Radeon HD 7870 vs Radeon RX 540
If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon RX 540, 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 RX 540, check out specs charts below.
Radeon RX 540 is a Laptop Graphics Card
Note: Radeon RX 540 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 RX 540 here:
Main Specs
Radeon HD 7870
Radeon RX 540
Power consumption (TDP)
175 Watt
65 Watt
Interface
PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors
1x 6-pin
Memory type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount
2 GB
4 GB
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Radeon HD 7870 has 169% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 540.
Radeon RX 540 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870.
Radeon HD 7870 is used in Desktops, and Radeon RX 540 - in Laptops.
Radeon HD 7870 is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon RX 540 - with Polaris.
Radeon HD 7870 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 540 - by 14 nm process technology.
Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 540 is 1200 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870.
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
24−27
14−16
ultra / 1080p
14−16
8−9
QHD / 1440p
9−10
3−4
4K / 2160p
6−7
−
low / 720p
45−50
30−33
medium / 1080p
30−33
18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 66% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
35−40
21−24
ultra / 1080p
30−35
20−22
QHD / 1440p
16−18
6−7
4K / 2160p
10−11
5−6
low / 720p
75−80
45−50
medium / 1080p
40−45
24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Battlefield 5 is 71% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
50−55
45−50
QHD / 1440p
0−1
0−1
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
240−250
200−210
medium / 768p
210−220
170−180
ultra / 1080p
130−140
90−95
QHD / 1440p
100−110
50−55
4K / 2160p
60−65
30−33
high / 768p
180−190
130−140
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 36% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
60−65
55−60
ultra / 1080p
−
35−40
medium / 1080p
55−60
45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 15% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
120−130
100−110
medium / 768p
110−120
90−95
ultra / 1080p
85−90
60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Dota 2 is 26% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
30−33
16−18
ultra / 1080p
27−30
14−16
QHD / 1440p
21−24
−
4K / 2160p
9−10
6−7
low / 720p
60−65
35−40
medium / 1080p
30−35
18−20
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Far Cry 5 is 68% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
35−40
24−27
ultra / 1080p
30−33
18−20
QHD / 1440p
18−20
16−18
low / 720p
130−140
95−100
medium / 1080p
80−85
50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Fortnite is 45% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
40−45
24−27
ultra / 1080p
30−33
18−20
QHD / 1440p
18−20
8−9
4K / 2160p
14−16
−
low / 720p
75−80
50−55
medium / 1080p
45−50
27−30
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Forza Horizon 4 is 65% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
110−120
80−85
medium / 768p
100−110
70−75
high / 1080p
45−50
27−30
ultra / 1080p
20−22
12−14
QHD / 1440p
10−11
2−3
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Grand Theft Auto V is 51% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
14−16
9−10
ultra / 1080p
12−14
7−8
QHD / 1440p
10−12
−
4K / 2160p
4−5
2−3
low / 720p
45−50
27−30
medium / 1080p
21−24
12−14
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Metro Exodus is 66% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
120−130
110−120
ultra / 1080p
−
100−110
medium / 1080p
110−120
100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Minecraft is 9% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
−
21−24
ultra / 1080p
14−16
16−18
low / 720p
75−80
55−60
medium / 1080p
18−20
24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 12% more, than Radeon RX 540.
high / 1080p
16−18
14−16
ultra / 1080p
10−12
9−10
QHD / 1440p
4−5
0−1
4K / 2160p
2−3
−
low / 720p
45−50
27−30
medium / 1080p
24−27
16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 47% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
85−90
50−55
medium / 768p
50−55
30−35
high / 1080p
30−33
18−20
ultra / 1080p
16−18
10−11
4K / 2160p
10−11
8−9
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 62% more, than Radeon RX 540.
low / 768p
90−95
100−105
medium / 768p
60−65
60−65
ultra / 1080p
45−50
30−35
high / 768p
55−60
50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in World of Tanks is 4% more, than Radeon RX 540.
Full Specs
Radeon HD 7870
Radeon RX 540
Architecture
GCN
Polaris
Code name
Pitcairn XT
Polaris 12
Type
Desktop
Laptop
Release date
5 March 2012
21 March 2017
Pipelines
1280
512
Core clock speed
1000 MHz
Boost Clock
1219 MHz
Transistor count
2800 Million
1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology
28 nm
14 nm
Texture fill rate
39.01
Floating-point performance
1,248 gflops
Memory bus width
256 Bit
128 Bit
Memory clock speed
4800 MHz
6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth
96 GB/s
Shared memory
-
-
DirectX
DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1
12.0
Shader Model
5.0
OpenGL
4.6
OpenCL
1.2
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight)
0.39 kh/s
FreeSync
+
Laptop size
large
Eyefinity
+
Decred / DCR (Decred)
0.63 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)
16.6 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash)
145 Sol/s
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