Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire vs HD 7870

Place in performance ranking	375	415
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.76	8.91
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Pitcairn XT	Blackcomb XTX
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	5 March 2012 (12 years ago)	12 July 2011 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$412.83	no data
Current price	$200 (0.5x MSRP)	$170

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6990M Crossfire has 223% better value for money than HD 7870.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	1280	2240
Core clock speed	1000 MHz	715 MHz
Number of transistors	2800 Million	2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	no data
Texture fill rate	80.00	no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop size	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data
Length	241 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	no data

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	2x2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	4800 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	no data
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	no data
Eyefinity	+	no data
HDMI	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	11
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.6	no data
OpenCL	1.2	no data
Vulkan	1.2.131	no data

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 11.98
+19.8%

HD 6990M Crossfire 10.00

HD 7870 outperforms HD 6990M Crossfire by 20% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

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

HD 6990M Crossfire 25759
+20.7%

HD 6990M Crossfire outperforms HD 7870 by 21% 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

HD 6990M Crossfire 6422
+3.7%

HD 6990M Crossfire outperforms HD 7870 by 4% 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:

900p	84 −17.9%	99 +17.9%
Full HD	66 −63.6%	108 +63.6%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

18−20
+20%

14−16

−20%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +19%	21−24 −19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +20.6%	30−35 −20.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 +14.8%	27−30 −14.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +20%	14−16 −20%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +18.5%	27−30 −18.5%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +20%	35−40 −20%
Hitman 3	30−35 +23.1%	24−27 −23.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 +25%	20−22 −25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +17.6%	16−18 −17.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +19%	21−24 −19%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 +22.2%	18−20 −22.2%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +19%	21−24 −19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +20.6%	30−35 −20.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35 +14.8%	27−30 −14.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +20%	14−16 −20%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +18.5%	27−30 −18.5%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +20%	35−40 −20%
Hitman 3	30−35 +23.1%	24−27 −23.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 +25%	20−22 −25%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +20%	14−16 −20%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 +17.6%	16−18 −17.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +19%	21−24 −19%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	36 +80%	20−22 −80%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 +22.2%	18−20 −22.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +19%	21−24 −19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +20.6%	30−35 −20.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20 +20%	14−16 −20%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +18.5%	27−30 −18.5%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +20%	35−40 −20%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20 +0%	20−22 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 +22.2%	18−20 −22.2%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 +21.4%	14−16 −21.4%
Hitman 3	18−20 +26.7%	14−16 −26.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +15.4%	12−14 −15.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Battlefield 5	21−24 +35.3%	16−18 −35.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +18.8%	16−18 −18.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 +31.3%	16−18 −31.3%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +22.2%	18−20 −22.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +22.2%	9−10 −22.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9 +14.3%	7−8 −14.3%
Hitman 3	10−12 +22.2%	9−10 −22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	9−10 +12.5%	8−9 −12.5%
Metro Exodus	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +16.7%	6−7 −16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +25%	4−5 −25%
Battlefield 5	10−12 +37.5%	8−9 −37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Far Cry 5	9−10 +12.5%	8−9 −12.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 +9.1%	10−12 −9.1%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%