Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire vs GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile

Place in the ranking	281	336
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	27.10	no data
Power efficiency	16.88	5.49
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code name	GP106	Wimbledon XT
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	15 August 2016 (8 years ago)	1 May 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$237.11	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1280	2560
Core clock speed	1506 MHz	850 MHz
Boost clock speed	1708 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	4,400 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	200 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	94 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	133.6	no data
Floating-point processing power	4.275 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	48	no data
TMUs	80	no data

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).

Laptop size	large	large
Bus support	PCIe 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data

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	no data
Memory bus width	192 Bit	2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2002 MHz	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192 GB/s	no data
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	DP 1.43, HDMI 2.0b, Dual Link-DVI	no data
Multi monitor support	+	no data
HDCP	2.2	-
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream	+	-
GPU Boost	3.0	no data
VR Ready	+	no data
Ansel	+	-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	11.1
Shader Model	6.4	no data
OpenGL	4.5	no data
OpenCL	1.2	no data
Vulkan	1.2.131	-
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

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. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1060 Mobile 19.71
+23%

HD 7970M Crossfire 16.02

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 1060 Mobile 14693
+32.1%

HD 7970M Crossfire 11119

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 1060 Mobile 34127
+9.6%

HD 7970M Crossfire 31127

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	160−170 +21.2%	132 −21.2%
Full HD	68 −48.5%	101 +48.5%
1440p	44 +25.7%	35−40 −25.7%
4K	28 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.49	no data
1440p	5.39	no data
4K	8.47	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

37
+48%

24−27

−48%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	62 +72.2%	35−40 −72.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	53 +104%	24−27 −104%
Battlefield 5	78 +47.2%	50−55 −47.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	61 +90.6%	30−35 −90.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	30 +20%	24−27 −20%
Far Cry 5	75 +97.4%	35−40 −97.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	76 +72.7%	40−45 −72.7%
Forza Horizon 4	229 +122%	100−110 −122%
Hitman 3	54 +74.2%	30−35 −74.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	136 +67.9%	80−85 −67.9%
Metro Exodus	81 +47.3%	55−60 −47.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	74 +68.2%	40−45 −68.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	119 +125%	50−55 −125%
Watch Dogs: Legion	137 +69.1%	80−85 −69.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	91 +153%	35−40 −153%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	45 +73.1%	24−27 −73.1%
Battlefield 5	69 +30.2%	50−55 −30.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	55 +71.9%	30−35 −71.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	25 +0%	24−27 +0%
Far Cry 5	59 +55.3%	35−40 −55.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	58 +31.8%	40−45 −31.8%
Forza Horizon 4	210 +104%	100−110 −104%
Hitman 3	51 +64.5%	30−35 −64.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn	134 +65.4%	80−85 −65.4%
Metro Exodus	70 +27.3%	55−60 −27.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	62 +40.9%	40−45 −40.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80 +50.9%	50−55 −50.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	122 +221%	35−40 −221%
Watch Dogs: Legion	133 +64.2%	80−85 −64.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	37 +2.8%	35−40 −2.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	38 +46.2%	24−27 −46.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40 +25%	30−35 −25%
Cyberpunk 2077	23 −8.7%	24−27 +8.7%
Far Cry 5	43 +13.2%	35−40 −13.2%
Forza Horizon 4	71 −45.1%	100−110 +45.1%
Hitman 3	45 +45.2%	30−35 −45.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	66 −22.7%	80−85 +22.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	68 +28.3%	50−55 −28.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	39 +2.6%	35−40 −2.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	28 −189%	80−85 +189%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

59
+34.1%

40−45

−34.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	41 +32.3%	30−35 −32.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	40 +60%	24−27 −60%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27 +68.8%	16−18 −68.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	27 +108%	12−14 −108%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27 +58.8%	16−18 −58.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +44.4%	9−10 −44.4%
Far Cry 5	28 +47.4%	18−20 −47.4%
Forza Horizon 4	173 +101%	85−90 −101%
Hitman 3	24−27 +31.6%	18−20 −31.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	48 +45.5%	30−35 −45.5%
Metro Exodus	45 +55.2%	27−30 −55.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +46.7%	30−33 −46.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +47.1%	16−18 −47.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	129 +31.6%	95−100 −31.6%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40
+53.8%

24−27

−53.8%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	22 +37.5%	16−18 −37.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	21 +75%	12−14 −75%
Hitman 3	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	59 −37.3%	80−85 +37.3%
Metro Exodus	22 +37.5%	16−18 −37.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	26 +73.3%	14−16 −73.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18 +100%	9−10 −100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10 +25%	8−9 −25%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	13 +62.5%	8−9 −62.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	14 +55.6%	9−10 −55.6%
Forza Horizon 4	35 +59.1%	21−24 −59.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +50%	16−18 −50%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20
+42.9%

14−16

−42.9%

This is how GTX 1060 Mobile and HD 7970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

GTX 1060 Mobile is 21% faster in 900p
HD 7970M Crossfire is 49% faster in 1080p
GTX 1060 Mobile is 26% faster in 1440p
GTX 1060 Mobile is 33% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 1060 Mobile is 221% faster.
in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M Crossfire is 189% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 1060 Mobile is ahead in 66 tests (92%)
HD 7970M Crossfire is ahead in 5 tests (7%)
there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	19.71	16.02
Recency	15 August 2016	1 May 2012
Chip lithography	16 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	200 Watt

GTX 1060 Mobile has a 23% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 150% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.