AMD Radeon HD 8870M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single direct comparison between the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 and the AMD Radeon HD 8870M: the Geekbench OpenCL test. In that benchmark, the GTX 760 scores 11,299 points, while the HD 8870M scores 8,462 points. The delta is 33.5 percent in favor of the NVIDIA card. That is a substantial margin, indicating a clear performance gap in compute workloads as measured by OpenCL.

Looking at the broader database context, the GTX 760's average benchmark score is 9,458, which places it at the 46th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK (average score 9,474, delta of -0.2 percent), the AMD Radeon R7 M380 (9,313, delta 1.6 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (9,302, delta 1.7 percent), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9,294, delta 1.8 percent). These numbers show the GTX 760 sitting in a tight cluster, essentially neck-and-neck with the TITAN BLACK and slightly ahead of the other three rivals by less than two percentage points.

The HD 8870M, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 8,462, placing it at the 43rd percentile. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, delta 0.1 percent), the AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, delta 0.3 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (8,427, delta 0.4 percent), and the Intel Arc A380 (8,558, delta -1.1 percent). The HD 8870M is essentially equal to those four, with all deltas within roughly one percentage point.

The head-to-head result is decisive: the GTX 760 outperforms the HD 8870M by a full third in the single shared benchmark. However, it is importantly the HD 8870M only has one benchmark entry in the database, the OpenCL test, so the comparison is limited in scope. The GTX 760 also has Vulkan and Metal scores recorded, at 12,551 and 4,524 respectively, but no comparable data exists for the AMD part in those tests.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the available data, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 wins the only direct comparison. The OpenCL score of 11,299 versus 8,462 represents a 33.5 percent advantage, which is the kind of margin that would translate into meaningfully faster compute performance in OpenCL-accelerated applications. The GTX 760 also has a higher average benchmark score, 9,458 versus 8,462, and a higher percentile ranking, 46 versus 43. Both cards are end-of-life products, but the GTX 760's raw scores place it in a higher tier of the database.

The AMD Radeon HD 8870M does not win any recorded benchmark. Its single score of 8,462 is lower than every recorded score for the GTX 760, including the Metal score of 4,524, which is a different test type and not directly comparable to OpenCL. In terms of use cases, the HD 8870M's weaker compute performance suggests it would be less suited for GPU-accelerated tasks such as rendering, video encoding, or scientific workloads that rely on OpenCL. The GTX 760, with its higher texture rate and pixel rate, would also have an edge in traditional graphics workloads, though no direct gaming benchmarks are present in the database.

The data indicates that the GTX 760 is the stronger part across the board, but the HD 8870M is not far off in percentile terms. The gap in percentile rank is only three points, which suggests that the HD 8870M is competitive within its own class of mobile GPUs, while the GTX 760 is a desktop part with a higher performance ceiling. For users prioritizing OpenCL compute, the GTX 760 is the clear choice based on the recorded numbers.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 than the AMD Radeon HD 8870M in OpenCL?

A: The GTX 760 scores 11,299 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the HD 8870M scores 8,462. That is a 33.5 percent advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 760 has an average benchmark score of 9,458, compared to 8,462 for the HD 8870M. The GTX 760 also ranks at the 46th percentile versus the 43rd percentile for the AMD part.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 8870M win any benchmark in the database?

A: No. The HD 8870M has only one recorded benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, and it loses that test to the GTX 760 by 33.5 percent.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the GTX 760 in the database?

A: The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK (9,474, delta -0.2 percent), the AMD Radeon R7 M380 (9,313, delta 1.6 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (9,302, delta 1.7 percent), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9,294, delta 1.8 percent).

Q: What are the closest rivals to the HD 8870M in the database?

A: The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, delta 0.1 percent), the AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, delta 0.3 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (8,427, delta 0.4 percent), and the Intel Arc A380 (8,558, delta -1.1 percent).

Q: Which GPU supports more modern APIs?

A: The GTX 760 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The HD 8870M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the GTX 760 has a slightly newer Vulkan version.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 uses the GK104 chip with a 294 mm² die size and 3,540 million transistors, while the AMD Radeon HD 8870M uses the Venus chip with a 123 mm² die size and 1,500 million transistors. The transistor density is nearly identical, 12.0 million per mm² for the GTX 760 and 12.2 million per mm² for the HD 8870M, but the die size difference is substantial.

Clock speeds differ considerably. The GTX 760 runs at a base clock of 980 MHz with a boost clock of 1,032 MHz, while the HD 8870M runs at 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: the GTX 760 uses 1,502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the HD 8870M uses 1,125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective).

Memory configurations diverge as well. Both have 2 GB of GDDR5, but the GTX 760 has a 256-bit memory bus with 192.3 GB/s bandwidth, while the HD 8870M has a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 760 has more than 2.5 times the memory bandwidth.

Compute resources are significantly different. The GTX 760 has 1,152 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The HD 8870M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The pixel rate is 24.77 GPixel/s for the GTX 760 versus 12.40 GPixel/s for the HD 8870M. The texture rate is 99.07 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 2.378 TFLOPS for the GTX 760 versus 992.0 GFLOPS for the HD 8870M.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The GTX 760 has a TDP of 170 W, is a dual-slot card, requires two 6-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 450 W. The HD 8870M has no recorded TDP, slot width, power connectors, or suggested PSU, which is consistent with it being a mobile GPU. The GTX 760 has a length of 241 mm (9.5 inches) and display outputs of 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2; the HD 8870M has no recorded dimensions or display outputs. Both use a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface.

The GTX 760 has a launch MSRP of 249 USD, while the HD 8870M has no recorded launch MSRP. The GTX 760 was released on 2013-06-24, and the HD 8870M was released on 2013-03-31. Both are end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 is built on the Kepler architecture, specifically the GK104 chip, and belongs to the GeForce 700 generation. The AMD Radeon HD 8870M is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, specifically the Venus chip, and belongs to the Solar System (HD 8800M) generation. Both are manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process node.

The transistor counts reflect the architectural scale. The GTX 760 packs 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, while the HD 8870M packs 1,500 million transistors into a 123 mm² die. The density is nearly the same, but the Kepler part is much larger and more complex.

Neither GPU has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, which is expected given their 2013-era release dates and their absence from the database records. The GTX 760 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), while the HD 8870M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), indicating a slightly higher feature level for the AMD part in terms of the DirectX 12 feature set. Both support OpenGL 4.6, and the Vulkan versions are close, 1.2.175 for NVIDIA and 1.2.170 for AMD.

The Kepler architecture in the GTX 760 is known for its balanced shader and texture throughput, and the numbers reflect that: 1,152 shading units paired with 96 TMUs and 32 ROPs. The GCN 1.0 architecture in the HD 8870M has a lower total compute resource count, with 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GCN design typically emphasizes compute performance per watt, but in this matchup, the raw throughput of the GTX 760 is substantially higher across all measured metrics.

The memory architecture also differs. The GTX 760 uses a 256-bit bus, which is double the width of the HD 8870M's 128-bit bus. Combined with the higher memory clock, the GTX 760 achieves 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth versus 72.00 GB/s. That difference is critical for bandwidth-sensitive workloads like high-resolution textures and compute kernels that access memory frequently.

The GTX 760 is a desktop part with a 170 W TDP and dual-slot cooling, while the HD 8870M is a mobile part with no recorded power draw. The predecessor and successor relationships also differ: the GTX 760's predecessor is the GeForce 600 series and its successor is the GeForce 900 series, while the HD 8870M's predecessor is the London chip and its successor is the Gem System. These lineage differences reflect the different product tiers each card occupies.