GeForce GTX 650 vs Radeon HD 7970
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 7970 and GeForce GTX 650, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 7970 outperforms GTX 650 by a whopping 199% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 442 | 735 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 96 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.18 | 1.22 |
| Power efficiency | 3.90 | 5.01 |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) | Kepler (2012−2018) |
| GPU code name | Tahiti | GK107 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | reference | no data |
| Release date | 9 January 2012 (14 years ago) | 6 September 2012 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $549 | $109 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
HD 7970 has 79% better value for money than GTX 650.
Performance to price scatter graph
Currently popular graphics cards are shown for comparison.
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Real power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially if overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 2048 | 384 |
| Core clock speed | no data | 1058 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 925 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 4,313 million | 1,270 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 64 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 118.4 | 33.86 |
| Floating-point processing power | 3.789 TFLOPS | 0.8125 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 16 |
| TMUs | 128 | 32 |
| L1 Cache | 512 KB | 32 KB |
| L2 Cache | 768 KB | 256 KB |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | PCIe 2.1 x16 | PCI Express 3.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 275 mm | 147 mm |
| Height | no data | 4.38" (11.1 cm) |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 384 Bit | 128-bit GDDR5 |
| Memory clock speed | 1375 MHz | 5.0 GB/s |
| Memory bandwidth | 264 GB/s | 80.0 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One Mini HDMI |
| Multi monitor support | no data | 4 displays |
| Eyefinity | + | - |
| HDMI | + | + |
| HDCP | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | Internal |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| CrossFire | + | - |
| FreeSync | + | - |
| 3D Blu-Ray | - | + |
| 3D Gaming | - | + |
| 3D Vision | - | + |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | DirectX® 11 | 12 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 6.5 (5.1) | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.3 |
| OpenCL | 2.1 (1.2) | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | - | 1.1.126 |
| CUDA | - | + |
Synthetic benchmarks
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| 900p | 105
+200%
| 35−40
−200%
|
| Full HD | 93
+210%
| 30−35
−210%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 5.90
−62.5%
| 3.63
+62.5%
|
- GTX 650 has 62% lower cost per frame in 1080p
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low
| Counter-Strike 2 | 70−75
+233%
|
21−24
−233%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 27−30
+200%
|
9−10
−200%
|
| Palworld | 30−33
+200%
|
10−11
−200%
|
| Resident Evil 4 Remake | 24−27
+225%
|
8−9
−225%
|
Full HD
Medium
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+211%
|
18−20
−211%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 70−75
+233%
|
21−24
−233%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 27−30
+200%
|
9−10
−200%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+200%
|
14−16
−200%
|
| Fortnite | 70−75
+208%
|
24−27
−208%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55
+200%
|
18−20
−200%
|
| Palworld | 30−33
+200%
|
10−11
−200%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45−50
+229%
|
14−16
−229%
|
| Valorant | 110−120
+214%
|
35−40
−214%
|
Full HD
High
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+211%
|
18−20
−211%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 70−75
+233%
|
21−24
−233%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 212
+203%
|
70−75
−203%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 27−30
+200%
|
9−10
−200%
|
| Dota 2 | 85−90
+215%
|
27−30
−215%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+200%
|
14−16
−200%
|
| Fortnite | 70−75
+208%
|
24−27
−208%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55
+200%
|
18−20
−200%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 45−50
+200%
|
16−18
−200%
|
| Metro Exodus | 24−27
+225%
|
8−9
−225%
|
| Palworld | 30−33
+200%
|
10−11
−200%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45−50
+229%
|
14−16
−229%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
+230%
|
10−11
−230%
|
| Valorant | 110−120
+214%
|
35−40
−214%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+211%
|
18−20
−211%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 27−30
+200%
|
9−10
−200%
|
| Dota 2 | 85−90
+215%
|
27−30
−215%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+200%
|
14−16
−200%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 50−55
+200%
|
18−20
−200%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45−50
+229%
|
14−16
−229%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
+230%
|
10−11
−230%
|
| Valorant | 110−120
+214%
|
35−40
−214%
|
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 70−75
+208%
|
24−27
−208%
|
| Palworld | 30−33
+200%
|
10−11
−200%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 24−27
+200%
|
8−9
−200%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 95−100
+217%
|
30−33
−217%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 18−20
+217%
|
6−7
−217%
|
| Metro Exodus | 14−16
+200%
|
5−6
−200%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 85−90
+215%
|
27−30
−215%
|
| Valorant | 120−130
+210%
|
40−45
−210%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+250%
|
10−11
−250%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
+267%
|
3−4
−267%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 27−30
+211%
|
9−10
−211%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 30−35
+210%
|
10−11
−210%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
+200%
|
6−7
−200%
|
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 27−30
+211%
|
9−10
−211%
|
| Palworld | 16−18
+240%
|
5−6
−240%
|
4K
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 8−9
+300%
|
2−3
−300%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 24−27
+200%
|
8−9
−200%
|
| Metro Exodus | 9−10
+200%
|
3−4
−200%
|
| Palworld | 9−10
+200%
|
3−4
−200%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 16−18
+240%
|
5−6
−240%
|
| Valorant | 60−65
+233%
|
18−20
−233%
|
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 18−20
+200%
|
6−7
−200%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 8−9
+300%
|
2−3
−300%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Dota 2 | 45−50
+229%
|
14−16
−229%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 12−14
+225%
|
4−5
−225%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 21−24
+214%
|
7−8
−214%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 12−14
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 12−14
+200%
|
4−5
−200%
|
| Palworld | 9−10
+200%
|
3−4
−200%
|
This is how HD 7970 and GTX 650 compete in popular games:
- HD 7970 is 200% faster in 900p
- HD 7970 is 210% faster in 1080p
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 12.60 | 4.21 |
| Recency | 9 January 2012 | 6 September 2012 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 2 GB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 64 Watt |
HD 7970 has a 199% higher aggregate performance score, and a 200% higher maximum VRAM amount.
GTX 650, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 7 months, and 369% lower power consumption.
The Radeon HD 7970 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 650 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
