Radeon HD 8970M vs Radeon R7 260X

In this comparison between Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R7 260X 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 8970M will be the best choice, for others Radeon R7 260X will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

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 R7 260X
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 115 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 4 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R7 260X has 15% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 8970M.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R7 260X have maximum RAM of 4 GB.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is used in Laptops, and Radeon R7 260X - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 8970M is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon R7 260X - with GCN 2.0.
  • Radeon HD 8970M and Radeon R7 260X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 20−22 16−18
ultra / 1080p 12−14 9−10
QHD / 1440p 6−7 4−5
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 35−40 30−35
medium / 1080p 24−27 20−22
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 8970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 25% more, than Radeon R7 260X.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 8970M Radeon R7 260X
Architecture GCN GCN 2.0
Code name Neptune Bonaire
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 15 May 2013 8 October 2013
Pipelines 1280 896
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 900 MHz 1000 MHz
Transistor count 2,800 million 2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 72.00 61.60
Floating-point performance 2,304 gflops 1,971 gflops
Length 170 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 104 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan 1.2.131
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s 225 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
Design reference
DDMA audio +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 5.16 Mh/s
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