NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 vs AMD Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 1070298% better
24,65224% of 104,598
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
6,1946% of 104,598

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 298% better performance than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 1070266% better
65.0440% of 161.45
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
17.7511% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 266% better value for the money than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q2 2016 with a MSRP of $379. It is built on the Pascal GPU microarchitecture (codename GP104) and is manufactured on a 16 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 2,002 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 256.3 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 GTX 1070 includes 1,920 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,506 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,683 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 120 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GTX 1070 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 150 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GTX 1070 has the 95th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 23.57% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 24,652 score and $379 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 65.04. This is the 50th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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.

General Info

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

InfoGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitecturePascalGCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ2 2016Q1 2012
Launch Price (MSRP)$379$349
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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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 Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3
GeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
Low - 720p
141 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
106 FPS
--
High - 1080p
75 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
58 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
40 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
21 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:GeForce GTX 1070 orRadeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)

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:GeForce GTX 1070 orRadeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 1070298% better
24,65224% of 104,598
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
6,1946% of 104,598

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 298% better performance than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 1070 is ranked 95th with a score of 24,652, and the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) is ranked 226th with a score of 6,194.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 1070266% better
65.0440% of 161.45
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
17.7511% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 1070 has 266% better value for the money than the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 1070 is ranked 50th with a performance per dollar of 65.04, and the Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition) is ranked 90th with a performance per dollar of 17.75.

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:GeForce GTX 1070 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti27,503+12%
GeForce RTX 206027,162.5+10%
GeForce GTX 107024,652
Radeon RX 59023,362.5-5%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti23,057-6%
GeForce GTX 7607,962-68%
Radeon HD 79707,770-68%
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)6,194-75%
GeForce GTX 750 Ti5,378-78%
GeForce GTX 4805,014-80%

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:GeForce GTX 1070 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
BenchmarkGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
5,896
--
3DMark Time Spy Score
5,679
--
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
106,934
--
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
18,255
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
19,449
(+214.2%)
6,190
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
136
(+13.24%)
120.1
PassMark G3D Mark
13,500
(+191.32%)
4,634
PassMark G2D Mark
860
(+46.76%)
586
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.

SpecGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
CodenameGP104Pitcairn
ArchitecturePascalGCN 1.0
Process Size16 nm28 nm
Transistors7,200 million2,800 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
Memory Size8 GB2 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth256.3 Gb/s153.6 Gb/s
Memory Clock2,002 MHz1,200 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit256 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache2 MB512 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)150 W175 W
Suggested PSU450 W450 W
Power Connectors1x 8-pin2x 6-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4aDVI, HDMI 1.4a, mini-DisplayPort 1.2

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.

SpecGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
Stream Processors (SP)--1,280
CUDA Cores1,920--
Compute Units (CU)--20
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)15--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)12080
Render Output Units (ROP)6432
Core Clock Speed1,506 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,683 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
Pixel Fill Rate107.7 GPixel/s32 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate202 GTexel/s80 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance6.46 TFLOPS2.56 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance202 GFLOPS160 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 1070Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_1)
OpenCL3.02.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.5 (5.1)

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