Radeon 550X vs Radeon HD 7870M

In this comparison between Radeon 550X and Radeon HD 7870M you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people Radeon 550X will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 7870M will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 7870M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 7870M is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Radeon HD 7870M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon 550X Radeon HD 7870M
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt 45 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon 550X has 11% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon 550X is connected by PCIe 3.0 x8, and Radeon HD 7870M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon 550X and Radeon HD 7870M have maximum RAM of 2 GB.
  • Radeon 550X is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 7870M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon 550X is build with GCN 4.0 architecture, and Radeon HD 7870M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon 550X is 282 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon 550X is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7870M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon 550X is 3000 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 7−8 6−7
ultra / 1080p 4−5 4−5
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 16−18 16−18
medium / 1080p 9−10 8−9
Radeon 550X and Radeon HD 7870M have the same average FPS in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Full Specs

  Radeon 550X Radeon HD 7870M
Architecture GCN 4.0 GCN
Code name Lexa Heathrow XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 27 March 2019 24 April 2012
Pipelines 512 640
Core clock speed 1082 MHz 800 MHz
Boost Clock 1218 MHz
Transistor count 2,200 million 1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 38.98 32.00
Floating-point performance 1,024 gflops
Length 145 mm
Memory bus width 128 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 7000 MHz 4000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 112.0 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (12_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 6.4 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 2.0 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131 1.2.131
Laptop size large
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