Radeon HD 6870 vs RX 470

Place in the ranking	261	597
Place by popularity	47	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	17.52	0.98
Power efficiency	12.00	2.61
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Ellesmere	Barts
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	no data	reference
Release date	4 August 2016 (8 years ago)	21 October 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$179	$239

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 470 has 1688% better value for money than HD 6870.

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	2048	1120
Core clock speed	926 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1206 MHz	900 MHz
Number of transistors	5,700 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	151 Watt
Texture fill rate	154.4	50.40
Floating-point processing power	4.94 TFLOPS	2.016 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	128	56

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	no data	PCIe 2.0 x16
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	241 mm	220 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	2x 6-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	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1650 MHz	1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth	211.2 GB/s	134.4 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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	-	+
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire	-	+
FreeSync	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	6.4	5.0
OpenGL	4.6	4.4
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	-

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.

RX 470 21.00
+265%

HD 6870 5.75

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.

RX 470 8096
+265%

HD 6870 2216

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.

RX 470 17625
+318%

HD 6870 4218

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.

RX 470 11885
+278%

HD 6870 3141

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

RX 470 68475
+159%

HD 6870 26437

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	220−230 +261%	61 −261%
Full HD	72 +16.1%	62 −16.1%
1200p	140−150 +259%	39 −259%
1440p	38 +280%	10−12 −280%
4K	35 +289%	9−10 −289%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.49	3.85
1440p	4.71	23.90
4K	5.11	26.56

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−35
+267%

9−10

−267%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +207%	14−16 −207%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +400%	7−8 −400%
Battlefield 5	65−70 +331%	16−18 −331%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +258%	12−14 −258%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +267%	9−10 −267%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +277%	12−14 −277%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 +250%	16−18 −250%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +246%	35−40 −246%
Hitman 3	40−45 +242%	12−14 −242%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−105 +178%	35−40 −178%
Metro Exodus	70−75 +380%	14−16 −380%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 +250%	16−18 −250%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	102 +410%	20−22 −410%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +91.8%	45−50 −91.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +207%	14−16 −207%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +400%	7−8 −400%
Battlefield 5	65−70 +331%	16−18 −331%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +258%	12−14 −258%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +267%	9−10 −267%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +277%	12−14 −277%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 +250%	16−18 −250%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +246%	35−40 −246%
Hitman 3	40−45 +242%	12−14 −242%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−105 +178%	35−40 −178%
Metro Exodus	70−75 +380%	14−16 −380%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 +250%	16−18 −250%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	88 +340%	20−22 −340%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 +147%	18−20 −147%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +91.8%	45−50 −91.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +207%	14−16 −207%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +400%	7−8 −400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +258%	12−14 −258%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +267%	9−10 −267%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +277%	12−14 −277%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +246%	35−40 −246%
Hitman 3	40−45 +242%	12−14 −242%
Horizon Zero Dawn	74 +106%	35−40 −106%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	67 +235%	20−22 −235%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40 +111%	18−20 −111%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +91.8%	45−50 −91.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

55−60
+250%

16−18

−250%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 +264%	10−12 −264%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +256%	9−10 −256%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +320%	5−6 −320%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +1800%	1−2 −1800%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +360%	5−6 −360%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Far Cry 5	24−27 +243%	7−8 −243%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 +638%	16−18 −638%
Hitman 3	24−27 +150%	10−11 −150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	53 +308%	12−14 −308%
Metro Exodus	46 +1050%	4−5 −1050%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	51 +5000%	1−2 −5000%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +380%	5−6 −380%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +242%	35−40 −242%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40
+250%

10−11

−250%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +425%	4−5 −425%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 +300%	4−5 −300%
Hitman 3	16−18 +700%	2−3 −700%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 +731%	12−14 −731%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +667%	3−4 −667%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +1000%	2−3 −1000%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +300%	3−4 −300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 +450%	2−3 −450%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5	0−1
Far Cry 5	10−12 +267%	3−4 −267%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +480%	5−6 −480%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	25 +317%	6−7 −317%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20
+200%

6−7

−200%

This is how RX 470 and HD 6870 compete in popular games:

RX 470 is 261% faster in 900p
RX 470 is 16% faster in 1080p
RX 470 is 259% faster in 1200p
RX 470 is 280% faster in 1440p
RX 470 is 289% faster in 4K

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

in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 470 is 5000% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 470 surpassed HD 6870 in all 70 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	21.00	5.75
Recency	4 August 2016	21 October 2010
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	151 Watt

RX 470 has a 265.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 25.8% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 470 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6870 in performance tests.

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