Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon HD 7770

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon HD 7770 FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon HD 7770: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

Radeon HD 6870

2010

Why buy it

✅93.6% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

❌2010 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌
50.3% HIGHER MSRP
$239 MSRPvs$159 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 9.2 vs 13.7 G3D/$ ($239 MSRP vs $159 MSRP).
❌88.8% higher power demand at 151W vs 80W.
❌17.6% longer card at 247mm vs 210mm.

Radeon HD 7770

2012

Why buy it

✅Costs $80 less on MSRP ($159 MSRP vs $239 MSRP).
✅Delivers 48.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 13.7 vs 9.2 G3D/$ ($159 MSRP vs $239 MSRP).
✅Draws 80W instead of 151W, a 71W reduction.
✅Measures 210mm instead of 247mm, a 37mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 6870 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2012 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 6870 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 93.6% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 1.5% in PassMark G3D (2,206 vs 2,173), so the answer here is pretty clean.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

Radeon HD 6870 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Radeon HD 7770 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $80 cheaper on MSRP at $159 vs $239, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 48.1% (13.7 vs 9.2), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon HD 7770 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Radeon HD 6870 has the stronger long-term case.

Radeon HD 6870 vs Radeon HD 7770 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

Radeon HD 6870

The Radeon HD 6870 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in October 21 2010. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The boost clock speed is 900 MHz. It has 1120 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 151W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 2,206 points. Launch price was $239.

Radeon HD 7770

The Radeon HD 7770 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in February 15 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 1000 MHz. It has 640 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 80W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 2,173 points. Launch price was $159.

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Graphics Performance

The Radeon HD 6870 scores 2,206 and the Radeon HD 7770 reaches 2,173 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.5% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Radeon HD 6870 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon HD 7770 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 1,120 (Radeon HD 6870) vs 640 (Radeon HD 7770). Raw compute: 2.016 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 6870) vs 1.28 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 7770).

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
G3D Mark Score	2,206+2%	2,173
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 1.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	1120+75%	640
Compute (TFLOPS)	2.016 TFLOPS+57%	1.28 TFLOPS
ROPs	32+100%	16
TMUs	56+40%	40
L1 Cache	224 KB+40%	160 KB
L2 Cache	512 KB+100%	256 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 2 GB of GDDR5. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Radeon HD 6870 and 128-bit on the Radeon HD 7770. L2 Cache: 512 KB (Radeon HD 6870) vs 256 KB (Radeon HD 7770) — the Radeon HD 6870 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	72 GB/s
Bus Width	128-bit	128-bit
L2 Cache	512 KB+100%	256 KB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (Radeon HD 6870) vs 12_0 (Radeon HD 7770). Maximum simultaneous displays: 6 vs 4.

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
DirectX	11.0	12_0+9%
Max Displays	6+50%	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: None (Radeon HD 6870) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 7770). Decoder: UVD 3.0 vs UVD 3.1. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,VC-1,H.264,MPEG-4,MVC (Radeon HD 6870) vs H.264 (Radeon HD 7770).

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
Encoder	None	VCE 1.0
Decoder	UVD 3.0	UVD 3.1
Codecs	MPEG-2,VC-1,H.264,MPEG-4,MVC	H.264

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Radeon HD 6870 draws 151W versus the Radeon HD 7770's 80W — a 61.5% difference. The Radeon HD 7770 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (Radeon HD 6870) vs 450W (Radeon HD 7770). Power connectors: 2x 6-pin vs 1x 6-pin. Card length: 247mm vs 210mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots.

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
TDP	151W	80W-47%
Recommended PSU	500W	450W-10%
Power Connector	2x 6-pin	1x 6-pin
Length	247mm	210mm
Height	111mm	—
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	85	—
Perf/Watt	14.6	27.2+86%

💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the Radeon HD 6870 came in at $239, while the Radeon HD 7770 launched at $159. On MSRP, Radeon HD 7770 was 33.5% cheaper ($80 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 9.2 (Radeon HD 6870) vs 13.7 (Radeon HD 7770) — the Radeon HD 7770 offers 48.9% better value. The newer card here is Radeon HD 7770 (2012 vs 2010).

Feature	Radeon HD 6870	Radeon HD 7770
MSRP	$239	$159-33%
Performance per Dollar	9.2	13.7+49%
Codename	Barts	Cape Verde
Release	October 21 2010	February 15 2012
Ranking	#661	#664

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