Radeon HD 7870 vs Radeon HD 8970M

When choosing between Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 8970M, 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 7870 and Radeon HD 8970M.

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 7870 Radeon HD 8970M
Power consumption (TDP) 175 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 7870 has 75% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Radeon HD 8970M has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870.
  • Radeon HD 7870 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 8970M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 8970M are build with GCN architecture.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 is 150 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 8970M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 8970M is 4800 MHz.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 24−27 20−22
ultra / 1080p 14−16 12−14
QHD / 1440p 9−10 6−7
4K / 2160p 6−7 5−6
low / 720p 45−50 35−40
medium / 1080p 30−33 24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 22% more, than Radeon HD 8970M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 7870 Radeon HD 8970M
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Pitcairn XT Neptune
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 5 March 2012 15 May 2013
Pipelines 1280 1280
Core clock speed 1000 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 2800 Million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 72.00
Floating-point performance 2,304 gflops
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1
OpenGL 4.6
OpenCL 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.39 kh/s
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 0.63 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 16.6 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 145 Sol/s
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