Radeon HD 5870 vs Radeon HD 7970

In this comparison between Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 7970 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 HD 5870 will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 7970 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 5870 Check Price

Radeon HD 7970 Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 5870	Radeon HD 7970
Power consumption (TDP)	188 Watt	300 Watt
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	3 GB
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
	Check Price	Check Price

Radeon HD 7970 has 59% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 5870.
Radeon HD 5870 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7970 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
Radeon HD 7970 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5870.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 5870 is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 7970 - with GCN.
Radeon HD 5870 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7970 - by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon HD 5870 is 8 mm longer, than Radeon HD 7970.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 5870 is 3425 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7970.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	10−12	35−40
ultra / 1080p	6−7	21−24
QHD / 1440p	1−2	16−18
4K / 2160p	−	10−11
low / 720p	24−27	60−65
medium / 1080p	14−16	40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 227% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	18−20	55−60
ultra / 1080p	16−18	45−50
QHD / 1440p	1−2	35−40
4K / 2160p	−	18−20
low / 720p	35−40	100−110
medium / 1080p	20−22	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Battlefield 5 is 226% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	45−50	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	180−190	250−260
medium / 768p	150−160	220−230
ultra / 1080p	75−80	180−190
QHD / 1440p	45−50	110−120
4K / 2160p	30−33	70−75
high / 768p	110−120	210−220
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 75% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	30−35	−
medium / 1080p	45−50	55−60
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 15% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	95−100	120−130
medium / 768p	80−85	110−120
ultra / 1080p	50−55	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Dota 2 is 49% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	12−14	45−50
ultra / 1080p	12−14	40−45
QHD / 1440p	−	27−30
4K / 2160p	5−6	14−16
low / 720p	30−33	80−85
medium / 1080p	14−16	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Far Cry 5 is 213% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	20−22	60−65
ultra / 1080p	14−16	45−50
QHD / 1440p	−	27−30
4K / 2160p	−	27−30
low / 720p	80−85	180−190
medium / 1080p	35−40	110−120
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Fortnite is 161% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	18−20	60−65
ultra / 1080p	16−18	45−50
QHD / 1440p	5−6	30−35
4K / 2160p	−	24−27
low / 720p	40−45	100−110
medium / 1080p	21−24	65−70
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Forza Horizon 4 is 200% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	70−75	140−150
medium / 768p	60−65	120−130
high / 1080p	21−24	70−75
ultra / 1080p	9−10	30−35
QHD / 1440p	0−1	21−24
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Grand Theft Auto V is 126% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	7−8	24−27
ultra / 1080p	5−6	20−22
QHD / 1440p	−	16−18
4K / 2160p	1−2	8−9
low / 720p	21−24	65−70
medium / 1080p	10−11	30−35
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Metro Exodus is 244% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	100−110	130−140
ultra / 1080p	95−100	−
medium / 1080p	100−110	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Minecraft is 23% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	20−22	−
ultra / 1080p	16−18	14−16
low / 720p	45−50	100−110
medium / 1080p	21−24	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 58% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
high / 1080p	12−14	24−27
ultra / 1080p	8−9	16−18
QHD / 1440p	0−1	10−11
4K / 2160p	−	7−8
low / 720p	21−24	65−70
medium / 1080p	14−16	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 157% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	40−45	130−140
medium / 768p	24−27	85−90
high / 1080p	14−16	45−50
ultra / 1080p	9−10	24−27
4K / 2160p	7−8	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 210% more, than Radeon HD 5870.
low / 768p	95−100	90−95
medium / 768p	55−60	60−65
ultra / 1080p	27−30	50−55
high / 768p	45−50	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in World of Tanks is 17% more, than Radeon HD 5870.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 5870	Radeon HD 7970
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN
Code name	Cypress	Tahiti XT
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	23 September 2009	22 December 2011
Pipelines	1600	2048
Core clock speed	850 MHz
Boost Clock		925 MHz
Transistor count	2,154 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate	68.00	118.4
Floating-point performance	2,720.0 gflops	3,789 gflops
Length	282 mm	274 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	4800 MHz	1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	264 GB/s
Shared memory		-
DirectX	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.0	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	N/A
FreeSync		+
Bus support		PCIe 2.1 x16
HDMI		+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)		485 Mh/s
Eyefinity		+
Design		reference
CrossFire		+
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)		20.71 Mh/s
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Radeon HD 5870 vs Radeon HD 7970

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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