Radeon HD 7870 vs R9 390X

Place in the ranking	232	410
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.67	2.87
Power efficiency	6.13	4.73
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	Grenada	Pitcairn
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	18 June 2015 (9 years ago)	5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$429	$349

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 390X has 237% better value for money than HD 7870.

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	2816	1280
Core clock speed	no data	1000 MHz
Boost clock speed	1050 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	6,200 million	2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	184.8	80.00
Floating-point processing power	5.914 TFLOPS	2.56 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	32
TMUs	176	80

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).

Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	275 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1 x 6-pin, 1 x 8-pin	2x 6-pin
Bridgeless CrossFire	+	-

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
High bandwidth memory (HBM)	-	no data
Maximum RAM amount	0 MB	2 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1050 MHz	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	384 GB/s	153.6 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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	+
Number of Eyefinity displays	6	no data
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire	+	-
FreeSync	+	-
PowerTune	+	-
TrueAudio	+	-
VCE	+	-
DDMA audio	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.3	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	+	1.2.131
Mantle	+	-

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.

R9 390X 23.36
+104%

HD 7870 11.47

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.

R9 390X 9408
+104%

HD 7870 4619

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.

R9 390X 17944
+190%

HD 7870 6194

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.

R9 390X 35807
+67.7%

HD 7870 21348

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	170−180 +102%	84 −102%
Full HD	90 +36.4%	66 −36.4%
4K	51 +113%	24−27 −113%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	4.77 +10.9%	5.29 −10.9%
4K	8.41 +72.9%	14.54 −72.9%

R9 390X has 11% lower cost per frame in 1080p
R9 390X has 73% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +114%	21−24 −114%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +92.3%	35−40 −92.3%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +114%	21−24 −114%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 +123%	45−50 −123%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 +110%	30−35 −110%
Metro Exodus	60−65 +93.9%	30−35 −93.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 +74.2%	30−35 −74.2%
Valorant	95−100 +104%	45−50 −104%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +92.3%	35−40 −92.3%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +114%	21−24 −114%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Dota 2	85−90 +97.7%	40−45 −97.7%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +59.6%	45−50 −59.6%
Fortnite	120−130 +78.3%	65−70 −78.3%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 +123%	45−50 −123%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 +110%	30−35 −110%
Grand Theft Auto V	80−85 +95.3%	40−45 −95.3%
Metro Exodus	60−65 +93.9%	30−35 −93.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	150−160 +72.2%	90−95 −72.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 +74.2%	30−35 −74.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	78 +117%	35−40 −117%
Valorant	95−100 +104%	45−50 −104%
World of Tanks	250−260 +53.6%	160−170 −53.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +92.3%	35−40 −92.3%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +114%	21−24 −114%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Dota 2	85−90 +97.7%	40−45 −97.7%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +59.6%	45−50 −59.6%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 +123%	45−50 −123%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 +110%	30−35 −110%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	150−160 +72.2%	90−95 −72.2%
Valorant	95−100 +104%	45−50 −104%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	40−45 +156%	16−18 −156%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 +141%	16−18 −141%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	120−130 +38.9%	90−95 −38.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +120%	10−11 −120%
World of Tanks	160−170 +90.6%	85−90 −90.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +104%	24−27 −104%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +133%	9−10 −133%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +163%	27−30 −163%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +132%	27−30 −132%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 +117%	18−20 −117%
Metro Exodus	55−60 +124%	24−27 −124%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 +125%	16−18 −125%
Valorant	65−70 +120%	30−33 −120%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Dota 2	40−45 +90.9%	21−24 −90.9%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 +90.9%	21−24 −90.9%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +138%	8−9 −138%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	75−80 +114%	35−40 −114%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 +87.5%	8−9 −87.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 +90.9%	21−24 −90.9%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 +127%	10−12 −127%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +167%	3−4 −167%
Dota 2	40−45 +90.9%	21−24 −90.9%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +113%	14−16 −113%
Fortnite	30−33 +131%	12−14 −131%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +138%	16−18 −138%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 +133%	9−10 −133%
Valorant	30−35 +167%	12−14 −167%