AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M

#ad
Buy
VS

General info

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

Place in performance ranking272309
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money9.3230.38
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameGM204Wimbledon XT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date7 October 2014 (9 years old)1 May 2012 (11 years old)
Current price$583 $126
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7970M Crossfire has 226% better value for money than GTX 980M.

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 cores15362560
CUDA cores1536no data
Core clock speed1038 MHz850 MHz
Boost clock speed1127 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,200 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)unknown200 Watt
Texture fill rate51.84no data
Floating-point performance3,462 gflopsno data

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 980M 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
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)no data
Supplementary power connectorsNoneno data
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 amount8 GBno data
Memory bus width256 Bit2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed2500 MHz4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth160 GB/sno data
Shared memory--

Video outputs and ports

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 ConnectorsNo outputsno data
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI+no data
G-SYNC support+no data

Technologies

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

GameStream+no data
GeForce ShadowPlay+no data
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+no data
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+no data
Optimus+no data
BatteryBoost+no data
Ansel+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)11.1
Shader Model6.4no data
OpenGL4.5no data
OpenCL1.1no data
Vulkan1.1.126no data
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 980M
18.98
+18.8%

GeForce GTX 980M outperforms Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire by 19% in our combined benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 980M 31944
+2.6%
HD 7970M Crossfire 31127

GeForce GTX 980M outperforms Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire by 3% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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 980M 12517
+12.6%
HD 7970M Crossfire 11119

GeForce GTX 980M outperforms Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire by 13% 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:

900p173
+31.1%
132
−31.1%
Full HD72
−41.7%
102
+41.7%
1440p36
+20%
30−35
−20%
4K27
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+20%
24−27
−20%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 51
+54.5%
30−35
−54.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Battlefield 5 82
+51.9%
50−55
−51.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 45−50
+19.5%
40−45
−19.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+20%
24−27
−20%
Far Cry 5 58
+38.1%
40−45
−38.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 60
+39.5%
40−45
−39.5%
Forza Horizon 4 74
+34.5%
55−60
−34.5%
Hitman 3 55−60
+25%
40−45
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+21.2%
30−35
−21.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+14.8%
27−30
−14.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 51
+50%
30−35
−50%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+20%
30−33
−20%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 44
+33.3%
30−35
−33.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Battlefield 5 68
+25.9%
50−55
−25.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 45−50
+19.5%
40−45
−19.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+20%
24−27
−20%
Far Cry 5 53
+26.2%
40−45
−26.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 56
+30.2%
40−45
−30.2%
Forza Horizon 4 68
+23.6%
55−60
−23.6%
Hitman 3 55−60
+25%
40−45
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+21.2%
30−35
−21.2%
Metro Exodus 31
+24%
24−27
−24%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+14.8%
27−30
−14.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 42
+23.5%
30−35
−23.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 61
+79.4%
30−35
−79.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+20%
30−33
−20%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 26
−26.9%
30−35
+26.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Battlefield 5 61
+13%
50−55
−13%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+20%
24−27
−20%
Far Cry 5 50
+19%
40−45
−19%
Far Cry New Dawn 51
+18.6%
40−45
−18.6%
Forza Horizon 4 47
−17%
55−60
+17%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 33
−3%
30−35
+3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40
+20%
30−33
−20%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+21.7%
21−24
−21.7%
Hitman 3 30−33
+20%
24−27
−20%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+13.6%
21−24
−13.6%
Metro Exodus 19
+26.7%
14−16
−26.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+16.7%
12−14
−16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 25
+25%
20−22
−25%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 20
+17.6%
16−18
−17.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 16−18
+30.8%
12−14
−30.8%
Battlefield 5 45
+32.4%
30−35
−32.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Far Cry 5 34
+30.8%
24−27
−30.8%
Far Cry New Dawn 38
+26.7%
30−33
−26.7%
Forza Horizon 4 39
+30%
30−33
−30%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+26.3%
18−20
−26.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Hitman 3 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
+18.2%
10−12
−18.2%
Metro Exodus 12
+50%
8−9
−50%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12
+20%
10−11
−20%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 22
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12
+20%
10−11
−20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Battlefield 5 23
+35.3%
16−18
−35.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 16
+23.1%
12−14
−23.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 20
+25%
16−18
−25%
Forza Horizon 4 26
+30%
20−22
−30%
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%

This is how GTX 980M and HD 7970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 980M is 31.1% faster than HD 7970M Crossfire

1080p resolution:

  • HD 7970M Crossfire is 41.7% faster than GTX 980M

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 980M is 20% faster than HD 7970M Crossfire

4K resolution:

  • GTX 980M is 28.6% faster than HD 7970M Crossfire

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 980M is 79.4% faster than the HD 7970M Crossfire.
  • in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M Crossfire is 26.9% faster than the GTX 980M.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 980M is ahead in 65 tests (96%)
  • HD 7970M Crossfire is ahead in 3 tests (4%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 18.98 15.97
Recency 7 October 2014 1 May 2012
Pipelines / CUDA cores 1536 2560

The GeForce GTX 980M 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.

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 980M
GeForce GTX 980M
AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire

Similar GPU comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

User ratings: view and submit

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 307 votes

Rate NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
2.1 19 votes

Rate AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.