Radeon HD 5970 vs Radeon HD 7850M
If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 7850M, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the Radeon HD 5970 stacks up against Radeon HD 7850M, check out specs charts below.
Radeon HD 5970
Radeon HD 7850M is a Laptop Graphics Card
Note: Radeon HD 7850M 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 7850M here:
Main Specs
| Radeon HD 5970 | Radeon HD 7850M | |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 294 Watt | 40 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 | 2 GB |
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort | No outputs |
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- Radeon HD 5970 has 635% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7850M.
- Radeon HD 5970 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7850M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
- Radeon HD 7850M has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5970.
- Radeon HD 5970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 7850M - in Laptops.
- Radeon HD 5970 is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 7850M - with GCN.
- Core clock speed of Radeon HD 5970 is 50 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7850M.
- Radeon HD 5970 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7850M - by 28 nm process technology.
- Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 7850M is 4000 MHz.
Game benchmarks
| high / 1080p | 10−12 | 6−7 |
| ultra / 1080p | 6−7 | 3−4 |
| QHD / 1440p | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| low / 720p | 24−27 | 14−16 |
| medium / 1080p | 14−16 | 7−8 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 75% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 18−20 | 10−12 |
| ultra / 1080p | 16−18 | 9−10 |
| QHD / 1440p | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| low / 720p | 35−40 | 21−24 |
| medium / 1080p | 20−22 | 10−12 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Battlefield 5 is 76% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| high / 1080p | − | 45−50 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 7850M have the same average FPS in Call of Duty: Warzone. | ||
| low / 768p | 180−190 | 120−130 |
| medium / 768p | 150−160 | 100−110 |
| ultra / 1080p | 75−80 | 50−55 |
| QHD / 1440p | 45−50 | 27−30 |
| 4K / 2160p | 30−33 | − |
| high / 768p | 110−120 | 75−80 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 50% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 55−60 | 55−60 |
| ultra / 1080p | 30−33 | 16−18 |
| medium / 1080p | 45−50 | 45−50 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Cyberpunk 2077 is 12% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 95−100 | 80−85 |
| medium / 768p | 80−85 | 55−60 |
| ultra / 1080p | 50−55 | 30−35 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Dota 2 is 35% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 12−14 | 7−8 |
| ultra / 1080p | 12−14 | 7−8 |
| 4K / 2160p | 5−6 | 3−4 |
| low / 720p | 30−33 | 16−18 |
| medium / 1080p | 14−16 | 8−9 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Far Cry 5 is 87% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 20−22 | 14−16 |
| ultra / 1080p | 14−16 | 10−11 |
| low / 720p | 80−85 | 55−60 |
| medium / 1080p | 35−40 | 20−22 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Fortnite is 50% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 18−20 | 10−11 |
| ultra / 1080p | 16−18 | − |
| QHD / 1440p | 5−6 | − |
| 4K / 2160p | − | 8−9 |
| low / 720p | 40−45 | 24−27 |
| medium / 1080p | 21−24 | 12−14 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Forza Horizon 4 is 75% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 70−75 | 50−55 |
| medium / 768p | 60−65 | 40−45 |
| high / 1080p | 21−24 | 10−12 |
| ultra / 1080p | 9−10 | 6−7 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Grand Theft Auto V is 46% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 7−8 | 4−5 |
| ultra / 1080p | 5−6 | 3−4 |
| 4K / 2160p | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| low / 720p | 21−24 | 10−12 |
| medium / 1080p | 10−11 | 6−7 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Metro Exodus is 83% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 100−110 | 90−95 |
| high / 1080p | − | 85−90 |
| ultra / 1080p | 95−100 | 75−80 |
| medium / 1080p | 100−105 | 90−95 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Minecraft is 16% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 20−22 | 16−18 |
| ultra / 1080p | 16−18 | 14−16 |
| low / 720p | 45−50 | 30−33 |
| medium / 1080p | 21−24 | 16−18 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 35% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| high / 1080p | 12−14 | − |
| ultra / 1080p | 8−9 | 7−8 |
| QHD / 1440p | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| low / 720p | 21−24 | 10−12 |
| medium / 1080p | 12−14 | 10−11 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 55% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 40−45 | 21−24 |
| medium / 768p | 24−27 | 14−16 |
| high / 1080p | 14−16 | 8−9 |
| ultra / 1080p | 8−9 | 6−7 |
| 4K / 2160p | 7−8 | − |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 69% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
| low / 768p | 95−100 | 85−90 |
| medium / 768p | 55−60 | 40−45 |
| ultra / 1080p | 27−30 | 18−20 |
| high / 768p | 45−50 | 35−40 |
| The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in World of Tanks is 23% more, than Radeon HD 7850M. | ||
Full Specs
| Radeon HD 5970 | Radeon HD 7850M | |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 | GCN |
| Code name | Hemlock | Heathrow Pro |
| Type | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 18 November 2009 | 24 April 2012 |
| Pipelines | 1600 | 640 |
| Core clock speed | 725 MHz | 675 MHz |
| Transistor count | 2,154 million | 1,500 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 28 nm |
| Texture fill rate | 58.00 | 27.00 |
| Floating-point performance | 2x 2,320.0 gflops | 864.0 gflops |
| Length | 305 mm | |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4000 MHz | 4000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 128.0 GB/s | 64 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 |
| Laptop size | large | |
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