Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon RX 5500 XT

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon RX 5500 XT, 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 7970 stacks up against Radeon RX 5500 XT, check out specs charts below.

Radeon HD 7970 Check Price

Radeon RX 5500 XT Check Price

Main Specs

	Radeon HD 7970	Radeon RX 5500 XT
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	130 Watt
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	8 GB
Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
	Check Price	Check Price

Radeon HD 7970 has 130% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 5500 XT.
Radeon HD 7970 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon RX 5500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.
Radeon RX 5500 XT has 5 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7970.
Both cards are used in Desktops.
Radeon HD 7970 is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon RX 5500 XT - with RDNA 1.0.
Radeon HD 7970 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 5500 XT - by 7 nm process technology.
Radeon HD 7970 is 94 mm longer, than Radeon RX 5500 XT.
Memory clock speed of Radeon RX 5500 XT is 12625 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7970.

Game benchmarks


high / 1080p	35−40	45−50
ultra / 1080p	21−24	30−35
QHD / 1440p	16−18	24−27
4K / 2160p	10−11	14−16
low / 720p	60−65	70−75
medium / 1080p	40−45	55−60
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 28% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
high / 1080p	55−60	70−75
ultra / 1080p	45−50	65−70
QHD / 1440p	35−40	50−55
4K / 2160p	18−20	24−27
low / 720p	100−110	120−130
medium / 1080p	60−65	80−85
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Battlefield 5 is 29% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	50−55	45−50
QHD / 1440p	0−1	30−35
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Call of Duty: Warzone is 10% more, than Radeon RX 5500 XT.
low / 768p	250−260	250−260
medium / 768p	220−230	230−240
ultra / 1080p	180−190	210−220
QHD / 1440p	110−120	150−160
4K / 2160p	70−75	100−110
high / 768p	210−220	220−230
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is 11% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	60−65	70−75
medium / 1080p	55−60	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Cyberpunk 2077 is 3% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	120−130	120−130
medium / 768p	110−120	110−120
ultra / 1080p	100−110	110−120
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Dota 2 is 2% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
high / 1080p	45−50	60−65
ultra / 1080p	40−45	55−60
QHD / 1440p	27−30	35−40
4K / 2160p	14−16	20−22
low / 720p	80−85	95−100
medium / 1080p	45−50	60−65
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Far Cry 5 is 30% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
high / 1080p	60−65	85−90
ultra / 1080p	45−50	65−70
QHD / 1440p	27−30	40−45
4K / 2160p	27−30	21−24
low / 720p	180−190	210−220
medium / 1080p	110−120	140−150
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Fortnite is 24% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
high / 1080p	60−65	80−85
ultra / 1080p	45−50	60−65
QHD / 1440p	30−35	45−50
4K / 2160p	24−27	30−35
low / 720p	100−110	130−140
medium / 1080p	65−70	85−90
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Forza Horizon 4 is 32% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	140−150	160−170
medium / 768p	120−130	140−150
high / 1080p	70−75	90−95
ultra / 1080p	30−35	45−50
QHD / 1440p	21−24	35−40
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Grand Theft Auto V is 22% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
high / 1080p	24−27	35−40
ultra / 1080p	20−22	27−30
QHD / 1440p	16−18	21−24
4K / 2160p	8−9	12−14
low / 720p	65−70	85−90
medium / 1080p	30−35	45−50
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Metro Exodus is 39% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	130−140	120−130
medium / 1080p	120−130	−
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Minecraft is 8% more, than Radeon RX 5500 XT.
high / 1080p	−	70−75
ultra / 1080p	14−16	50−55
4K / 2160p	−	18−20
low / 720p	100−110	120−130
medium / 1080p	18−20	75−80
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS is 84% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
high / 1080p	24−27	30−35
ultra / 1080p	16−18	21−24
QHD / 1440p	10−11	14−16
4K / 2160p	7−8	9−10
low / 720p	65−70	85−90
medium / 1080p	35−40	50−55
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 33% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	130−140	170−180
medium / 768p	85−90	110−120
high / 1080p	45−50	65−70
ultra / 1080p	24−27	35−40
4K / 2160p	16−18	24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 35% more, than Radeon HD 7970.
low / 768p	90−95	120−130
medium / 768p	60−65	120−130
ultra / 1080p	50−55	60−65
high / 768p	60−65	100−110
The average gaming FPS of Radeon RX 5500 XT in World of Tanks is 55% more, than Radeon HD 7970.

Full Specs

	Radeon HD 7970	Radeon RX 5500 XT
Architecture	GCN	RDNA 1.0
Code name	Tahiti XT	Navi 14
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 December 2011	12 December 2019
Pipelines	2048	1408
Boost Clock	925 MHz	1845 MHz
Transistor count	4,313 million	6,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Texture fill rate	118.4	162.4
Floating-point performance	3,789 gflops
Length	274 mm	180 mm
Memory bus width	384 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	14000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	264 GB/s	224.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-
DirectX		12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan		1.2.131
FreeSync	+
Bus support	PCIe 2.1 x16
HDMI	+
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256)	485 Mh/s
Eyefinity	+
Design	reference
CrossFire	+
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto)	20.71 Mh/s
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Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon RX 5500 XT

Main Specs

Game benchmarks

Full Specs

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