Radeon R7 250E vs HD 7870

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon R7 250E, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
12.02
+180%

HD 7870 outperforms R7 250E by a whopping 180% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in performance ranking376639
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.820.11
ArchitectureGCN (2011−2017)GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code namePitcairn XTCape Verde
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years ago)20 December 2013 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$412.83 $109
Current price$200 (0.5x MSRP)$599 (5.5x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 2464% better value for money than R7 250E.

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 cores1280512
Core clock speed1000 MHz800 MHz
Number of transistors2800 Million1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt55 Watt
Texture fill rate80.0025.60
Floating-point performanceno data819.2 gflops

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 3.0 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed4800 MHz4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s72 GB/s
Shared memory-no data

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, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity+no data
HDMI++

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (11_1)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131

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
+211%
27−30
−211%
Full HD72
+200%
24−27
−200%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Battlefield 5 100−105
+163%
35−40
−163%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 65−70
+171%
24−27
−171%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+168%
27−30
−168%
Far Cry New Dawn 90−95
+173%
30−35
−173%
Forza Horizon 4 160−170
+176%
55−60
−176%
Hitman 3 60−65
+161%
21−24
−161%
Horizon Zero Dawn 130−140
+165%
45−50
−165%
Metro Exodus 100−105
+156%
35−40
−156%
Red Dead Redemption 2 95−100
+179%
30−35
−179%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 100−105
+170%
35−40
−170%
Watch Dogs: Legion 110−120
+168%
40−45
−168%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Battlefield 5 100−105
+163%
35−40
−163%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 65−70
+171%
24−27
−171%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+168%
27−30
−168%
Far Cry New Dawn 90−95
+173%
30−35
−173%
Forza Horizon 4 160−170
+176%
55−60
−176%
Hitman 3 60−65
+161%
21−24
−161%
Horizon Zero Dawn 130−140
+165%
45−50
−165%
Metro Exodus 100−105
+156%
35−40
−156%
Red Dead Redemption 2 95−100
+179%
30−35
−179%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 100−105
+170%
35−40
−170%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 100−105
+178%
36
−178%
Watch Dogs: Legion 110−120
+168%
40−45
−168%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 65−70
+171%
24−27
−171%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+168%
27−30
−168%
Forza Horizon 4 160−170
+176%
55−60
−176%
Horizon Zero Dawn 130−140
+165%
45−50
−165%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 100−105
+170%
35−40
−170%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 55−60
+175%
20
−175%
Watch Dogs: Legion 110−120
+168%
40−45
−168%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 95−100
+179%
30−35
−179%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+161%
21−24
−161%
Far Cry New Dawn 55−60
+162%
21−24
−162%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−33
+150%
12−14
−150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+163%
8−9
−163%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
+150%
14−16
−150%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+167%
6−7
−167%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+161%
21−24
−161%
Hitman 3 40−45
+167%
14−16
−167%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Metro Exodus 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 50−55
+163%
18−20
−163%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+150%
12−14
−150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 55−60
+175%
20−22
−175%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 30−33
+173%
10−12
−173%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+167%
9−10
−167%
Hitman 3 21−24
+163%
8−9
−163%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+169%
12−14
−169%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
+170%
10−11
−170%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+180%
5−6
−180%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
+167%
6−7
−167%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+167%
6−7
−167%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+150%
16−18
−150%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+169%
12−14
−169%
Metro Exodus 30−33
+150%
12−14
−150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−11
+150%
4−5
−150%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−33
+173%
10−12
−173%

This is how HD 7870 and R7 250E compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 211% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 200% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.02 4.29
Recency 5 March 2012 20 December 2013
Cost $412.83 $109
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 55 Watt

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R7 250E in performance tests.


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

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AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870
AMD Radeon R7 250E
Radeon R7 250E

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.


3.8 586 votes

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4 22 votes

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Questions & comments

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