The AMD HD7870 is an interesting proposition for AMD to make in an already bulging graphics card market. Throughout the majority of the benchmarks we have run today, it soundly beat the reference NVIDIA GTX570 which translates to HD6970 performance, AMD's last gen single core flaghip model. So if you were thinking of 'upgrading' from the HD6950/70 platform then quite simply, you are unlikely to notice and discernible difference in raw performance between those cards and the HD7870 we have reviewed today. AMD however argue that the HD7870 is not the spiritual successor to the HD6970. You see AMD historically work on a biennial life cycle with enthusiasts at this price point expected to replace their cards every couple of years so AMD would have you believe this is the HD5870's direct replacement which going from today's HD7870's performance, would certainly make the card a worthy upgrade.
The fly in the ointment of course are the recent aggressive price cuts of AMD's direct competitor which makes the HD7870 a difficult proposition to recommend when for a little more cash, NVIDIA's last gen flagship, the GTX580 1.5GB would make more sense. If however AMD's support and features appeal, the HD7870 comes recommended. It does however suffer from the same Achilles heal of the HD7900 range; the inflated price and the same impairment of the HD7700 cards; same performance of the last generation. At this highly competitive segment in the GPU market, bang per buck means everything and this is where the HD7870, at least at its current price of around £275, makes recommending it over other offerings very difficult.
The HD7870 is far from being a bad card, it clearly isn't however, like its bigger brother, it needs a price cut to be truly competitive against some very strong competition. A worthy upgrade from the HD5870 it is and it soundly beats the GTX570 on most bases but those upgrading from a high end card from the previous generation such as NVIDIA's 5 series or AMD's 6900 family might find the upgrade does not give them the large boost in performance they were hoping for.
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to AMD for providing today’s review sample.
The fly in the ointment of course are the recent aggressive price cuts of AMD's direct competitor which makes the HD7870 a difficult proposition to recommend when for a little more cash, NVIDIA's last gen flagship, the GTX580 1.5GB would make more sense. If however AMD's support and features appeal, the HD7870 comes recommended. It does however suffer from the same Achilles heal of the HD7900 range; the inflated price and the same impairment of the HD7700 cards; same performance of the last generation. At this highly competitive segment in the GPU market, bang per buck means everything and this is where the HD7870, at least at its current price of around £275, makes recommending it over other offerings very difficult.
The HD7870 is far from being a bad card, it clearly isn't however, like its bigger brother, it needs a price cut to be truly competitive against some very strong competition. A worthy upgrade from the HD5870 it is and it soundly beats the GTX570 on most bases but those upgrading from a high end card from the previous generation such as NVIDIA's 5 series or AMD's 6900 family might find the upgrade does not give them the large boost in performance they were hoping for.
Pros:
- Good Overclocking
- Feature Packed
- Very cool running
- Low Power consumption
Cons:
- Could be cheaper in comparison to performance
- Good Overclocking
- Feature Packed
- Very cool running
- Low Power consumption
Cons:
- Could be cheaper in comparison to performance
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to AMD for providing today’s review sample.