AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M

VS
Performance
Radeon HD 7970
7,7707% of 104,598
GeForce GTX 980M61% better
12,51712% of 104,598

The GeForce GTX 980M has 61% better performance than the Radeon HD 7970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 7970
14.159% of 161.45
GeForce GTX 980M
No data available

The Radeon HD 7970 has 9% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

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Summary

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About the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q1 2012 with a MSRP of $549. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Tahiti) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,375 MHz memory clock and a 384 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 264 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The HD 7970 includes 2,048 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 925 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 128 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The HD 7970 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, mini-DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 250 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The HD 7970 has the 211th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 7.43% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 7,770 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 14.15. This is the 92nd best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q4 2014. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM204) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 980M has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,253 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 160.4 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The GTX 980M includes 1,536 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,038 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,127 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 96 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 100 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The GTX 980M has the 157th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 11.97% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
ManufacturerAMDNVIDIA
ArchitectureGCN 1.0Maxwell 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopMobile
Release DateQ1 2012Q4 2014
Launch Price (MSRP)$549--
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Rage 2
Rage 2
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Anno 1800
Display FPS for Tom Clancy's The Division 2
The Division 2
Display FPS for Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0
Display FPS for Anthem
Anthem
Display FPS for Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn
Display FPS for Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Rage 2
Rage 2
Radeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
Low - 720p
--
94 FPS
Medium - 1080p
--
45 FPS
High - 1080p
--
39 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
38 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
24 FPS
4K UHD - 2160p
--
11 FPS
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 7970 orGeForce GTX 980M

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 7970 orGeForce GTX 980M
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon HD 7970
7,7707% of 104,598
GeForce GTX 980M61% better
12,51712% of 104,598

The GeForce GTX 980M has 61% better performance than the Radeon HD 7970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon HD 7970 is ranked 211th with a score of 7,770, and the GeForce GTX 980M is ranked 157th with a score of 12,517.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 7970
14.159% of 161.45
GeForce GTX 980M
No data available

The Radeon HD 7970 has 22% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon HD 7970's 14.15 performance per dollar ranks it 92nd among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 7970 or

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 7970 orGeForce GTX 980M

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
2,805
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
2,949
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
43,795
65,241
(+48.97%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
6,862
9,682
(+41.1%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
7,323
11,177
(+52.63%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
--
101.3
PassMark G3D Mark
5,248
7,356
(+40.17%)
PassMark G2D Mark
738
(+48.19%)
498
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
77.8
110.6
(+42.16%)
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
CodenameTahitiGM204
ArchitectureGCN 1.0Maxwell 2.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors4,313 million5,200 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
Memory Size3 GB8 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth264 Gb/s160.4 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,375 MHz1,253 MHz
Memory Interface384 bit256 bit
L1 Cache16 KB48 KB
L2 Cache768 KB2 MB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
Slots2 slots--
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)250 W100 W
Suggested PSU600 W--
Power Connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin--
OutputsDVI, HDMI 1.4a, mini-DisplayPort 1.2Device Dependent

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
Stream Processors (SP)2,048--
CUDA Cores--1,536
Compute Units (CU)32--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)12896
Render Output Units (ROP)3264
Core Clock Speed925 MHz1,038 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)--1,127 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
Pixel Fill Rate29.6 GPixel/s72.13 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate118.4 GTexel/s108.2 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance3.79 TFLOPS3.46 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance947.2 GFLOPS108.2 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon HD 7970GeForce GTX 980M
DirectX12 (11_1)12 (12_1)
OpenCL2.1 (1.2)3.0
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.5 (5.1)6.8

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.