GeForce 9800M GTX SLI vs Radeon HD 5970

In this comparison between GeForce 9800M GTX SLI and Radeon HD 5970 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 9800M GTX SLI will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 5970 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

GeForce 9800M GTX SLI is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce 9800M GTX SLI 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 GeForce 9800M GTX SLI here:

Main Specs

  GeForce 9800M GTX SLI Radeon HD 5970
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 294 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 5970 has 96% more power consumption, than GeForce 9800M GTX SLI.
  • GeForce 9800M GTX SLI and Radeon HD 5970 have maximum RAM of 1 GB.
  • GeForce 9800M GTX SLI is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 5970 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce 9800M GTX SLI is build with G9x architecture, and Radeon HD 5970 - with TeraScale 2.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 5970 is 225 MHz higher, than GeForce 9800M GTX SLI.
  • GeForce 9800M GTX SLI is manufactured by 65 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 5970 - by 40 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 5970 is 3200 MHz higher, than GeForce 9800M GTX SLI.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−11 10−12
ultra / 1080p 6−7 6−7
QHD / 1440p 0−1 1−2
low / 720p 21−24 24−27
medium / 1080p 12−14 14−16
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 7% more, than GeForce 9800M GTX SLI.

Full Specs

  GeForce 9800M GTX SLI Radeon HD 5970
Architecture G9x TeraScale 2
Code name NB9E-GTX Hemlock
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 15 July 2008 18 November 2009
Pipelines 224 1600
Core clock speed 500 MHz 725 MHz
Transistor count 3016 Million 2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 58.00
Floating-point performance 2x 2,320.0 gflops
Length 305 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 800 MHz 4000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 128.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX DirectX 10, Shader 4.0 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.0
OpenGL 4.4
OpenCL 1.2
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
SLI options +
Laptop size large
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