Radeon HD 5870 vs Radeon HD 7870M

When choosing between Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 7870M, 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 Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 7870M.

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 HD 5870 Radeon HD 7870M
Power consumption (TDP) 188 Watt 45 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 5870 has 317% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon HD 5870 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7870M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon HD 7870M has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5870.
  • Radeon HD 5870 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 7870M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 5870 is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 7870M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 5870 is 50 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon HD 5870 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7870M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 5870 is 800 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 6−7
ultra / 1080p 6−7 4−5
QHD / 1440p 1−2 0−1
low / 720p 24−27 16−18
medium / 1080p 14−16 8−9
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 55% more, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 5870 Radeon HD 7870M
Architecture TeraScale 2 GCN
Code name Cypress Heathrow XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 23 September 2009 24 April 2012
Pipelines 1600 640
Core clock speed 850 MHz 800 MHz
Transistor count 2,154 million 1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 68.00 32.00
Floating-point performance 2,720.0 gflops 1,024 gflops
Length 282 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz 4000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 64 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
Laptop size large
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