ATI Radeon HD 3870 vs GeForce 7800 GTX

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce 7800 GTX and Radeon HD 3870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

7800 GTX
2005
256 MB GDDR3, 86 Watt
0.75

ATI HD 3870 outperforms 7800 GTX by an impressive 92% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking1152991
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data0.04
Power efficiency0.610.94
ArchitectureCurie (2003−2013)TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code nameG70RV670
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date22 June 2005 (19 years ago)19 November 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$599 $269

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

7800 GTX and ATI HD 3870 have a nearly equal value for money.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA coresno data320
Core clock speed430 MHz777 MHz
Number of transistors302 million666 million
Manufacturing process technology110 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)86 Watt106 Watt
Texture fill rate10.3212.43
Floating-point processing powerno data0.4973 TFLOPS
ROPs1616
TMUs2416

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).

InterfacePCIe 1.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length228 mm241 mm
Width1-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno data1x 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 typeGDDR3GDDR4
Maximum RAM amount256 MB512 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed600 MHz1126 MHz
Memory bandwidth38.4 GB/s72.06 GB/s

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x S-Video2x DVI, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX9.0c (9_3)10.1 (10_1)
Shader Model3.04.1
OpenGL2.13.3
OpenCLN/AN/A
VulkanN/AN/A

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark 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.

7800 GTX 0.75
ATI HD 3870 1.44
+92%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

7800 GTX 290
ATI HD 3870 555
+91.4%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.75 1.44
Recency 22 June 2005 19 November 2007
Maximum RAM amount 256 MB 512 MB
Chip lithography 110 nm 55 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 86 Watt 106 Watt

7800 GTX has 23.3% lower power consumption.

ATI HD 3870, on the other hand, has a 92% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon HD 3870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 7800 GTX in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX
GeForce 7800 GTX
ATI Radeon HD 3870
Radeon HD 3870

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


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Questions & comments

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