Radeon HD 7870 vs Radeon R9 290X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon R9 290X, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the Radeon HD 7870 stacks up against Radeon R9 290X, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 7870 Check Price

Radeon R9 290X Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 7870	Radeon R9 290X
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	250 Watt
Interface		PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors		1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Display Connectors		2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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Radeon R9 290X has 42% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870.
Radeon R9 290X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon R9 290X are build with GCN architecture.
Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon R9 290X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 is 3550 MHz higher, than Radeon R9 290X.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	24−27	35−40
ultra / 1080p	14−16	24−27
QHD / 1440p	9−10	18−20
4K / 2160p	6−7	10−11
low / 720p	45−50	60−65
medium / 1080p	30−33	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 50% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
high / 1080p	35−40	60−65
ultra / 1080p	30−35	50−55
QHD / 1440p	16−18	35−40
4K / 2160p	10−11	18−20
low / 720p	75−80	110−120
medium / 1080p	40−45	65−70
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Battlefield 5 is 63% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
low / 768p	50−55	50−55
QHD / 1440p	0−1	0−1
Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in Call of Duty: Warzone.
low / 768p	240−250	250−260
medium / 768p	210−220	220−230
ultra / 1080p	130−140	190−200
QHD / 1440p	100−110	110−120
4K / 2160p	60−65	70−75
high / 768p	180−190	210−220
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 14% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
low / 768p	60−65	60−65
medium / 1080p	55−60	55−60
Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon R9 290X have the same average FPS in Cyberpunk 2077.
low / 768p	120−130	120−130
medium / 768p	110−120	110−120
ultra / 1080p	85−90	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Dota 2 is 5% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
high / 1080p	30−33	45−50
ultra / 1080p	27−30	45−50
QHD / 1440p	21−24	30−35
4K / 2160p	9−10	16−18
low / 720p	60−65	85−90
medium / 1080p	30−35	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Far Cry 5 is 51% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
high / 1080p	35−40	65−70
ultra / 1080p	30−33	50−55
QHD / 1440p	18−20	30−35
4K / 2160p	−	27−30
low / 720p	130−140	180−190
medium / 1080p	80−85	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Fortnite is 50% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
high / 1080p	40−45	65−70
ultra / 1080p	30−33	45−50
QHD / 1440p	18−20	35−40
4K / 2160p	14−16	24−27
low / 720p	75−80	110−120
medium / 1080p	45−50	70−75
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Forza Horizon 4 is 57% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
low / 768p	110−120	140−150
medium / 768p	100−110	130−140
high / 1080p	45−50	75−80
ultra / 1080p	20−22	30−35
QHD / 1440p	10−11	24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Grand Theft Auto V is 40% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
high / 1080p	14−16	27−30
ultra / 1080p	12−14	21−24
QHD / 1440p	10−12	18−20
4K / 2160p	4−5	9−10
low / 720p	45−50	70−75
medium / 1080p	21−24	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Metro Exodus is 72% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
low / 768p	120−130	130−140
medium / 1080p	110−120	120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Minecraft is 8% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
ultra / 1080p	14−16	14−16
low / 720p	75−80	100−110
medium / 1080p	18−20	18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 24% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
high / 1080p	16−18	27−30
ultra / 1080p	10−12	18−20
QHD / 1440p	4−5	12−14
4K / 2160p	2−3	8−9
low / 720p	45−50	70−75
medium / 1080p	24−27	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 61% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
low / 768p	85−90	140−150
medium / 768p	50−55	90−95
high / 1080p	30−33	50−55
ultra / 1080p	16−18	27−30
4K / 2160p	10−11	16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 71% more, than Radeon HD 7870.
low / 768p	90−95	90−95
medium / 768p	60−65	60−65
ultra / 1080p	45−50	55−60
high / 768p	55−60	−
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 290X in World of Tanks is 4% more, than Radeon HD 7870.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 7870	Radeon R9 290X
Architecture	GCN	GCN
Code name	Pitcairn XT	Hawaii XT
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	5 March 2012	24 October 2013
Pipelines	1280	2816
Core clock speed	1000 MHz
Boost Clock		947 MHz
Transistor count	2800 Million	6,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Texture fill rate		176.0
Floating-point performance		5,632 gflops
Length		275 mm
Memory bus width	256 Bit	512 Bit
Memory clock speed	4800 MHz	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth		320 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-
DirectX	DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1
Shader Model		6.3
OpenGL		4.6
OpenCL		2.0
Vulkan		+
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)	0.39 kh/s	0.76 kh/s
FreeSync		+
Bus support		PCIe 3.0
HDMI		+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)		623 Mh/s
Eyefinity	+	+
HD3D		+
TrueAudio		+
Design		reference
DisplayPort support		+
CrossFire		+
DDMA audio		+
Decred / DCR (Decred)	0.63 Gh/s	1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)	16.6 Mh/s	25.75 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)	145 Sol/s	350 Sol/s
AppAcceleration		+
LiquidVR		+
TressFX		+
UVD		+
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Radeon HD 7870 vs Radeon R9 290X

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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