Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB GHz Edition Video Card Review

3DMark 2013

3DMark 2013 has several preset benchmarks, however the most demanding is Fire Strike. Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 test that renders detailed graphics in real time. This makes it the best one to use when testing a gaming system.

Ice Storm is the least intensive benchmark in 3DMark’s arsenal. Not a whole lot different, a 12% performance difference.

Cloud Gate is the next 3DMark test, here the difference gets a little larger, at 15%. Not as impressive as the game benchmarks, but still double digit performance difference.

Here we are again with a huge performance difference. At close to 65% difference, Fire Strike really makes the cards work for DirectX 11 performance.

Benchmark Results: If the games you play are only on DirectX 9 or DirectX 10, you can expect to get low double digit performance difference. DirectX 11 is where the power of the HD7870 shows up, with 65% performance boost over the older GTX 560Ti