GeForce 9800 GTX vs Radeon HD 8970M

In this comparison between GeForce 9800 GTX and Radeon HD 8970M you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce 9800 GTX will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 8970M will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 8970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 8970M is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Radeon HD 8970M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce 9800 GTX Radeon HD 8970M
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 512 MB 4 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x S-Video No outputs
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  • GeForce 9800 GTX has 40% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • GeForce 9800 GTX is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8970M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce 9800 GTX has 508 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • GeForce 9800 GTX is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8970M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce 9800 GTX is build with Tesla architecture, and Radeon HD 8970M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce 9800 GTX is 838 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • GeForce 9800 GTX is manufactured by 65 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8970M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8970M is 3700 MHz higher, than GeForce 9800 GTX.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 0−1 20−22
ultra / 1080p 12−14
QHD / 1440p 0−1 6−7
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 1−2 35−40
medium / 1080p 0−1 24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 3600% more, than GeForce 9800 GTX.

Full Specs

  GeForce 9800 GTX Radeon HD 8970M
Architecture Tesla GCN
Code name G92 Neptune
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 28 March 2008 15 May 2013
Pipelines 128 1280
Core clock speed 1688 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 754 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 43.2 billion/sec 72.00
Floating-point performance 432.1 gflops 2,304 gflops
Length 10.5" (26.7 cm)
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1100 MHz 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 70.4 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.1 (10_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 4.0 5.1
OpenGL 2.1 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 128
Bus support PCI-E 2.0
Height 4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support +
HDMI Via Adapter
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI S/PDIF
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large
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