GeForce GTX 285 vs Radeon HD 7870

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870 and GeForce GTX 285, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 175 Watt
12.02
+207%

HD 7870 outperforms GTX 285 by a whopping 207% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking403698
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.000.31
Power efficiency4.791.34
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code namePitcairnGT200B
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date5 March 2012 (12 years ago)23 December 2008 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349 $359

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 868% better value for money than GTX 285.

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 cores1280240
Core clock speed1000 MHz648 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million1,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)175 Watt204 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate80.0051.84
Floating-point processing power2.56 TFLOPS0.7085 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs8080

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 2.0 x16
Length241 mm267 mm
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 6-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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit512 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz1242 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/s159.0 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-DisplayPortHDTVTwo Dual Link DVI
Multi monitor supportno data+
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataS/PDIF

Supported technologies

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

High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDRR)no data128bit

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model5.14.0
OpenGL4.62.1
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. 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 12.02
+207%
GTX 285 3.92

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 4638
+207%
GTX 285 1513

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
+211%
27−30
−211%
Full HD68
+224%
21−24
−224%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.1317.10

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+217%
12−14
−217%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+243%
7−8
−243%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+233%
24−27
−233%
Hitman 3 21−24
+229%
7−8
−229%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+256%
18−20
−256%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+233%
12−14
−233%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+225%
12−14
−225%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+229%
21−24
−229%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+217%
12−14
−217%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+243%
7−8
−243%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+233%
24−27
−233%
Hitman 3 21−24
+229%
7−8
−229%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+256%
18−20
−256%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+233%
12−14
−233%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+225%
12−14
−225%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+233%
9−10
−233%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+229%
21−24
−229%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+243%
7−8
−243%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+233%
24−27
−233%
Hitman 3 21−24
+229%
7−8
−229%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+256%
18−20
−256%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+225%
12−14
−225%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20
+233%
6−7
−233%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+229%
21−24
−229%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+230%
10−11
−230%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+229%
7−8
−229%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
+260%
5−6
−260%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+300%
3−4
−300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+225%
4−5
−225%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+250%
4−5
−250%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+222%
18−20
−222%
Hitman 3 14−16
+275%
4−5
−275%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+213%
8−9
−213%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+217%
6−7
−217%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+300%
3−4
−300%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+213%
24−27
−213%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+233%
6−7
−233%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+267%
3−4
−267%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
+350%
2−3
−350%
Hitman 3 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+211%
18−20
−211%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+267%
3−4
−267%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3 0−1
Far Cry 5 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+220%
5−6
−220%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+267%
3−4
−267%

This is how HD 7870 and GTX 285 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 211% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 224% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.02 3.92
Recency 5 March 2012 23 December 2008
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 55 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 204 Watt

HD 7870 has a 206.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 96.4% more advanced lithography process, and 16.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 285 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
Radeon HD 7870
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 285

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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.


3.7 640 votes

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Questions & comments

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