Radeon HD 7870 vs RX 460

Place in performance ranking	396	373
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	1.32	2.73
Architecture	Polaris (2016−2019)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	Polaris 11 / Baffin XT	Pitcairn XT
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	8 August 2016 (7 years old)	5 March 2012 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)	$86	$412.83
Current price	$397 (4.6x MSRP)	$200 (0.5x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 107% better value for money than RX 460.

Technical specs

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	896	1280
Core clock speed	1090 MHz	1000 MHz
Boost clock speed	1200 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	3,000 million	2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	67.20	80.00
Floating-point performance	2,150 gflops	no data

Size and 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 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	170 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	2x 6-pin

Memory

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	4 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	7000 MHz	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112.0 GB/s	153.6 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Video outputs and ports

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, 1x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	no data	+
HDMI	+	+

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

FreeSync

no data

API support

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131

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.

RX 460 10.59

HD 7870 11.97
+13%

HD 7870 outperforms RX 460 by 13% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

RX 460 4101

HD 7870 4636
+13%

HD 7870 outperforms RX 460 by 13% in Passmark.

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%

RX 460 8597
+38.8%

HD 7870 6194

RX 460 outperforms HD 7870 by 39% 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	70−75 −20%	84 +20%
Full HD	41 −61%	66 +61%
1440p	55 −9.1%	60−65 +9.1%
4K	20 −5%	21−24 +5%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

16−18

−12.5%

18−20
+12.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	34 +36%	24−27 −36%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −13.9%	40−45 +13.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 −10.7%	30−35 +10.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	40 +29%	30−35 −29%
Far Cry New Dawn	41 +28.1%	30−35 −28.1%
Forza Horizon 4	57 +35.7%	40−45 −35.7%
Hitman 3	27−30 −18.5%	30−35 +18.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	34 +70%	20−22 −70%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	34 +36%	24−27 −36%
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	28 +12%	24−27 −12%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −13.9%	40−45 +13.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16 −93.8%	30−35 +93.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	37 +19.4%	30−35 −19.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	38 +18.8%	30−35 −18.8%
Forza Horizon 4	54 +28.6%	40−45 −28.6%
Hitman 3	27−30 −18.5%	30−35 +18.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Metro Exodus	21 +16.7%	18−20 −16.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	17 −17.6%	20−22 +17.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	28 +12%	24−27 −12%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	37 +2.8%	36 −2.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	17 −47.1%	24−27 +47.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Battlefield 5	35−40 −13.9%	40−45 +13.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Far Cry 5	34 +9.7%	30−35 −9.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	35 +9.4%	30−35 −9.4%
Forza Horizon 4	41 −2.4%	40−45 +2.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	23 +15%	20 −15%
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −13.3%	16−18 +13.3%
Hitman 3	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 −12.5%	18−20 +12.5%
Metro Exodus	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 −28.6%	9−10 +28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 −7.1%	14−16 +7.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −20%	12−14 +20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Battlefield 5	18−20 −21.1%	21−24 +21.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −11.8%	18−20 +11.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 −21.1%	21−24 +21.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 −20%	12−14 +20%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Hitman 3	10−11 −10%	10−12 +10%
Horizon Zero Dawn	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Metro Exodus	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	6−7 −16.7%	7−8 +16.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12 +20%	10−11 −20%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 −16.7%	7−8 +16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Battlefield 5	9−10 −22.2%	10−12 +22.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Far Cry 5	11 +10%	10−11 −10%
Far Cry New Dawn	12 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%

This is how RX 460 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

HD 7870 is 20% faster than RX 460 in 900p
HD 7870 is 61% faster than RX 460 in 1080p
HD 7870 is 9.1% faster than RX 460 in 1440p
HD 7870 is 5% faster than RX 460 in 4K

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

in Red Dead Redemption 2, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 460 is 70% faster than the HD 7870.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870 is 100% faster than the RX 460.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 460 is ahead in 18 tests (26%)
HD 7870 is ahead in 46 tests (68%)
there's a draw in 4 tests (6%)

Advantages and disadvantages

Performance score	10.59	11.97
Recency	8 August 2016	5 March 2012
Cost	$86	$412.83
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	175 Watt