−130
+105%
|
60−65
−105%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 30−33
+114%
|
14−16
−114%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−11
+150%
|
4−5
−150%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 24−27
+140%
|
10−11
−140%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 27−30
+125%
|
12−14
−125%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 20−22
+122%
|
9−10
−122%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
+125%
|
8−9
−125%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 24−27
+140%
|
10−11
−140%
|
4K
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+125%
|
4−5
−125%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 21−24
+120%
|
10−11
−120%
|
| Metro Exodus | 7−8
+133%
|
3−4
−133%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
+133%
|
6−7
−133%
|
| Valorant | 60−65
+122%
|
27−30
−122%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 14−16
+114%
|
7−8
−114%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Dota 2 | 40−45
+128%
|
18−20
−128%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 12−14
+140%
|
5−6
−140%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18−20
+111%
|
9−10
−111%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 9−10
+125%
|
4−5
−125%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 10−12
+120%
|
5−6
−120%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 10−12
+120%
|
5−6
−120%
|
This is how HD 7870 and ATI HD 5970 compete in popular games:
- HD 7870 is 110% faster in 900p
- HD 7870 is 120% faster in 1080p
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 11.98 | 5.87 |
| Recency | 5 March 2012 | 18 November 2009 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 175 Watt | 294 Watt |
HD 7870 has a 104.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 68% lower power consumption.
The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 5970 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
