GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon HD 7970M

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 7970M 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 GTX 970 will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 7970M will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 7970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 7970M 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 7970M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 970 Radeon HD 7970M
Power consumption (TDP) 148 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pins None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort No outputs
Recommended system power (PSU) 500 Watt
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  • GeForce GTX 970 has 48% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • GeForce GTX 970 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7970M uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 970 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • GeForce GTX 970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 7970M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 970 is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 7970M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 970 is 200 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 7970M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7970M is 4793 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 970.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 50−55 18−20
ultra / 1080p 30−35 10−12
QHD / 1440p 27−30 5−6
4K / 2160p 14−16 4−5
low / 720p 75−80 35−40
medium / 1080p 60−65 21−24
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 175% more, than Radeon HD 7970M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 970 Radeon HD 7970M
Architecture Maxwell GCN
Code name GM204 Wimbledon XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 19 September 2014 1 May 2012
Pipelines 1664 1280
Core clock speed 1050 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 1178 MHz
Transistor count 5,200 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 109 billion/sec 68.00
Floating-point performance 3,920 gflops 2,176 gflops
Length 10.5" (26.7 cm)
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 7.0 GB/s 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 224 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
DirectX 12 (12_1) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 6.4 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126 1.2.131
CUDA +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.48 kh/s
CUDA cores 1664
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
Height 4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support 4 displays
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 478 Mh/s 254 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.51 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 22.21 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 291.61 Sol/s
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
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