Radeon HD 7970 vs Quadro RTX 4000

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Quadro RTX 4000 with Radeon HD 7970, including specs and performance data.

RTX 4000
2018, $899
8 GB GDDR6, 160 Watt
35.61
+184%

RTX 4000 outperforms HD 7970 by a whopping 184% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking158433
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation12.612.16
Power efficiency17.093.85
ArchitectureTuring (2018−2022)GCN 1.0 (2012−2020)
GPU code nameTU104Tahiti
Market segmentWorkstationDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date13 November 2018 (7 years ago)9 January 2012 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$899 $549

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

RTX 4000 has 484% better value for money than HD 7970.

Performance to price scatter graph

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 cores23042048
Core clock speed1005 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1545 MHz925 MHz
Number of transistors13,600 million4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology12 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)160 Watt300 Watt
Texture fill rate222.5118.4
Floating-point processing power7.119 TFLOPS3.789 TFLOPS
ROPs6432
TMUs144128
Tensor Cores288no data
Ray Tracing Cores36no data
L1 Cache2.3 MB512 KB
L2 Cache4 MB768 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 supportno dataPCIe 2.1 x16
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length241 mm275 mm
Width1-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 typeGDDR6GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount8 GB6 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed1625 MHz1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth416.0 GB/s264 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 Connectors3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2
Eyefinity-+
HDMI-+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire-+
FreeSync-+

API and SDK support

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

DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)DirectX® 11
Shader Model6.86.5 (5.1)
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL3.02.1 (1.2)
Vulkan1.3-
CUDA7.5-
DLSS+-

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.

RTX 4000 35.61
+184%
HD 7970 12.55

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.

RTX 4000 14893
+184%
Samples: 2219
HD 7970 5248
Samples: 10419

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:

900p290−300
+176%
105
−176%
Full HD260−270
+180%
93
−180%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.46
+70.7%
5.90
−70.7%
  • RTX 4000 has 71% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Counter-Strike 2 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

Full HD
Medium

Battlefield 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Fortnite 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

Full HD
High

Battlefield 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 212
+0%
212
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Dota 2 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Fortnite 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Dota 2 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 70−75
+0%
70−75
+0%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 95−100
+0%
95−100
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 20−22
+0%
20−22
+0%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 100−110
+0%
100−110
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

4K
High

Counter-Strike 2 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Metro Exodus 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Valorant 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Dota 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

This is how RTX 4000 and HD 7970 compete in popular games:

  • RTX 4000 is 176% faster in 900p
  • RTX 4000 is 180% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 66 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 35.61 12.55
Recency 13 November 2018 9 January 2012
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 6 GB
Chip lithography 12 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 160 Watt 300 Watt

RTX 4000 has a 183.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 133.3% more advanced lithography process, and 87.5% lower power consumption.

The Quadro RTX 4000 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970 in performance tests.

Be aware that Quadro RTX 4000 is a workstation graphics card while Radeon HD 7970 is a desktop one.

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NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000
Quadro RTX 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7970
Radeon HD 7970

Other comparisons

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

Community ratings

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


3.6 528 votes

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