AMD Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

VS
Performance
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
6,1946% of 104,598
GeForce RTX 40901,589% better
104,598Best Performance

The GeForce RTX 4090 has 1,589% better performance than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
17.7511% of 161.45
GeForce RTX 4090269% better
65.4141% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 4090 has 269% better value for the money than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
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Summary

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About the AMD Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q1 2012 with a MSRP of $349. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Pitcairn) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The HD 7870 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,200 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 153.6 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 7870 includes 1,280 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,000 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 80 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The HD 7870 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, mini-DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 175 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The HD 7870 has the 226th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 5.92% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 6,194 score and $349 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 17.75. This is the 90th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q4 2022 with a MSRP of $1,599. It is built on the Ada Lovelace GPU microarchitecture (codename AD102) and is manufactured on a 5 nm process.

Memory

The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, with a 1,313 MHz memory clock and a 384 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 1.01 Tb/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 RTX 4090 includes 16,384 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 2,235 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 2,520 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 512 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 176 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 512 tensor cores optimized for AI-accelerated workloads and 128 RT cores dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RTX 4090 is a large graphics card, occupying 3 PCIe 4.0 x16 expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. With a thermal design power (TDP) of 450 W and a large, 3-slot size, it is recommended to use a power supply of 850 W and a case with sufficient space to accommodate the card. Compare your card's model and your case's dimensions to verify compatibility.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RTX 4090 has the best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. Its 104,598 score and $1,599 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 65.41. This is the 49th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

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

InfoRadeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
ManufacturerAMDNVIDIA
ArchitectureGCN 1.0Ada Lovelace
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2012Q4 2022
Launch Price (MSRP)$349$1,599
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Black Myth: Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong
Display FPS for Once Human
Once Human
Display FPS for The First Descendant
The First Descendant
Display FPS for F1 24
F1 24
Display FPS for Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Display FPS for Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima
Display FPS for Dragon's Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2

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 Black Myth: Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
Low - 1080p
--
219 FPS
Medium - 1080p
--
166 FPS
High - 1080p
--
132 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
85 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
67 FPS
4K UHD - 2160p
--
42 FPS
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 7870 (GHz Edition) orGeForce RTX 4090
GPUFrames Per Second
GeForce RTX 409042
Radeon RX 7900 XTX32-24%
GeForce RTX 309022-48%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti13-69%

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 7870 (GHz Edition) orGeForce RTX 4090
GPUCost Per Frame
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti30.69-19%
Radeon RX 7900 XTX31.22-18%
GeForce RTX 409038.07
GeForce RTX 309068.14+79%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
6,1946% of 104,598
GeForce RTX 40901,589% better
104,598Best Performance

The GeForce RTX 4090 has 1,589% better performance than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) is ranked 226th with a score of 6,194, and the GeForce RTX 4090 is ranked 1st with a score of 104,598.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
17.7511% of 161.45
GeForce RTX 4090269% better
65.4141% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 4090 has 269% better value for the money than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) is ranked 90th with a performance per dollar of 17.75, and the GeForce RTX 4090 is ranked 49th with a performance per dollar of 65.41.

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 7870 (GHz Edition) or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce RTX 4090104,598+1,589%
GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER87,055+1,305%
GeForce RTX 408086,267+1,293%
Radeon RX 7900 XTX83,322+1,245%
Radeon RX 7900 XT75,896+1,125%
GeForce GTX 7607,962+29%
Radeon HD 79707,770+25%
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)6,194
GeForce GTX 750 Ti5,378-13%
GeForce GTX 4805,014-19%

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 7870 (GHz Edition) or

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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
36,836
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
30,977
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
--
260,357
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
--
73,447
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
--
209,337
3DMark 11 Performance Score
6,190
63,861
(+931.68%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
120.1
326.7
(+172.02%)
PassMark G3D Mark
4,634
38,576
(+732.46%)
PassMark G2D Mark
586
1,301
(+122.01%)
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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
CodenamePitcairnAD102
ArchitectureGCN 1.0Ada Lovelace
Process Size28 nm5 nm
Transistors2,800 million76,300 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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
Memory Size2 GB24 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR6X
Memory Bandwidth153.6 Gb/s1.01 Tb/s
Memory Clock1,200 MHz1,313 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit384 bit
L1 Cache16 KB128 KB
L2 Cache512 KB72 MB

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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
Slots2 slots3 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)175 W450 W
Suggested PSU450 W850 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin1x 16-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 1.4a, mini-DisplayPort 1.2HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a

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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
Stream Processors (SP)1,280--
CUDA Cores--16,384
Compute Units (CU)20--
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)--128
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)80512
Render Output Units (ROP)32176
Tensor Cores--512
Ray Tracing Cores--128
Core Clock Speed1,000 MHz2,235 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)--2,520 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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
Pixel Fill Rate32 GPixel/s443.5 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate80 GTexel/s1,290 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance2.56 TFLOPS82.58 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance160 GFLOPS1,290 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 7870 (GHz Edition)GeForce RTX 4090
DirectX12 (11_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
OpenCL2.1 (1.2)3.0
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.5 (5.1)6.8

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