Radeon RX 7900 GRE vs HD 7870 XT

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 XT and Radeon RX 7900 GRE, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 185 Watt
11.63

RX 7900 GRE outperforms HD 7870 XT by a whopping 501% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking41722
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.6367.09
Power efficiency4.3318.51
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)RDNA 3.0 (2022−2024)
GPU code nameTahitiNavi 31
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 November 2012 (12 years ago)27 July 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$270 $549

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 7900 GRE has 1748% better value for money than HD 7870 XT.

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 cores15365120
Core clock speed925 MHz1287 MHz
Boost clock speed975 MHz2245 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million57,700 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)185 Watt260 Watt
Texture fill rate93.60718.4
Floating-point processing power2.995 TFLOPS45.98 TFLOPS
ROPs32160
TMUs96320
Ray Tracing Coresno data80

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 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Length267 mm276 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount2 GB16 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz2250 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.0 GB/s576.0 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI++

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.8
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.3

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.

HD 7870 XT 11.63
RX 7900 GRE 69.90
+501%

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
RX 7900 GRE 26865
+501%

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
RX 7900 GRE 54610
+755%

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:

Full HD30−35
−597%
209
+597%
1440p21−24
−524%
131
+524%
4K12−14
−575%
81
+575%

Cost per frame, $

1080p9.00
−243%
2.63
+243%
1440p12.86
−207%
4.19
+207%
4K22.50
−232%
6.78
+232%
  • RX 7900 GRE has 243% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RX 7900 GRE has 207% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RX 7900 GRE has 232% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 208
+0%
208
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 92
+0%
92
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 487
+0%
487
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 180−190
+0%
180−190
+0%
Metro Exodus 149
+0%
149
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%
Valorant 350−400
+0%
350−400
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 79
+0%
79
+0%
Dota 2 164
+0%
164
+0%
Far Cry 5 100
+0%
100
+0%
Fortnite 270−280
+0%
270−280
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 403
+0%
403
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 180−190
+0%
180−190
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 164
+0%
164
+0%
Metro Exodus 138
+0%
138
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 210−220
+0%
210−220
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Valorant 350−400
+0%
350−400
+0%
World of Tanks 270−280
+0%
270−280
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 74
+0%
74
+0%
Far Cry 5 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 353
+0%
353
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 180−190
+0%
180−190
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 210−220
+0%
210−220
+0%
Valorant 350−400
+0%
350−400
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Dota 2 130
+0%
130
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 130
+0%
130
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
World of Tanks 450−500
+0%
450−500
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 49
+0%
49
+0%
Far Cry 5 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 252
+0%
252
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Metro Exodus 128
+0%
128
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 156
+0%
156
+0%
Valorant 300−350
+0%
300−350
+0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Dota 2 151
+0%
151
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 151
+0%
151
+0%
Metro Exodus 71
+0%
71
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 200−210
+0%
200−210
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 151
+0%
151
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 22
+0%
22
+0%
Far Cry 5 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Fortnite 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 131
+0%
131
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Valorant 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%

This is how HD 7870 XT and RX 7900 GRE compete in popular games:

  • RX 7900 GRE is 597% faster in 1080p
  • RX 7900 GRE is 524% faster in 1440p
  • RX 7900 GRE is 575% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 62 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.63 69.90
Recency 19 November 2012 27 July 2023
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 16 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 185 Watt 260 Watt

HD 7870 XT has 40.5% lower power consumption.

RX 7900 GRE, on the other hand, has a 501% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 7900 GRE is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT 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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AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT
Radeon HD 7870 XT
AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Radeon RX 7900 GRE

Other comparisons

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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