NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs AMD Radeon HD 7970

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 980 Ti197% better
23,05722% of 104,737
Radeon HD 7970
7,7707% of 104,737

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti has 197% better performance than the Radeon HD 7970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980 Ti151% better
35.5322% of 161.45
Radeon HD 7970
14.159% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti has 151% better value for the money than the Radeon HD 7970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q2 2015 with a MSRP of $649. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM200) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 980 Ti has 6 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,753 MHz memory clock and a 384 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 336.6 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 980 Ti includes 2,816 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,000 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,076 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 176 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 96 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GTX 980 Ti occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. NVIDIA 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 GTX 980 Ti has the 101st best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 22.01% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 23,057 score and $649 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 35.53. This is the 74th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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 7.42% 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.

General Info

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

InfoGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ2 2015Q1 2012
Launch Price (MSRP)$649$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 Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3
Display FPS for Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019)
Display FPS for Control
Control
Display FPS for Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0
Display FPS for Apex Legends
Apex Legends
Display FPS for Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4
Display FPS for Darksiders III
Darksiders III

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 Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3
GeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
Low - 720p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
--
--
High - 1080p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
53 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
38 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
20 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:GeForce GTX 980 Ti orRadeon HD 7970

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:GeForce GTX 980 Ti orRadeon HD 7970
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX 6500 XT19.9-38%
Radeon RX Vega 6421.32-34%
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)21.36-34%
Radeon VII21.98-32%
GeForce GTX 108022.6-30%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti32.13

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 980 Ti197% better
23,05722% of 104,737
Radeon HD 7970
7,7707% of 104,737

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti has 197% better performance than the Radeon HD 7970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is ranked 101st with a score of 23,057, and the Radeon HD 7970 is ranked 211th with a score of 7,770.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980 Ti151% better
35.5322% of 161.45
Radeon HD 7970
14.159% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti has 151% better value for the money than the Radeon HD 7970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is ranked 74th with a performance per dollar of 35.53, and the Radeon HD 7970 is ranked 92nd with a performance per dollar of 14.15.

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:GeForce GTX 980 Ti 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:GeForce GTX 980 Ti or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce GTX 108048.85+38%
Radeon R9 390X41.83+18%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53
GeForce GTX 98032.07-10%
Radeon R9 FURY31.95-10%
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)17.75-50%
Radeon HD 687017.65-50%
Radeon HD 797014.15-60%
GeForce GTX 59013.11-63%
GeForce GTX 47012.44-65%

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
BenchmarkGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
5,058
--
3DMark Time Spy Score
5,026
--
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
98,958
(+125.96%)
43,795
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
16,961
(+147.17%)
6,862
3DMark 11 Performance Score
18,303
(+149.94%)
7,323
PassMark G3D Mark
13,809
(+163.13%)
5,248
PassMark G2D Mark
863
(+17.9%)
732
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
77.8
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.

SpecGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
CodenameGM200Tahiti
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 1.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors8,000 million4,313 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
Memory Size6 GB3 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth336.6 Gb/s264 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz1,375 MHz
Memory Interface384 bit384 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache3 MB768 KB

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.

SpecGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)250 W250 W
Suggested PSU600 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2DVI, HDMI 1.4a, mini-DisplayPort 1.2

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.

SpecGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
Stream Processors (SP)--2,048
CUDA Cores2,816--
Compute Units (CU)--32
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)176128
Render Output Units (ROP)9632
Core Clock Speed1,000 MHz925 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,076 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
Pixel Fill Rate103.3 GPixel/s29.6 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate189.4 GTexel/s118.4 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance6.06 TFLOPS3.79 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance189.4 GFLOPS947.2 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.

SpecGeForce GTX 980 TiRadeon HD 7970
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_1)
OpenCL3.02.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.5 (5.1)

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