Radeon HD 7870 vs RX 5500 XT

Place in performance ranking	215	376
Place by popularity	82	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	15.36	2.82
Architecture	RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	Navi 14 XTX	Pitcairn XT
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	12 December 2019 (4 years ago)	5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$169	$412.83
Current price	$317 (1.9x MSRP)	$200 (0.5x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 5500 XT has 445% 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	1408	1280
Core clock speed	1607 MHz	1000 MHz
Boost clock speed	1845 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	6,400 million	2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	162.4	80.00

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).

Interface	PCIe 4.0 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	180 mm	241 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 8-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	GDDR6	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	14000 MHz	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224.0 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	no data	+
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.5	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131

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.

RX 5500 XT 23.71
+97.3%

HD 7870 12.02

RX 5500 XT outperforms HD 7870 by 97% 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 5500 XT 9155
+97.3%

HD 7870 4640

RX 5500 XT outperforms HD 7870 by 97% 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 5500 XT 19499
+215%

HD 7870 6194

RX 5500 XT outperforms HD 7870 by 215% 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 5500 XT 68429
+221%

HD 7870 21348

RX 5500 XT outperforms HD 7870 by 221% 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	160−170 +90.5%	84 −90.5%
Full HD	74 +2.8%	72 −2.8%
1440p	41 +128%	18−21 −128%
4K	24 +100%	12−14 −100%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	72	no data
Battlefield 5	75−80	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	61	no data
Far Cry 5	55−60	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65	no data
Forza Horizon 4	78	no data
Hitman 3	64	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	166	no data
Metro Exodus	132	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	108	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	133	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	74	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	58	no data
Battlefield 5	75−80	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	45	no data
Far Cry 5	55−60	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65	no data
Forza Horizon 4	100−110	no data
Hitman 3	61	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95	no data
Metro Exodus	93	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	88	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	108	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	95	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	202	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	49	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	40	no data
Far Cry 5	55−60	no data
Forza Horizon 4	56	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	87	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	95	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	58	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	36	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	67	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	37	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	20	no data
Far Cry 5	60	no data
Forza Horizon 4	41	no data
Hitman 3	36	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	65	no data
Metro Exodus	60	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	66	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	26	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20	no data
Hitman 3	26	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	22	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	31	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	19	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	8	no data
Far Cry 5	12−14	no data
Forza Horizon 4	21	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	37	no data
Metro Exodus	31	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	14	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

no data

This is how RX 5500 XT and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

RX 5500 XT is 90% faster in 900p
RX 5500 XT is 3% faster in 1080p
RX 5500 XT is 128% faster in 1440p
RX 5500 XT is 100% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	23.71	12.02
Recency	12 December 2019	5 March 2012
Cost	$169	$412.83
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	7 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	175 Watt