ATI HD 5870 vs AMD R7 250X

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Combined performance score

R7 250X
5.85
+2.3%

R7 250X outperforms HD 5870 by 2% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking556561
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.600.94
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameCape VerdeCypress
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date13 February 2014 (10 years old)23 September 2009 (14 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$99 $399
Current price$207 (2.1x MSRP)$125 (0.3x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 5870 has 57% better value for money than R7 250X.

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 cores6401600
Core clock speedno data850 MHz
Boost clock speed1000 MHzno data
Number of transistors1,500 million2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)80 Watt188 Watt
Texture fill rate38.0068.00
Floating-point performance1,216 gflops2,720.0 gflops

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).

Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length210 mm282 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin2x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1625 MHz4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth96 GB/s153.6 GB/s

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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity1no data
HDMI++
DisplayPort support-no data

Technologies

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

AppAcceleration-no data
CrossFire1no data
Enduro-no data
FreeSync1no data
HD3D-no data
PowerTune-no data
TrueAudio-no data
ZeroCore-no data
DDMA audio+no data

API support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1211.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.0
OpenGL4.64.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkanno dataN/A
Mantle-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.

R7 250X 5.85
+2.3%
ATI HD 5870 5.72

R7 250X outperforms HD 5870 by 2% in our combined 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%

R7 250X 2268
+2.4%
ATI HD 5870 2215

R7 250X outperforms HD 5870 by 2% in Passmark.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R7 250X 2860
+13%
ATI HD 5870 2530

R7 250X outperforms HD 5870 by 13% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

Gaming performance

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

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 5.85 5.72
Recency 13 February 2014 23 September 2009
Cost $99 $399
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 80 Watt 188 Watt

We couldn't decide between Radeon R7 250X and Radeon HD 5870. The differences in performance seem too small.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon R7 250X
Radeon R7 250X
ATI Radeon HD 5870
Radeon HD 5870

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User ratings: view and submit

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3.9 156 votes

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Questions and comments

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