Radeon HD 7870 vs RX Vega M GL
Aggregate performance score
HD 7870 outperforms RX Vega M GL by a significant 28% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 438 | 376 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.56 | 2.78 |
| Architecture | GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) | GCN (2011−2017) |
| GPU code name | Polaris 22 | Pitcairn XT |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 1 February 2018 (6 years ago) | 5 March 2012 (12 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $412.83 |
| Current price | $1307 | $200 (0.5x MSRP) |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
HD 7870 has 9% better value for money than RX Vega M GL.
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 | 1280 | 1280 |
| Core clock speed | 931 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1011 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 5,000 million | 2800 Million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 175 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 80.88 | 80.00 |
| Floating-point performance | 2,588 gflops | no data |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on Radeon RX Vega M GL and Radeon HD 7870 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Interface | IGP | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 241 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 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 | HBM2 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 1024 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1400 MHz | 4800 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 179.2 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 | No outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | no data | + |
| HDMI | no data | + |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 (11_1) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 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.
HD 7870 outperforms RX Vega M GL by 28% 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%
HD 7870 outperforms RX Vega M GL by 28% in Passmark.
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 | 65−70
−29.2%
| 84
+29.2%
|
| Full HD | 50−55
−36%
| 68
+36%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
High Preset
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
−89.5%
|
36
+89.5%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
−5.3%
|
20
+5.3%
|
4K
High Preset
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 7−8
−42.9%
|
10−11
+42.9%
|
This is how RX Vega M GL and HD 7870 compete in popular games:
- HD 7870 is 29% faster in 900p
- HD 7870 is 36% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 89% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed RX Vega M GL in all 3 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 9.39 | 11.99 |
| Recency | 1 February 2018 | 5 March 2012 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 175 Watt |
The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega M GL in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon RX Vega M GL is a notebook card while Radeon HD 7870 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
