Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs HD 7870 XT
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon RX 580 2048SP, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
RX 580 2048SP outperforms HD 7870 XT by an impressive 72% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 422 | 287 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 50 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 3.52 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.33 | 9.17 |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2011−2020) | GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) |
| GPU code name | Tahiti | Polaris 20 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 19 November 2012 (12 years ago) | 15 October 2018 (6 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $270 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
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 | 1536 | 2048 |
| Core clock speed | 925 MHz | 1168 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 975 MHz | 1284 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 4,313 million | 5,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 185 Watt | 150 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 93.60 | 164.4 |
| Floating-point processing power | 2.995 TFLOPS | 5.259 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 |
| TMUs | 96 | 128 |
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).
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 267 mm | 241 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | 1x 8-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 | 2 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1500 MHz | 1750 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 224.0 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 Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort |
| HDMI | + | + |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 (12_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 6.4 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | 1.2.131 |
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.
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.
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 | 11.26 | 19.32 |
| Recency | 19 November 2012 | 15 October 2018 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 8 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 185 Watt | 150 Watt |
RX 580 2048SP has a 71.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 23.3% lower power consumption.
The Radeon RX 580 2048SP is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
