PC Games Hardware's 25th Anniversary Test: RTX 5090 Obliterates Radeon HD 5870 by 2477%

A Grand Tour Through 16 Years of Graphics Evolution: PC Games Hardware Celebrates 25 Years with a Monumental GPU Test

In a truly monumental tribute to its quarter-century milestone, the esteemed German publication PC Games Hardware (PCGH) has undertaken an ambitious project: a comprehensive test of 180 graphics cards spanning from 2009 to 2025. This isn't just a retrospective; it's a profound exploration of the astonishing leaps in graphical processing power and architectural innovation that have redefined PC gaming over more than a decade and a half. Imagine lining up the venerable Radeon HD 5870, a DirectX 11 pioneer, alongside the cutting-edge NVIDIA RTX 5090 – the difference in performance is, frankly, mind-boggling, with the latter demonstrating an astounding 2477% advantage in some benchmarks.

Bridging Eras: Old Hardware Meets New Power

What makes this test particularly fascinating is PCGH's decision to pair these diverse GPUs with contemporary processors, specifically a potent Core i9-14900KS, to effectively minimize CPU bottlenecks. This approach allows us to witness firsthand how far graphics technology has advanced, not just in raw teraflops but in the fundamental design of how these digital powerhouses operate. While the sheer performance delta between a 16-year-old card and a 2025 flagship is astronomical on paper, the real-world gaming experience often paints a slightly different picture. Older game engines, constrained by their own limitations and the evolving capabilities of CPUs, can sometimes narrow the performance gap, a testament to how software and hardware are intertwined.

Architectural Milestones and Their Impact

PCGH's extensive dataset vividly illustrates the pivotal architectural shifts that have shaped the GPU landscape. We see the transition from AMD's Terascale to its GCN architecture, and then the revolutionary RDNA series. Similarly, NVIDIA's journey from Kepler to Maxwell brought about significant efficiency gains, addressing the power-hungry nature of its predecessor. The RDNA architecture marked a fundamental rethinking of shader design for AMD, with RDNA 2 introducing Infinity Cache – a game-changer that allowed for smoother frame rates without resorting to prohibitively wide memory buses. Even the latest advancements, like RDNA 4's improved ray tracing, highlight that while rasterization performance might see incremental gains, other features are taking center stage. NVIDIA's Blackwell architecture, following Ada, shows a more measured upgrade, emphasizing the growing importance of technologies like frame generation to push perceived performance.

The Evolving Role of Memory and Emerging Players

Beyond raw processing power, the test underscores another critical factor: video memory. The struggles of older cards with 3-4GB of VRAM in even DirectX 11 titles are a stark reminder of how quickly memory demands escalate. Today, 8GB is considered the baseline for a fluid gaming experience, while 12-16GB cards offer the headroom for high-resolution textures and settings without stutter. This comprehensive analysis also marks the re-emergence of Intel in the discrete GPU market. From its initial Arc A380 offering, the company has steadily expanded its lineup into the mid-range, showcasing the vital role that driver optimization and API support play in unlocking a GPU's true potential over time.

The Verdict: More Than Just Raw Power

While PCGH provided a summary synthetic benchmark, their analysis of four popular games offers invaluable insights into how architectural changes translate into tangible in-game improvements. The overarching message from this extraordinary test is clear: the journey from the nascent days of DirectX 11 to the formidable RTX 5090 represents an epochal shift in PC graphics. For gamers, the takeaway is profound: a graphics card's prowess isn't solely defined by its teraflop count. It's a complex interplay of a refined architecture, adequate video memory, meticulously crafted drivers, and the integration of innovative technologies that ultimately dictate the visual fidelity and smoothness of our digital worlds.