Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon R9 M390X

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 M390X. 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 7970 and Radeon R9 M390X. 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 R9 M390X is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon R9 M390X 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 R9 M390X here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 7970 Radeon R9 M390X
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 7970 has 200% more power consumption, than Radeon R9 M390X.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • Radeon R9 M390X has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7970.
  • Radeon HD 7970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon R9 M390X - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 7970 is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon R9 M390X - with GCN 3.
  • Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon R9 M390X are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 21−24
ultra / 1080p 21−24 12−14
QHD / 1440p 16−18 8−9
4K / 2160p 10−11 5−6
low / 720p 60−65 40−45
medium / 1080p 40−45 27−30
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 60% more, than Radeon R9 M390X.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 7970 Radeon R9 M390X
Architecture GCN GCN 3
Code name Tahiti XT Amethyst (XT) / Tonga
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 December 2011 9 June 2015
Pipelines 2048 2048
Core clock speed 723 MHz
Boost Clock 925 MHz
Transistor count 4,313 million 5,000 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 118.4 92.54
Floating-point performance 3,789 gflops 2,961 gflops
Length 274 mm
Memory bus width 384 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth 264 GB/s 160.0 GB/s
Shared memory - -
Shader Model 5.1 6.3
OpenGL 4.6 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 Not Listed
Vulkan +
FreeSync + +
Bus support PCIe 2.1 x16 PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 485 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity + +
HD3D +
PowerTune +
DualGraphics +
ZeroCore +
Switchable graphics +
Mantle +
Design reference
CrossFire +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 20.71 Mh/s
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