Radeon HD 7870 vs RX Vega M GL

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon RX Vega M GL with Radeon HD 7870, including specs and performance data.

RX Vega M GL
2018
4 GB HBM2, 65 Watt
9.90

HD 7870 outperforms RX Vega M GL by a significant 21% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking455407
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data3.00
Power efficiency10.444.70
ArchitectureGCN 4.0 (2016−2020)GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code namePolaris 22Pitcairn
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date1 February 2018 (6 years ago)5 March 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$349

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores12801280
Core clock speed931 MHz1000 MHz
Boost clock speed1011 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,000 million2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt175 Watt
Texture fill rate80.8880.00
Floating-point processing power2.588 TFLOPS2.56 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).

InterfaceIGPPCIe 3.0 x16
Lengthno data241 mm
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno data2x 6-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 typeHBM2GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width1024 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed700 MHz1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth179.2 GB/s153.6 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 ConnectorsNo outputs1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity-+
HDMI-+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_0)12 (11_1)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.2.131

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. 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.

RX Vega M GL 9.90
HD 7870 12.01
+21.3%

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.

RX Vega M GL 3815
HD 7870 4626
+21.3%

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:

900p65−70
−29.2%
84
+29.2%
Full HD55−60
−25.5%
69
+25.5%

Cost per frame, $

1080pno data5.06

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
High Preset

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+30%
20
−30%

4K
High Preset

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
−42.9%
10−11
+42.9%

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Hitman 3 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Hitman 3 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+0%
80−85
+0%
Hitman 3 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Hitman 3 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
+0%
75−80
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Hitman 3 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

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

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

This is how RX Vega M GL and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

  • HD 7870 is 29% faster in 900p
  • HD 7870 is 25% faster in 1080p

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX Vega M GL is 30% faster.
  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 43% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • RX Vega M GL is ahead in 1 test (1%)
  • HD 7870 is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
  • there's a draw in 69 tests (96%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.90 12.01
Recency 1 February 2018 5 March 2012
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 14 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 65 Watt 175 Watt

RX Vega M GL has an age advantage of 5 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 169.2% lower power consumption.

HD 7870, on the other hand, has a 21.3% higher aggregate performance score.

The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega M GL in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX Vega M GL is a notebook card while Radeon HD 7870 is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL
Radeon RX Vega M GL
AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870

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.


3.2 22 votes

Rate Radeon RX Vega M GL on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.7 642 votes

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

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Questions & comments

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