GeForce GTX 590 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

When choosing between GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 7870 XT, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 7870 XT.

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 590 Radeon HD 7870 XT
Power consumption (TDP) 365 Watt 185 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors Two 8-pin 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) 2 GB
Display Connectors 3x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • GeForce GTX 590 has 97% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
  • GeForce GTX 590 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7870 XT uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 590 has 3070 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 590 is build with Fermi architecture, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - with GCN 1.0.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 590 is 290 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
  • GeForce GTX 590 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Radeon HD 7870 XT is 256 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 590.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 4293 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 590.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 16−18 35−40
ultra / 1080p 10−11 21−24
QHD / 1440p 4−5 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 35−40 60−65
medium / 1080p 21−24 40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than GeForce GTX 590.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 590 Radeon HD 7870 XT
Architecture Fermi GCN 1.0
Code name GF110 Tahiti
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 24 March 2011 19 November 2012
Pipelines 1024 1536
Core clock speed 1215 MHz 925 MHz
Boost Clock 975 MHz
Transistor count 3,000 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 77.7 billion/sec 93.60
Floating-point performance 2x 1,244.2 gflops 2,995 gflops
Length 11" (280 mm) (27.9 cm) 267 mm
Memory bus width 768-bit (384-bit per GPU) 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1707 MHz 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 327.7 GB/s 192.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.2 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1024
Bus support 16x PCI-E 2.0
Height 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
HDMI +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 107 Mh/s 346 Mh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 14.5 Mh/s
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