GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon HD 7870 XT
If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 7870 XT, 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 GeForce GTX 970 stacks up against Radeon HD 7870 XT, check out specs charts below.
Radeon HD 7870 XT
Main Specs
GeForce GTX 970
Radeon HD 7870 XT
Power consumption (TDP)
148 Watt
185 Watt
Interface
PCIe 3.0 x16
PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors
2x 6-pins
2x 6-pin
Memory type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount
4 GB
2 GB
Display Connectors
1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Recommended system power (PSU)
500 Watt
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Radeon HD 7870 XT has 25% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 970.
Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
GeForce GTX 970 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
GeForce GTX 970 is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - with GCN 1.0.
Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 970 is 125 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 7870 XT are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
Radeon HD 7870 XT is 257 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 970.
Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 5993 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 970.
Game benchmarks
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Battlefield 5
Call of Duty: Warzone
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Cyberpunk 2077
Dota 2
Far Cry 5
Fortnite
Forza Horizon 4
Grand Theft Auto V
Metro Exodus
Minecraft
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
Red Dead Redemption 2
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
World of Tanks
high / 1080p
50−55
35−40
ultra / 1080p
30−35
21−24
QHD / 1440p
27−30
16−18
4K / 2160p
14−16
10−11
low / 720p
75−80
60−65
medium / 1080p
60−65
40−45
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 37% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p
75−80
55−60
ultra / 1080p
70−75
45−50
QHD / 1440p
50−55
35−40
4K / 2160p
27−30
18−20
low / 720p
130−140
100−110
medium / 1080p
85−90
60−65
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Battlefield 5 is 38% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
45−50
50−55
QHD / 1440p
45−50
0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than GeForce GTX 970.
low / 768p
250−260
250−260
medium / 768p
230−240
220−230
ultra / 1080p
−
180−190
QHD / 1440p
150−160
110−120
4K / 2160p
100−110
70−75
high / 768p
220−230
210−220
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 10% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
70−75
60−65
medium / 1080p
50−55
55−60
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 3% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
120−130
120−130
medium / 768p
110−120
110−120
ultra / 1080p
110−120
100−110
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Dota 2 is 2% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p
60−65
45−50
ultra / 1080p
60−65
40−45
QHD / 1440p
40−45
27−30
4K / 2160p
21−24
14−16
low / 720p
100−110
80−85
medium / 1080p
65−70
45−50
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Far Cry 5 is 39% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p
90−95
60−65
ultra / 1080p
70−75
45−50
QHD / 1440p
45−50
27−30
4K / 2160p
21−24
27−30
low / 720p
220−230
180−190
medium / 1080p
140−150
110−120
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Fortnite is 29% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p
85−90
60−65
ultra / 1080p
65−70
45−50
QHD / 1440p
45−50
30−35
4K / 2160p
30−35
24−27
low / 720p
130−140
100−110
medium / 1080p
90−95
65−70
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Forza Horizon 4 is 37% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
160−170
140−150
medium / 768p
150−160
120−130
high / 1080p
95−100
70−75
ultra / 1080p
45−50
30−35
QHD / 1440p
40−45
21−24
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Grand Theft Auto V is 27% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p
35−40
24−27
ultra / 1080p
30−35
20−22
QHD / 1440p
24−27
16−18
4K / 2160p
14−16
8−9
low / 720p
95−100
65−70
medium / 1080p
50−55
30−35
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Metro Exodus is 53% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
120−130
130−140
medium / 1080p
−
120−130
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Minecraft is 8% more, than GeForce GTX 970.
high / 1080p
75−80
−
ultra / 1080p
55−60
14−16
4K / 2160p
18−20
−
low / 720p
120−130
100−110
medium / 1080p
85−90
18−20
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 95% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
high / 1080p
35−40
24−27
ultra / 1080p
24−27
16−18
QHD / 1440p
16−18
10−11
4K / 2160p
10−12
7−8
low / 720p
90−95
65−70
medium / 1080p
55−60
35−40
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 48% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
180−190
130−140
medium / 768p
120−130
85−90
high / 1080p
70−75
45−50
ultra / 1080p
40−45
24−27
4K / 2160p
24−27
16−18
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 45% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
low / 768p
120−130
90−95
medium / 768p
−
60−65
ultra / 1080p
65−70
50−55
high / 768p
−
60−65
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in World of Tanks is 33% more, than Radeon HD 7870 XT.
Full Specs
GeForce GTX 970
Radeon HD 7870 XT
Architecture
Maxwell
GCN 1.0
Code name
GM204
Tahiti
Type
Desktop
Desktop
Release date
19 September 2014
19 November 2012
Pipelines
1664
1536
Core clock speed
1050 MHz
925 MHz
Boost Clock
1178 MHz
975 MHz
Transistor count
5,200 million
4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology
28 nm
28 nm
Texture fill rate
109 billion/sec
93.60
Floating-point performance
3,920 gflops
2,995 gflops
Length
10.5" (26.7 cm)
267 mm
Memory bus width
256 Bit
256 Bit
Memory clock speed
7.0 GB/s
6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth
224 GB/s
192.0 GB/s
Shared memory
-
G-SYNC support
+
DirectX
12 (12_1)
12 (11_1)
Shader Model
6.4
5.1
OpenGL
4.4
4.6
OpenCL
1.2
1.2
Vulkan
1.1.126
1.2.131
CUDA
+
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)
0.48 kh/s
CUDA cores
1664
Bus support
PCI Express 3.0
Height
4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options
+
Multi monitor support
4 displays
HDCP
+
Maximum VGA resolution
2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI
Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)
478 Mh/s
346 Mh/s
Decred / DCR (Decred)
1.51 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)
22.21 Mh/s
14.5 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)
291.61 Sol/s
GameStream
+
GeForce ShadowPlay
+
GPU Boost
2.0
GameWorks
+
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