AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI

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General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking290309
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money30.0130.38
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameno dataWimbledon XT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date5 January 2015 (9 years old)1 May 2012 (11 years old)
Current price$149 $126
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7970M Crossfire has 1% better value for money than GTX 965M SLI.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores20482560
Core clock speed924 MHz850 MHz
Boost clock speed950 MHzno data
Number of transistors2x 5200 Millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data200 Watt

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 965M SLI and Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizelargelarge
SLI options+no data

Memory

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2x 4 GBno data
Memory bus width128 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed5000 MHz4800 MHz
Shared memory--

Technologies

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

Optimus+no data

API support

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

DirectX12_111.1
CUDA+no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 965M SLI
17.24
+8%

GeForce GTX 965M SLI outperforms Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire by 8% in our combined benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 965M SLI 14428
+29.8%
HD 7970M Crossfire 11119

GeForce GTX 965M SLI outperforms Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire by 30% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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:

900p140−150
+6.1%
132
−6.1%
Full HD72
−41.7%
102
+41.7%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35−40
+9.1%
30−35
−9.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−33
+11.1%
27−30
−11.1%
Battlefield 5 55−60
+9.3%
50−55
−9.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+7.3%
40−45
−7.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+9.5%
40−45
−9.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 45−50
+9.3%
40−45
−9.3%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+7.3%
55−60
−7.3%
Hitman 3 45−50
+11.4%
40−45
−11.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+9.1%
30−35
−9.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+8.8%
30−35
−8.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35−40
+9.1%
30−35
−9.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−33
+11.1%
27−30
−11.1%
Battlefield 5 55−60
+9.3%
50−55
−9.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+7.3%
40−45
−7.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+9.5%
40−45
−9.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 45−50
+9.3%
40−45
−9.3%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+7.3%
55−60
−7.3%
Hitman 3 45−50
+11.4%
40−45
−11.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+9.1%
30−35
−9.1%
Metro Exodus 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 35−40
+8.8%
30−35
−8.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+8.8%
30−35
−8.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35−40
+9.1%
30−35
−9.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−33
+11.1%
27−30
−11.1%
Battlefield 5 55−60
+9.3%
50−55
−9.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+9.5%
40−45
−9.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 45−50
+9.3%
40−45
−9.3%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+7.3%
55−60
−7.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+8.8%
30−35
−8.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+13%
21−24
−13%
Hitman 3 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+4.5%
21−24
−4.5%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 21−24
+10%
20−22
−10%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+5.9%
16−18
−5.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+8.8%
30−35
−8.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+11.5%
24−27
−11.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+6.7%
30−33
−6.7%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+10.5%
18−20
−10.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Hitman 3 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Metro Exodus 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+13.3%
14−16
−13.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+11.8%
16−18
−11.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+7.7%
12−14
−7.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 16−18
+6.3%
16−18
−6.3%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+10%
20−22
−10%
Watch Dogs: Legion 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

This is how GTX 965M SLI and HD 7970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 965M SLI is 6.1% faster than HD 7970M Crossfire

1080p resolution:

  • HD 7970M Crossfire is 41.7% faster than GTX 965M SLI

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

  • in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 965M SLI is 16.7% faster than the HD 7970M Crossfire.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 965M SLI is ahead in 65 tests (96%)
  • there's a draw in 3 tests (4%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 17.24 15.97
Recency 5 January 2015 1 May 2012
Memory bus width 128 256
Pipelines / CUDA cores 2048 2560

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 965M SLI and Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire. The differences in performance seem too small.


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

Cast your own vote

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI
GeForce GTX 965M SLI
AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire

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User ratings: view and submit

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Questions and comments

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