Radeon HD 7870 vs RX 480

Place in performance ranking	230	376
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	11.41	2.82
Architecture	Polaris (2016−2019)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	Polaris 10 Ellesmere	Pitcairn XT
GCN generation	4th Gen	no data
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	29 June 2016 (8 years ago)	5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$229	$412.83
Current price	$174 (0.8x MSRP)	$200 (0.5x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 480 has 305% better value for money than HD 7870.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	2304	1280
Compute units	36	no data
Core clock speed	1120 MHz	1000 MHz
Boost clock speed	1266 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,700 million	2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	182.3	80.00
Floating-point performance	5,834 gflops	no data

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	n/a	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	241 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	2x 6-pin
Bridgeless CrossFire	1	no data

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	8 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	8000 MHz	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224 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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	1	+
HDMI	2.0	+
DisplayPort support	1.4HDR	no data

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	n/a	no data
CrossFire	1	no data
Enduro	n/a	no data
FRTC	1	no data
FreeSync	+	no data
HD3D	n/a	no data
LiquidVR	1	no data
PowerTune	+	no data
TressFX	1	no data
TrueAudio	n/a	no data
ZeroCore	+	no data
UVD	+	no data
VCE	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	+	1.2.131
Mantle	n/a	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.

RX 480 22.33
+85.8%

HD 7870 12.02

RX 480 outperforms HD 7870 by 86% based on our aggregate 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%

RX 480 8624
+85.9%

HD 7870 4640

RX 480 outperforms HD 7870 by 86% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 480 17919
+189%

HD 7870 6194

RX 480 outperforms HD 7870 by 189% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 480 39552
+85.3%

HD 7870 21348

RX 480 outperforms HD 7870 by 85% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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	150−160 +78.6%	84 −78.6%
Full HD	82 +13.9%	72 −13.9%
1440p	57 +90%	30−35 −90%
4K	36 +100%	18−20 −100%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

35−40

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	58	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40	no data
Battlefield 5	70−75	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40	no data
Far Cry 5	50−55	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60	no data
Forza Horizon 4	100	no data
Hitman 3	45−50	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	85−90	no data
Metro Exodus	93	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	60−65	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	49	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40	no data
Battlefield 5	48	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40	no data
Far Cry 5	50−55	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	31	no data
Forza Horizon 4	95−100	no data
Hitman 3	45−50	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	85−90	no data
Metro Exodus	39	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	60−65	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	78	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40	no data
Far Cry 5	45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	77	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	85−90	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	75−80	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	44	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	65−70	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

60−65

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	65	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	50	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Forza Horizon 4	40−45	no data
Hitman 3	24−27	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50	no data
Metro Exodus	50	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	16−18	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	31	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	21	no data
Hitman 3	16−18	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	17	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6	no data
Far Cry 5	15	no data
Forza Horizon 4	30−35	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27	no data
Metro Exodus	26	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20

no data

This is how RX 480 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

RX 480 is 79% faster in 900p
RX 480 is 14% faster in 1080p
RX 480 is 90% faster in 1440p
RX 480 is 100% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	22.33	12.02
Recency	29 June 2016	5 March 2012
Cost	$229	$412.83
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	175 Watt