GeForce GT 220 vs Radeon HD 7870

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 and GeForce GT 220, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
12.01
+2007%

HD 7870 outperforms GT 220 by a whopping 2007% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking4181224
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.00no data
Power efficiency4.700.67
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code namePitcairnGT216
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years ago)12 October 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349 $79.99

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

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

HD 7870 and GT 220 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 cores128048
Core clock speed1000 MHz625 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million486 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt58 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate80.009.840
Floating-point processing power2.56 TFLOPS0.1277 TFLOPS
ROPs328
TMUs8016

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 dataPCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length241 mm168 mm
Heightno data4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinno data

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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz790 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s25.3 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-DisplayPortVGADVIHDMI
Multi monitor supportno data+
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataS/PDIF + HDA

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11.1 (10_1)
Shader Model5.14.1
OpenGL4.63.1
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 12.01
+2007%
GT 220 0.57

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 4617
+2008%
GT 220 219

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:

900p84
+2700%
3−4
−2700%
Full HD66
+214%
21
−214%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.29
−38.8%
3.81
+38.8%
  • GT 220 has 39% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 27−30
+1300%
2−3
−1300%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 27−30
+1300%
2−3
−1300%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+2350%
2−3
−2350%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+3700%
1−2
−3700%
Fortnite 65−70
+2100%
3−4
−2100%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1100%
4−5
−1100%
Forza Horizon 5 30−33
+2900%
1−2
−2900%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+471%
7−8
−471%
Valorant 100−110
+264%
27−30
−264%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 27−30
+1300%
2−3
−1300%
Battlefield 5 45−50
+2350%
2−3
−2350%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 160−170
+865%
16−18
−865%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%
Dota 2 75−80
+600%
10−12
−600%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+3700%
1−2
−3700%
Fortnite 65−70
+2100%
3−4
−2100%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1100%
4−5
−1100%
Forza Horizon 5 30−33
+2900%
1−2
−2900%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+2050%
2−3
−2050%
Metro Exodus 21−24 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+471%
7−8
−471%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 36
+800%
4−5
−800%
Valorant 100−110
+264%
27−30
−264%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+2350%
2−3
−2350%
Counter-Strike 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+1050%
2−3
−1050%
Dota 2 75−80
+600%
10−12
−600%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+3700%
1−2
−3700%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1100%
4−5
−1100%
Forza Horizon 5 30−33
+2900%
1−2
−2900%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+471%
7−8
−471%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+400%
4−5
−400%
Valorant 100−110
+264%
27−30
−264%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 65−70
+2100%
3−4
−2100%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 12−14 0−1
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 85−90
+8400%
1−2
−8400%
Grand Theft Auto V 16−18 0−1
Metro Exodus 12−14 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 65−70
+2133%
3−4
−2133%
Valorant 120−130
+2360%
5−6
−2360%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 30−33
+2900%
1−2
−2900%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11 0−1
Far Cry 5 24−27
+2300%
1−2
−2300%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+2600%
1−2
−2600%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+1600%
1−2
−1600%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27
+2300%
1−2
−2300%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 9−10 0−1
Counter-Strike 2 4−5 0−1
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%
Metro Exodus 7−8 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16 0−1
Valorant 60−65
+1900%
3−4
−1900%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16 0−1
Counter-Strike 2 4−5 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5 0−1
Dota 2 40−45
+4000%
1−2
−4000%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+1100%
1−2
−1100%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20 0−1
Forza Horizon 5 9−10 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%

This is how HD 7870 and GT 220 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 2700% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 214% faster in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 8400% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed GT 220 in all 35 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.01 0.57
Recency 5 March 2012 12 October 2009
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 58 Watt

HD 7870 has a 2007% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

GT 220, on the other hand, has 201.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 220 in performance tests.

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AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
GeForce GT 220

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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


3.7 649 votes

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