GeForce GT 520MX vs Radeon HD 7870M

Place in the ranking	702	1163
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	5.96	2.50
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code name	Heathrow	GF119
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)	30 May 2011 (13 years ago)

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	640	48
Core clock speed	800 MHz	900 MHz
Number of transistors	1,500 million	292 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	20 Watt
Texture fill rate	32.00	7.200
Floating-point processing power	1.024 TFLOPS	0.1728 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	4
TMUs	40	8

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).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16

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	DDR3
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1000 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	64 GB/s	14.4 GB/s
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

No outputs

Supported technologies

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

Optimus

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	12 API
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.5
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/A
CUDA	-	+

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. 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 7870M 3.91
+436%

GT 520MX 0.73

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 7870M 1507
+434%

GT 520MX 282

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 7870M 2702
+353%

GT 520MX 597

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 7870M 13065
+399%

GT 520MX 2620

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

7−8
+133%

3−4

−133%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4	0−1
Battlefield 5	9−10 +800%	1−2 −800%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +475%	4−5 −475%
Hitman 3	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +145%	10−12 −145%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11	0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +150%	6−7 −150%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +35.5%	30−35 −35.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4	0−1
Battlefield 5	9−10 +800%	1−2 −800%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +475%	4−5 −475%
Hitman 3	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +145%	10−12 −145%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11	0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +150%	6−7 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +60%	10−11 −60%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +35.5%	30−35 −35.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Far Cry 5	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +475%	4−5 −475%
Hitman 3	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +145%	10−12 −145%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 +150%	6−7 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +60%	10−11 −60%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +35.5%	30−35 −35.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−11

0−1

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5	0−1
Hitman 3	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +1100%	2−3 −1100%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9
+167%

3−4

−167%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3	0−1
Hitman 3	0−1	0−1
Metro Exodus	0−1	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	2−3	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	2−3	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6
+150%

2−3

−150%

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870M is 1100% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, HD 7870M surpassed GT 520MX in all 35 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.91	0.73
Recency	24 April 2012	30 May 2011
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	20 Watt

HD 7870M has a 435.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 months, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

GT 520MX, on the other hand, has 125% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 520MX in performance tests.

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