HD 7870 XT vs R9 285

#ad
Buy
VS

Combined performance score

R9 285
17.23
+49.4%

R9 285 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 49% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking292377
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money16.153.77
ArchitectureGCN 3.0 (2014−2017)GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code nameTongaTahiti
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date2 September 2014 (9 years old)19 November 2012 (11 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$249 $270
Current price$85 (0.3x MSRP)$133 (0.5x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 285 has 328% better value for money than HD 7870 XT.

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 cores17921536
Core clock speed918 MHz925 MHz
Boost clock speedno data975 MHz
Number of transistors5,000 million4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)190 Watt185 Watt
Texture fill rate102.893.60
Floating-point performance3,290 gflops2,995 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).

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length221 mm267 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 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 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed5.5 GB/s6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth176.0 GB/s192.0 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.21x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
HDMI++

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 (11_1)
Shader Model6.55.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.11.2
Vulkan1.2.1701.2.131

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.

R9 285 17.23
+49.4%
HD 7870 XT 11.53

R9 285 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 49% 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%

R9 285 6680
+49.5%
HD 7870 XT 4469

R9 285 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 49% 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%

R9 285 8570
+34.1%
HD 7870 XT 6390

R9 285 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 34% 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 17.23 11.53
Recency 2 September 2014 19 November 2012
Cost $249 $270
Power consumption (TDP) 190 Watt 185 Watt

The Radeon R9 285 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT in performance tests.


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 R9 285
Radeon R9 285
AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT

Similar GPU comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

User ratings: view and submit

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.2 72 votes

Rate AMD Radeon R9 285 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.3 30 votes

Rate AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.