Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon RX Vega M GL 870

When comparing Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon RX Vega M GL 870, we look primarily at benchmarks and game tests. But it is not only about the numbers. Often you can find third-party models with higher clock speeds, better cooling, or a customizable RGB lighting. Not all of them will have all the features you need. Another thing to consider is the port selection. Most graphics cards have at least one DisplayPort and HDMI interface, but some monitors require DVI. Before you buy, check the TDP of the graphics card - this characteristic will help you estimate the consumption of the graphics card. You may even have to upgrade your PSU to meet its requirements. An important factor when choosing between Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 is the price. Does the additional cost justify the performance hit? Our comparison should help you make the right decision.

Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 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 RX Vega M GL 870 here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 7970 Radeon RX Vega M GL 870
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 HBM2
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 has 1 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7970.
  • Radeon HD 7970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 7970 is build with GCN architecture, and Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 - with Vega.
  • Radeon HD 7970 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 - by 14 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 35−40
ultra / 1080p 21−24 21−24
QHD / 1440p 16−18 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 60−65
medium / 1080p 40−45 40−45
Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon RX Vega M GL 870 have the same average FPS in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 7970 Radeon RX Vega M GL 870
Architecture GCN Vega
Code name Tahiti XT Vega Kaby Lake-G
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 22 December 2011 7 January 2018
Pipelines 2048 1280
Core clock speed 931 MHz
Boost Clock 925 MHz 1011 MHz
Transistor count 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 118.4
Floating-point performance 3,789 gflops
Length 274 mm
Memory bus width 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth 264 GB/s
Shared memory - -
DirectX DirectX 12_1
Shader Model 5.1
OpenGL 4.6
OpenCL 1.2
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 2.1 x16
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 485 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 20.71 Mh/s
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