GeForce GTX 960 vs Radeon HD 7970M

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 960 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 960 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 960 Radeon HD 7970M
Power consumption (TDP) 120 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 1x 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) 400 Watt
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  • GeForce GTX 960 has 20% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • GeForce GTX 960 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7970M uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 960 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • GeForce GTX 960 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 7970M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 960 is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 7970M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 960 is 277 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • GeForce GTX 960 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 960.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 18−20
ultra / 1080p 21−24 10−12
QHD / 1440p 16−18 5−6
4K / 2160p 10−11 4−5
low / 720p 60−65 35−40
medium / 1080p 40−45 21−24
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 960 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than Radeon HD 7970M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 960 Radeon HD 7970M
Architecture Maxwell GCN
Code name GM206 Wimbledon XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 January 2015 1 May 2012
Pipelines 1024 1280
Core clock speed 1127 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 1178 MHz
Transistor count 2,940 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 72 billion/sec 68.00
Floating-point performance 2,413 gflops 2,176 gflops
Length 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Memory bus width 128 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 7.0 GB/s 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 112 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) 0.27 kh/s
CUDA cores 1024
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) 318 Mh/s 254 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Decred / DCR (Decred) 0.92 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 8 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 141.47 Sol/s
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
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