Radeon HD 8970M vs Radeon R9 270

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 270. Here you can take a closer look at graphics cards specs, such as core clock speed, memory type and size, display connectors, etc. The price, overall benchmark and gaming performances are usually defining factors when it comes to choosing between Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 270. Make sure that the graphics card has compatible dimensions and will properly fit in your new or current computer case. Also these graphics cards may have different system power recommendations, so take that into consideration and upgrade your PSU if necessary.

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 8970M Radeon R9 270
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 150 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 270 has 50% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon HD 8970M has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 270.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R9 270 - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon R9 270 - with GCN 1.0.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R9 270 are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 20−22 21−24
ultra / 1080p 12−14 12−14
QHD / 1440p 6−7 7−8
4K / 2160p 5−6 5−6
low / 720p 35−40 40−45
medium / 1080p 24−27 27−30
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 270 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 5% more, than Radeon HD 8970M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon R9 270
Architecture GCN GCN 1.0
Code name Neptune Curacao
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 15 May 2013 13 November 2013
Pipelines 1280 1280
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz 925 MHz
Transistor count 2,800 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 72.00 74.00
Floating-point performance 2,304 gflops 2,368 gflops
Length 210 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 179.2 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131 +
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s 293 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 16 Mh/s
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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