Radeon HD 5970 vs Radeon HD 8970M

In this comparison between Radeon HD 5970 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 Radeon HD 5970 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

  Radeon HD 5970 Radeon HD 8970M
Power consumption (TDP) 294 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 5970 has 194% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8970M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon HD 8970M has 3 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5970.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8970M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 8970M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 8970M is 125 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 5970.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8970M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8970M is 800 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 5970.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 20−22
ultra / 1080p 6−7 12−14
QHD / 1440p 1−2 6−7
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 24−27 35−40
medium / 1080p 14−16 24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 81% more, than Radeon HD 5970.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 5970 Radeon HD 8970M
Architecture TeraScale 2 GCN
Code name Hemlock Neptune
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 18 November 2009 15 May 2013
Pipelines 1600 1280
Core clock speed 725 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 2,154 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 58.00 72.00
Floating-point performance 2x 2,320.0 gflops 2,304 gflops
Length 305 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4000 MHz 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 128.0 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large
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