Radeon HD 5970 vs Radeon HD 8870M

When choosing between Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 8870M, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 8870M.

Radeon HD 8870M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 8870M 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 8870M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 5970 Radeon HD 8870M
Power consumption (TDP) 294 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5, DDR3
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 5970 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 8870M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon HD 8870M has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5970.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8870M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is build with TeraScale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 8870M - with GCN.
  • Both graphics cards have the same core clock speed.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 8870M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8870M is 500 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 5970.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 7−8
ultra / 1080p 6−7 4−5
QHD / 1440p 1−2 0−1
low / 720p 24−27 18−20
medium / 1080p 14−16 9−10
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 5970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 40% more, than Radeon HD 8870M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 5970 Radeon HD 8870M
Architecture TeraScale 2 GCN
Code name Hemlock Venus
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 18 November 2009 18 December 2012
Pipelines 1600 640
Core clock speed 725 MHz 725 MHz
Boost Clock 775 MHz
Transistor count 2,154 million 1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 58.00 31.00
Floating-point performance 2x 2,320.0 gflops 992.0 gflops
Length 305 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4000 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 128.0 GB/s 72 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) 107 Mh/s
Laptop size large
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