Radeon HD 7870M vs Radeon RX 560X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 7870M and Radeon RX 560X, 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 7870M stacks up against Radeon RX 560X, check out specs charts below.

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 7870M Radeon RX 560X
Power consumption (TDP) 45 Watt 75 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon RX 560X has 66% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon HD 7870M is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon RX 560X uses PCIe 3.0 x8 interface.
  • Radeon RX 560X has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon HD 7870M is used in Laptops, and Radeon RX 560X - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 7870M is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon RX 560X - with GCN 4.0.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon RX 560X is 375 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon HD 7870M is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 560X - by 14 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 560X is 3000 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 6−7 18−20
ultra / 1080p 4−5 10−11
QHD / 1440p 0−1 4−5
4K / 2160p 4−5
low / 720p 16−18 35−40
medium / 1080p 8−9 21−24
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 560X in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 144% more, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 7870M Radeon RX 560X
Architecture GCN GCN 4.0
Code name Heathrow XT Polaris 21
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 24 April 2012 11 April 2018
Pipelines 640 1024
Core clock speed 800 MHz 1175 MHz
Boost Clock 1275 MHz
Transistor count 1,500 million 3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 32.00 81.60
Floating-point performance 1,024 gflops 2,611 gflops
Length 170 mm
Memory bus width 128 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4000 MHz 7000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 64 GB/s 112.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_1) 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 5.1 6.4
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan 1.2.131 1.2.131
Laptop size large
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