Radeon HD 6870 vs ATI HD 4870

Place in the ranking	722	602
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.31	0.99
Power efficiency	1.65	2.62
Architecture	TeraScale (2005−2013)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	RV770	Barts
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	no data	reference
Release date	25 June 2008 (16 years ago)	21 October 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$299	$239

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6870 has 219% better value for money than ATI HD 4870.

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 cores	800	1120
Core clock speed	750 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	no data	900 MHz
Number of transistors	956 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	151 Watt
Texture fill rate	30.00	50.40
Floating-point processing power	1.2 TFLOPS	2.016 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	40	56

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).

Bus support	no data	PCIe 2.0 x16
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	250 mm	220 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	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	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	900 MHz	1050 MHz
Memory bandwidth	115.2 GB/s	134.4 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	2x DVI, 1x S-Video	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	-	+
HDMI	-	+

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

CrossFire

API compatibility

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

DirectX	10.1 (10_1)	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	4.1	5.0
OpenGL	3.3	4.4
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	N/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.

ATI HD 4870 3.59

HD 6870 5.75
+60.2%

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.

ATI HD 4870 1380

HD 6870 2209
+60.1%

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	35−40 −74.3%	61 +74.3%
Full HD	35−40 −80%	63 +80%
1200p	24−27 −62.5%	39 +62.5%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

8.54

−125%

3.79
+125%

HD 6870 has 125% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Elden Ring	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Elden Ring	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Fortnite	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Metro Exodus	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
World of Tanks	189 +0%	189 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Elden Ring	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
World of Tanks	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Valorant	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Elden Ring	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Metro Exodus	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Fortnite	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Valorant	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

This is how ATI HD 4870 and HD 6870 compete in popular games:

HD 6870 is 74% faster in 900p
HD 6870 is 80% faster in 1080p
HD 6870 is 63% faster in 1200p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 61 test (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.59	5.75
Recency	25 June 2008	21 October 2010
Chip lithography	55 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	151 Watt

ATI HD 4870 has 0.7% lower power consumption.

HD 6870, on the other hand, has a 60.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 37.5% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon HD 6870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 4870 in performance tests.

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