AMD Radeon HD 6870 vs AMD Radeon 520

VS
Performance
Radeon HD 6870109% better
4,2184% of 104,598
Radeon 520
2,016.52% of 104,598

The Radeon HD 6870 has 109% better performance than the Radeon 520 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 6870
17.6511% of 161.45
Radeon 520
No data available

The Radeon HD 6870 has 11% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

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Summary

#

About the AMD Radeon HD 6870 GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 6870 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q4 2010 with a MSRP of $239. It is built on the TeraScale 2 GPU microarchitecture (codename Barts) and is manufactured on a 40 nm process.

Memory

The HD 6870 has 1,024 MB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,050 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 134.4 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The HD 6870 includes 1,120 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 900 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 56 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The HD 6870 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.3a, mini-DisplayPort 1.1 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 151 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The HD 6870 has the 269th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 4.03% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 4,218 score and $239 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 17.65. This is the 91st best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon 520 GPU

The AMD Radeon 520 is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q2 2017. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Banks) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The 520 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,125 MHz memory clock and a 64 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 36 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The 520 includes 320 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,030 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 20 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 8 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

AMD recommends a power supply of at least 250 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 50 W.

Benchmark Performance

The 520 has the 361st best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 1.93% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureTeraScale 2GCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopMobile
Release DateQ4 2010Q2 2017
Launch Price (MSRP)$239--
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

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Destiny 2
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Rise of the Tomb Raider
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The Witcher 3
Display FPS for BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite
Display FPS for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS: GO

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Destiny 2
Destiny 2
Radeon HD 6870Radeon 520
Low - 720p
--
18 FPS
Medium - 1080p
--
9 FPS
High - 1080p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
--
--
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6870 orRadeon 520
GPUFrames Per Second
Radeon R9 M37520.2+115%
Radeon RX 540 Mobile18.8+100%
GeForce MX11017.7+88%
GeForce 930MX13.1+39%
Radeon 53011.6+23%
Radeon 5209.4

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6870 orRadeon 520
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon HD 6870109% better
4,2184% of 104,598
Radeon 520
2,016.52% of 104,598

The Radeon HD 6870 has 109% better performance than the Radeon 520 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon HD 6870 is ranked 269th with a score of 4,218, and the Radeon 520 is ranked 361st with a score of 2,016.5.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 6870
17.6511% of 161.45
Radeon 520
No data available

The Radeon HD 6870 has 27% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon HD 6870's 17.65 performance per dollar ranks it 91st among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6870 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GT 10304,727.5+12%
GeForce GTX 4704,342+3%
Radeon HD 68704,218
Radeon HD 7770 (GHz Edition)3,098-27%
Radeon HD 7750M2,085-51%
Radeon R7 M3602,029-52%
Radeon 5202,016.5-52%
GeForce GTX 470M2,002.5-53%
FirePro M40001,981-53%
Radeon HD 6450623-85%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6870 orRadeon 520

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
397
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
454.5
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
26,437
(+214.26%)
8,412.5
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
3,141
(+138.13%)
1,319
3DMark 11 Performance Score
4,547.5
(+103.74%)
2,232
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
--
35.6
PassMark G3D Mark
2,216
(+156.18%)
865
PassMark G2D Mark
412
(+99.03%)
207
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
12
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
9.2
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
CodenameBartsBanks
ArchitectureTeraScale 2GCN 1.0
Process Size40 nm28 nm
Transistors1,700 million690 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
Memory Size1,024 MB2 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth134.4 Gb/s36 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,050 MHz1,125 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit64 bit
L1 Cache8 KB16 KB
L2 Cache512 KB128 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
Slots2 slots--
Bus InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Thermal Design Power (TDP)151 W50 W
Suggested PSU450 W250 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin--
OutputsDVI, HDMI 1.3a, mini-DisplayPort 1.1No outputs

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
Stream Processors (SP)1,120320
Compute Units (CU)145
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)5620
Render Output Units (ROP)328
Core Clock Speed900 MHz1,030 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
Pixel Fill Rate28.8 GPixel/s8.24 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate50.4 GTexel/s20.6 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance2.02 TFLOPS659.2 GFLOPS
FP64 Performance--41.2 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon HD 6870Radeon 520
DirectX11.2 (11_0)12 (11_1)
OpenCL1.22.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.44.6
Shader Model5.06.5 (5.1)

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.