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AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT

AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT in 2025: Nostalgia or Relevance?

Analysis of architecture, performance, and practical value in modern conditions

1. Architecture and Key Features

Foundation: Graphics Core Next (GCN 1.0)

The AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT, released in 2013, is based on the first-generation Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. This was a revolutionary platform for its time, bringing support for DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.2, and OpenCL 1.2. The card is manufactured using a 28nm process technology, which looks outdated in 2025 compared to the 5nm and 6nm chips of contemporary GPUs.

Unique Features of the Era

The HD 7870 XT does not support ray tracing (RTX) or similar AMD technologies (RDNA 2/3), nor does it have features like FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which emerged later. However, it did come with:

- PowerTune — dynamic power management;

- ZeroCore — reduced power consumption during idle;

- Eyefinity — multi-monitor display output.

These features were cutting-edge in 2013, but today they fall short of modern standards.

2. Memory: Specifications and Impact on Performance

Type and Size: GDDR5 and 2GB

The graphics card is equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus. The bandwidth is 153.6 GB/s. This was sufficient for Full HD gaming at the time, but by 2025, 2GB is critically low even for basic tasks. Modern titles like Cyberpunk 2077 or Starfield require a minimum of 4-6GB of VRAM.

Issues:

- High risk of VRAM exhaustion in games and applications;

- Limited handling of high-resolution textures.

3. Gaming Performance: What to Expect in 2025?

Full HD (1080p): Basic Level

In undemanding games like CS:GO 2 or Dota 2, the HD 7870 XT can deliver 60-80 FPS on medium settings. However, in AAA titles, the situation is different:

- Elden Ring: 25-30 FPS on low settings;

- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare V: 20-25 FPS with frequent drops.

1440p and 4K: Unrealistic Expectations

The card is not designed for resolutions higher than 1080p. Even when using FSR (which is not officially supported), comfortable gameplay is unlikely.

Ray Tracing: Lack of Support

The HD 7870 XT lacks hardware blocks for RT calculations. Any attempts to enable ray tracing (via third-party mods) result in FPS drops to 5-10 frames.

4. Professional Tasks: Limited Capabilities

Video Editing and 3D Modeling

The card supports OpenCL 1.2, allowing its use in programs like Blender or Adobe Premiere Pro, but the performance will lag behind modern integrated solutions. For instance, rendering a scene in Blender will take 3-4 times longer than on an NVIDIA GTX 1660.

Scientific Calculations

The absence of specialized cores (like CUDA on NVIDIA) and the outdated architecture make the HD 7870 XT unsuitable for serious computation. It is not suitable for machine learning or neural network tasks.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Dissipation

TDP and System Requirements

The TDP of the graphics card is 185W. For stable operation, a 500W power supply with an 8-pin connector is recommended.

Cooling and Cases

The standard dual-slot cooler handles cooling sufficiently, but under load, noise levels can reach 40-45 dB. For comfort, a case with good ventilation (2-3 fans for intake/exhaust) is preferable.

6. Comparison with Competitors

Retro Competitors: NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti

In 2013, HD 7870 XT competed with the GTX 660 Ti, outperforming it by 10-15% in most games. Today both cards are outdated, but the GTX 660 Ti has the advantage of more VRAM (3GB vs. 2GB).

Modern Analogues: Budget Segment in 2025

In 2025, the HD 7870 XT can be compared to budget models like the AMD Radeon RX 6400 ($100-120) or Intel Arc A310 ($90-110). These cards support modern APIs (DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.3), have 4-6GB of memory, and lower power consumption.

7. Practical Tips

Power Supply and Compatibility

- PSU: Minimum 500W (e.g., Corsair CV550);

- Platform: Compatible with motherboards that support PCIe 3.0. It works in backward compatibility on PCIe 4.0/5.0.

Drivers: Caution Needed

Official driver support from AMD ended in 2020. For use in 2025, modified drivers (e.g., from the AMDGPU community) can be utilized, but stability is not guaranteed.

8. Pros and Cons

Advantages:

- Low price on the second-hand market ($20-40);

- Support for multi-monitor setups (Eyefinity);

- Sufficient for office tasks and older games.

Disadvantages:

- Insufficient VRAM for modern games;

- Lack of support for ray tracing and FSR;

- High power consumption relative to performance.

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the HD 7870 XT For?

This graphics card is a relic of the past that can find use in the following scenarios:

1. Budget Upgrade for Old PCs: If you have a system based on a 2nd-3rd generation Core i5 and need to run undemanding projects like GTA V or Skyrim.

2. Backup Solution: As a temporary replacement for a failed card.

3. Retro Hardware Enthusiasts: For collecting or experimenting with modding.

However, for most users in 2025, it makes more sense to choose a modern budget model (e.g., RX 6400 or Intel Arc A310). They offer better performance, support for new technologies, and energy savings.

Conclusion

The AMD Radeon HD 7870 XT is a symbol of an era when 28nm and GCN set the tone. Today, its relevance is close to zero, but it can still be useful for niche tasks. Remember: even budget newcomers of 2025 will leave it far behind.

Basic

Label Name

AMD

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

November 2012

Model Name

Radeon HD 7870 XT

Generation

Southern Islands

Base Clock

925MHz

Boost Clock

975MHz

Bus Interface

PCIe 3.0 x16

Transistors

4,313 million

Compute Units

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

TSMC

Process Size

28 nm

Architecture

GCN 1.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

2GB

Memory Type

GDDR5

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

256bit

Memory Clock

1500MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

192.0 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

31.20 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

93.60 GTexel/s

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

748.8 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

2.935 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

1536

L1 Cache

16 KB (per CU)

L2 Cache

512KB

TDP

185W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.2

OpenCL Version

1.2

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (11_1)

Power Connectors

2x 6-pin

Shader Model

5.1

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Suggested PSU

450W

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

2.935 TFLOPS

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

FirePro W7100

3.231 +10.1%

Radeon RX 6300

3.07 +4.6%

Radeon HD 7870 XT

2.935

Quadro T1200 Mobile

2.86 -2.6%

GeForce MX550

2.757 -6.1%