Radeon HD 6290 vs HD 7870

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 6290, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
10.97
+4288%

HD 7870 outperforms HD 6290 by a whopping 4288% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking4481402
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.56no data
Power efficiency4.781.00
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code namePitcairnCedar
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (13 years ago)4 December 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349 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

Performance to price scatter graph

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 cores128080
Core clock speed1000 MHz650 MHz
Boost clock speedno data400 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million292 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt19 Watt
Texture fill rate80.005.200
Floating-point processing power2.56 TFLOPS0.104 TFLOPS
ROPs324
TMUs808

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 mm168 mm
Width2-slot1-slot
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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz800 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s12.8 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.

Display Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.0
OpenGL4.64.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.2.131N/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.

HD 7870 10.97
+4288%
HD 6290 0.25

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 4599
+4322%
HD 6290 104

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.

HD 7870 6194
+3360%
HD 6290 179

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.

HD 7870 21348
+4195%
HD 6290 497

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
+8300%
1−2
−8300%
Full HD66
+1000%
6
−1000%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.29no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 60−65
+6000%
1−2
−6000%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24 0−1
God of War 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+4800%
1−2
−4800%
Counter-Strike 2 60−65
+6000%
1−2
−6000%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24 0−1
Far Cry 5 35−40 0−1
Fortnite 65−70
+6500%
1−2
−6500%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1500%
3−4
−1500%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35 0−1
God of War 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+471%
7−8
−471%
Valorant 100−110
+304%
24−27
−304%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+4800%
1−2
−4800%
Counter-Strike 2 60−65
+6000%
1−2
−6000%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 160−170
+1154%
12−14
−1154%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24 0−1
Dota 2 75−80
+756%
9−10
−756%
Far Cry 5 35−40 0−1
Fortnite 65−70
+6500%
1−2
−6500%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1500%
3−4
−1500%
Forza Horizon 5 30−35 0−1
God of War 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45 0−1
Metro Exodus 21−24 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+471%
7−8
−471%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 36
+620%
5−6
−620%
Valorant 100−110
+304%
24−27
−304%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+4800%
1−2
−4800%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24 0−1
Dota 2 75−80
+756%
9−10
−756%
Far Cry 5 35−40 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1500%
3−4
−1500%
God of War 21−24
+450%
4−5
−450%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+471%
7−8
−471%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+300%
5−6
−300%
Valorant 100−110
+304%
24−27
−304%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 65−70
+6500%
1−2
−6500%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+950%
2−3
−950%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 85−90
+8400%
1−2
−8400%
Grand Theft Auto V 16−18 0−1
Metro Exodus 12−14 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+2167%
3−4
−2167%
Valorant 120−130
+5950%
2−3
−5950%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10 0−1
Far Cry 5 24−27 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+2600%
1−2
−2600%
God of War 12−14 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18 0−1

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27 0−1

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 6−7 0−1
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%
Metro Exodus 7−8 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14 0−1
Valorant 55−60
+2850%
2−3
−2850%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16 0−1
Counter-Strike 2 6−7 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5 0−1
Dota 2 40−45 0−1
Far Cry 5 10−12 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 18−20 0−1
God of War 8−9 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 10−12
+1000%
1−2
−1000%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%

This is how HD 7870 and HD 6290 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 8300% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 1000% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Valorant, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 2850% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed HD 6290 in all 25 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 10.97 0.25
Recency 5 March 2012 4 December 2011
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 19 Watt

HD 7870 has a 4288% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 months, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

HD 6290, on the other hand, has 821.1% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6290 in performance tests.

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AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870
AMD Radeon HD 6290
Radeon HD 6290

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.8 672 votes

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3.1 47 votes

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