Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire vs GeForce GTX 965M SLI
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 965M SLI and Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 965M SLI outperforms HD 7970M Crossfire by a small 8% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 320 | 339 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 5.53 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2017) | GCN (2012−2015) |
| GPU code name | no data | Wimbledon XT |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 5 January 2015 (10 years ago) | 1 May 2012 (12 years ago) |
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 | 2048 | 2560 |
| Core clock speed | 924 MHz | 850 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 950 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 2x 5200 Million | no data |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 200 Watt |
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 |
| SLI options | + | - |
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 | 2x 4 GB | no data |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 2x 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 5000 MHz | 4800 MHz |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12_1 | 11.1 |
| 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.
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.
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 | 140−150
+6.1%
| 132
−6.1%
|
| Full HD | 70
−44.3%
| 101
+44.3%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−33
+7.1%
|
27−30
−7.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−35
+6.3%
|
30−35
−6.3%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+7.7%
|
50−55
−7.7%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−33
+7.1%
|
27−30
−7.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−35
+6.3%
|
30−35
−6.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+9.1%
|
65−70
−9.1%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 45−50
+7%
|
40−45
−7%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+6.8%
|
40−45
−6.8%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 40−45
+5.1%
|
35−40
−5.1%
|
| Valorant | 70−75
+7.7%
|
65−70
−7.7%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+7.7%
|
50−55
−7.7%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−33
+7.1%
|
27−30
−7.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−35
+6.3%
|
30−35
−6.3%
|
| Dota 2 | 60−65
+6.9%
|
55−60
−6.9%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 60−65
+5.2%
|
55−60
−5.2%
|
| Fortnite | 90−95
+6.8%
|
85−90
−6.8%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+9.1%
|
65−70
−9.1%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 45−50
+7%
|
40−45
−7%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 60−65
+8.8%
|
55−60
−8.8%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+6.8%
|
40−45
−6.8%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 120−130
+6.1%
|
110−120
−6.1%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 40−45
+5.1%
|
35−40
−5.1%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 61
+24.5%
|
45−50
−24.5%
|
| Valorant | 70−75
+7.7%
|
65−70
−7.7%
|
| World of Tanks | 210−220
+4.9%
|
200−210
−4.9%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+7.7%
|
50−55
−7.7%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−33
+7.1%
|
27−30
−7.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−35
+6.3%
|
30−35
−6.3%
|
| Dota 2 | 60−65
+6.9%
|
55−60
−6.9%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 60−65
+5.2%
|
55−60
−5.2%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+9.1%
|
65−70
−9.1%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 45−50
+7%
|
40−45
−7%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 120−130
+6.1%
|
110−120
−6.1%
|
| Valorant | 70−75
+7.7%
|
65−70
−7.7%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Dota 2 | 24−27
+8.3%
|
24−27
−8.3%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 27−30
+12.5%
|
24−27
−12.5%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 160−170
+7.4%
|
140−150
−7.4%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 14−16
+7.1%
|
14−16
−7.1%
|
| World of Tanks | 110−120
+7.2%
|
110−120
−7.2%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+9.4%
|
30−35
−9.4%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16
+16.7%
|
12−14
−16.7%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+10%
|
40−45
−10%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 40−45
+10%
|
40−45
−10%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 27−30
+8%
|
24−27
−8%
|
| Metro Exodus | 35−40
+11.4%
|
35−40
−11.4%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 24−27
+9.1%
|
21−24
−9.1%
|
| Valorant | 40−45
+10%
|
40−45
−10%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+8.3%
|
12−14
−8.3%
|
| Dota 2 | 30−33
+7.1%
|
27−30
−7.1%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 27−30
+7.4%
|
27−30
−7.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 12−14
+9.1%
|
10−12
−9.1%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 50−55
+8.3%
|
45−50
−8.3%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 10−12
+10%
|
10−11
−10%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 27−30
+7.4%
|
27−30
−7.4%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 16−18
+13.3%
|
14−16
−13.3%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+8.3%
|
12−14
−8.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 30−33
+7.1%
|
27−30
−7.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 21−24
+10%
|
20−22
−10%
|
| Fortnite | 20−22
+11.1%
|
18−20
−11.1%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
+8.7%
|
21−24
−8.7%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 14−16
+16.7%
|
12−14
−16.7%
|
| Valorant | 20−22
+11.1%
|
18−20
−11.1%
|
This is how GTX 965M SLI and HD 7970M Crossfire compete in popular games:
- GTX 965M SLI is 6% faster in 900p
- HD 7970M Crossfire is 44% faster in 1080p
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 965M SLI is 24% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- GTX 965M SLI is ahead in 62 tests (97%)
- there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 17.34 | 16.05 |
| Recency | 5 January 2015 | 1 May 2012 |
GTX 965M SLI has a 8% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 2 years.
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTX 965M SLI and Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
