Because of the complexity and sheer amount of data we have gathered using our Frame Rating performance methodology, we are breaking it up into several articles that each feature different GPU comparisons. Here is the schedule:
- 3/27: Frame Rating Dissected: Full Details on Capture-based Graphics Performance Testing
- 3/27: Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition vs GeForce GTX 680 [Single and Dual GPU]
- 3/30: AMD Radeon HD 7990 vs GeForce GTX 690 vs GeForce GTX Titan
- 4/2: Radeon HD 7950 vs GeForce GTX 660 Ti [Single and Dual GPU]
- 4/5: Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition vs GeForce GTX 660 [Single and Dual GPU]
- PLUS Radeon HD 7850 vs Radeon HD 7790 vs GeForce GTX 650 Ti vs GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST
- 4/16: Frame Rating: Visual Effects of Vsync on Gaming Animation
Today marks the conclusion of our first complete round up of Frame Rating results, the culmination of testing that was started 18 months ago. Hopefully you have caught our other articles on the subject at hand, and you really will need to read up on the Frame Rating Dissected story above to truly understand the testing methods and results shown in this article. Use the links above to find the previous articles!
To round out our Frame Rating testing in this interation, we are looking at more cards further down the product stack in two different sets. The first comparison will look at the AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 graphics cards in both single and dual-card configurations. Just like we saw with our HD 7970 vs GTX 680 and our HD 7950 vs GTX 660 Ti testing, evaluating how the GPUs compare in our new and improved testing methodology in single GPU configurations is just as important as testing in SLI and CrossFire. The GTX 660 [$199 at Newegg.com] and the HD 7870 [$229 at Newegg.com] are the closest matches in terms of pricing though both card have some interesting game bundle options as well.
AMD's Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition
Our second set of results will only be looking at single GPU performance numbers for lower cost graphics cards like the AMD Radeon HD 7850 and Radeon HD 7790 and from NVIDIA the GeForce GTX 650 Ti and GTX 650 Ti BOOST. We didn't include multi-GPU results on these cards simply due to time constraints internally and because we are eager to move onto further Frame Rating testing and input testing.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 660
If you are just joining this article series today, you have missed a lot! If nothing else you should read our initial full release article that details everything about the Frame Rating methodology and why we are making this change to begin with. In short, we are moving away from using FRAPS for average frame rates. We are using a secondary hardware capture system to record each frame of game play as the monitor would receive them. That recorded video is then analyzed to measure real world performance.
Because FRAPS measures frame times at a different point in the game pipeline [closer to the game engine] its results can vary dramatically from what is presented to the end user on their display. Frame Rating solves that problem by recording video through a dual-link DVI capture card that emulates a monitor to the testing system and by simply applying a unique overlay color on each produced frame from the game, we can gather a new kind of information that tells a very unique story.
The capture card that makes all of this work possible.
I don't want to spend too much time on this part of the story here as I already wrote a solid 16,000 words on the topic in our first article and I think you'll really find the results fascinating. So, please check out my first article on the topic if you have any questions before diving into these results today!
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
Pipelines / CUDA cores7681280CUDA cores768no dataCore clock speed980 MHz1000 MHzBoost clock speed1033 MHzno dataNumber of transistors2,540 million2800 MillionManufacturing process technology28 nm28 nmPower consumption [TDP]134 Watt175 WattMaximum GPU temperature97 °Cno dataTexture fill rate62.7 billion/sec80.00Floating-point performance1,585 gflopsno data
Size and compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus [motherboard compatibility], additional power connectors [power supply compatibility].
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no dataInterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16Length9.5" [24.1 cm]241 mmHeight4.376" [11.1 cm]no dataWidth2-slot2-slotSupplementary power connectorsOne 6-pin2x 6-pinSLI options+no data
Memory
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated VRAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5Maximum RAM amount2 GB2 GBMemory bus width192 Bit256 BitMemory clock speed6.0 GB/s4800 MHzMemory bandwidth144.2 GB/s153.6 GB/sShared memoryno data-
Video outputs and ports
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones [so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips]. OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
Display ConnectorsOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortMulti monitor support4 Displaysno dataEyefinityno data+HDMI++HDCP+no dataMaximum VGA resolution2048x1536no dataAudio input for HDMIInternalno data
Technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
3D Blu-Ray+no data3D Gaming+no data3D Vision+no data3D Vision Live+no data
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
DirectX12 [11_0]12 [11_1]Shader Model5.15.1OpenGL4.34.6OpenCL1.21.2Vulkan1.1.1261.2.131CUDA+no data
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost by 39% in our combined benchmark results.
Passmark
This is probably the most ubiquitous benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 [the last being done in 4K resolution if possible], and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Benchmark coverage: 25%
Radeon HD 7870 outperforms GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost by 39% in Passmark.
Mining hashrates
Cryptocurrency mining performance of GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost and Radeon HD 7870. Usually measured in megahashes per second.
Bitcoin / BTC [SHA256] 54 Mh/s no data Decred / DCR [Decred] no data 0.63 Gh/s Ethereum / ETH [DaggerHashimoto] no data 16.6 Mh/s Monero / XMR [CryptoNight] no data 0.39 kh/s Zcash / ZEC [Equihash] no data 145 Sol/s
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
900p60−65 84 Full HD45−50 66
Advantages and disadvantages
Performance score 8.58 11.93 Recency 26 March 2013 5 March 2012 Cost $169 $412.83 Memory bus width 192 256 Pipelines / CUDA cores 768 1280 Memory bandwidth 144.2 153.6 Power consumption [TDP] 134 Watt 175 Watt
The Radeon HD 7870 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost
Radeon HD 7870
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