GeForce GTX 1660 vs Radeon HD 7870M

Place in the ranking	702	186
Place by popularity	not in top-100	39
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	47.40
Power efficiency	5.96	17.30
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Turing (2018−2022)
GPU code name	Heathrow	TU116
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)	14 March 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$219

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	1408
Core clock speed	800 MHz	1530 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1785 MHz
Number of transistors	1,500 million	6,600 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	120 Watt
Texture fill rate	32.00	157.1
Floating-point processing power	1.024 TFLOPS	5.027 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	48
TMUs	40	88

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 3.0 x16
Length	no data	229 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 8-pin

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	6 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	1000 MHz	2001 MHz
Memory bandwidth	64 GB/s	192.1 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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131
CUDA	-	7.5

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

GTX 1660 30.29
+675%

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

GTX 1660 11674
+675%

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

GTX 1660 21064
+680%

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

GTX 1660 71229
+445%

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:

Full HD	10−12 −730%	83 +730%
1440p	6−7 −717%	49 +717%
4K	3−4 −767%	26 +767%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	2.64
1440p	no data	4.47
4K	no data	8.42

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

7−8

−914%

71
+914%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −491%	65−70 +491%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −1867%	59 +1867%
Battlefield 5	9−10 −1000%	95−100 +1000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −711%	73 +711%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −729%	58 +729%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −750%	65−70 +750%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 −600%	75−80 +600%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −617%	160−170 +617%
Hitman 3	9−10 −667%	69 +667%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 −1033%	306 +1033%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −1957%	144 +1957%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 −1020%	112 +1020%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 −600%	100−110 +600%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 −440%	227 +440%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −1018%	123 +1018%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −1300%	42 +1300%
Battlefield 5	9−10 −1000%	95−100 +1000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −644%	67 +644%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −571%	47 +571%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −750%	65−70 +750%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 −600%	75−80 +600%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −617%	160−170 +617%
Hitman 3	9−10 −644%	67 +644%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 −963%	287 +963%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −1514%	113 +1514%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 −690%	79 +690%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 −633%	110 +633%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −300%	60−65 +300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 −410%	214 +410%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −491%	65−70 +491%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −1133%	37 +1133%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −444%	49 +444%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 −471%	40 +471%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −750%	65−70 +750%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −326%	98 +326%
Hitman 3	9−10 −556%	59 +556%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 −244%	93 +244%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	14−16 −533%	95 +533%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −256%	57 +256%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +44.8%	29 −44.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−11

−710%

81
+710%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8 −714%	55−60 +714%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 −667%	45−50 +667%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −967%	30−35 +967%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 −1033%	34 +1033%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −1100%	24 +1100%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −775%	35−40 +775%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 −4250%	170−180 +4250%
Hitman 3	8−9 −388%	39 +388%
Horizon Zero Dawn	9−10 −644%	67 +644%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4 −1233%	40−45 +1233%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 −679%	187 +679%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9

−563%

53
+563%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3 −1400%	30−33 +1400%
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3 −1100%	24−27 +1100%
Hitman 3	0−1	21
Metro Exodus	0−1	44

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −533%	18−20 +533%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 −650%	15 +650%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2 −1600%	17 +1600%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	10
Far Cry 5	2−3 −750%	16−18 +750%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 −2400%	50 +2400%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 −1100%	12 +1100%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6

−420%

26
+420%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla	27 +0%	27 +0%
Metro Exodus	59 +0%	59 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	67 +0%	67 +0%

4K
High Preset

Horizon Zero Dawn	63 +0%	63 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35 +0%	35 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

+0%

This is how HD 7870M and GTX 1660 compete in popular games:

GTX 1660 is 730% faster in 1080p
GTX 1660 is 717% faster in 1440p
GTX 1660 is 767% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870M is 45% faster.
in Forza Horizon 4, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 1660 is 4250% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 7870M is ahead in 1 test (1%)
GTX 1660 is ahead in 62 tests (90%)
there's a draw in 6 tests (9%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.91	30.29
Recency	24 April 2012	14 March 2019
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	120 Watt

HD 7870M has 166.7% lower power consumption.

GTX 1660, on the other hand, has a 674.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 200% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 133.3% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GTX 1660 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7870M is a notebook card while GeForce GTX 1660 is a desktop one.

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