Radeon HD 7870M vs Radeon HD 8970M

In this comparison between Radeon HD 7870M and Radeon HD 8970M 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 Radeon HD 7870M will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 8970M will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon HD 7870M and Radeon HD 8970M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Radeon HD 7870M and Radeon HD 8970M are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 7870M or Radeon HD 8970M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 7870M Radeon HD 8970M
Power consumption (TDP) 45 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 8970M has 122% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon HD 8970M has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 7870M and Radeon HD 8970M are build with GCN architecture.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 8970M is 50 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.
  • Radeon HD 7870M and Radeon HD 8970M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8970M is 800 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 6−7 20−22
ultra / 1080p 4−5 12−14
QHD / 1440p 0−1 6−7
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 16−18 35−40
medium / 1080p 8−9 24−27
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 166% more, than Radeon HD 7870M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 7870M Radeon HD 8970M
Architecture GCN GCN
Code name Heathrow XT Neptune
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 24 April 2012 15 May 2013
Pipelines 640 1280
Core clock speed 800 MHz 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz
Transistor count 1,500 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 32.00 72.00
Floating-point performance 1,024 gflops 2,304 gflops
Memory bus width 128 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4000 MHz 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 64 GB/s 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX 12 (11_1) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131 1.2.131
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large large
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