GeForce GTX 590 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

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Radeon HD 7870 XT Radeon HD 7950 Radeon HD 7950 Boost Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition Radeon HD 7950 Monica BIOS 1 Radeon HD 7970 Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Radeon HD 8950 OEM Radeon HD 8970 OEM Radeon R9 280 Radeon R9 280X Radeon R9 280X2
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GTX 560 OEM GTX 560 Ti 448 GTX 570 GTX 570 Rev. 2 GTX 580 GTX 580 Rev. 2 GTX 590

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT and GeForce GTX 590, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
11.48
+33.8%

HD 7870 XT outperforms GTX 590 by a substantial 34% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

HD 7870 XT HD 7870 XT
GTX 590 GTX 590

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking423504
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.590.78
Power efficiency4.331.64
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code nameTahitiGF110
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2012 (12 years ago)24 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 $699

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

HD 7870 XT has 360% better value for money than GTX 590.

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 cores15361024 ×2
Core clock speed925 MHz607 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 million3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Watt365 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data97 °C
Texture fill rate93.6038.91 ×2
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPS1.244 TFLOPS ×2
ROPs3248 ×2
TMUs9664 ×2

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 supportno data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length267 mm279 mm
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 8-pin
SLI options-+

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) ×2
Memory bus width256 Bit768-bit (384-bit per GPU) ×2
Memory clock speed1500 MHz1707 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.0 GB/s327.7 GB/s ×2
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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortThree Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.2
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.2.131N/A
CUDA-+

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.

HD 7870 XT 11.48
+33.8%
GTX 590 8.58

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.

HD 7870 XT 4469
+33.8%
GTX 590 3341

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

HD 7870 XT 6390
GTX 590 6680
+4.5%

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:

900p60−65
+27.7%
47
−27.7%
Full HD140−150
+26.1%
111
−26.1%
1200p140−150
+25%
112
−25%

Cost per frame, $

1080p1.93
+227%
6.30
−227%
  • HD 7870 XT has 227% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Fortnite 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Valorant 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Dota 2 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Fortnite 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Dota 2 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Valorant 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Metro Exodus 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Valorant 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Dota 2 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

This is how HD 7870 XT and GTX 590 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 XT is 28% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 XT is 26% faster in 1080p
  • HD 7870 XT is 25% faster in 1200p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 11.48 8.58
Recency 19 November 2012 24 March 2011
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 185 Watt 365 Watt

HD 7870 XT has a 33.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 97.3% lower power consumption.

GTX 590, on the other hand, has a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The Radeon HD 7870 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 590 in performance tests.

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 590
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Other comparisons

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

HD 7870 XT Radeon HD 7870 XT
vs
R7 370 Radeon R7 370
GTX 590 GeForce GTX 590
vs
GTX 750 GeForce GTX 750
HD 7870 XT Radeon HD 7870 XT
vs
GTX 660 Ti GeForce GTX 660 Ti
HD 7970 AMD HD 7970
vs
Titan X Pascal Pascal
R7 370 AMD R7 370
vs
Titan X Pascal Pascal
R7 360 AMD R7 360
vs
GTX 590 590
R7 260X AMD R7 260X
vs
GTX 590 590
HD 7790 AMD HD 7790
vs
GTX 590 590
HD 6930 AMD HD 6930
vs
GTX 590 590
ATI HD 3450 ATI HD 3450
vs
GTX 950 950
R9 270X AMD R9 270X
vs
Titan X Pascal Pascal
P104-100 P104 100
vs
R9 270X 270X
Sky 500 AMD Sky 500
vs
GTX 660 Ti 660 Ti

Community ratings

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

4 39 votes

Rate Radeon HD 7870 XT on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.8 50 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 590 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
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  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

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