Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) vs ATI HD 5970

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 5970 with Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), including specs and performance data.

ATI HD 5970
2009
1 GB GDDR5, 294 Watt
5.92
+31.6%

ATI HD 5970 outperforms RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by a substantial 32% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking586656
Place by popularitynot in top-10030
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.34no data
Power efficiency1.3920.74
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)Vega (2017−2020)
GPU code nameHemlockVega Raven Ridge
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date18 November 2009 (15 years ago)26 October 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$699 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 cores1600512
Core clock speed725 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data1200 MHz
Number of transistors2,154 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology40 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)294 Watt15 Watt
Texture fill rate58.00no data
Floating-point processing power2.32 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs80no 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).

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16no data
Length305 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinno 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 typeGDDR5no data
Maximum RAM amount1 GBno data
Memory bus width256 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1000 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/sno 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPortno data

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)12_1
Shader Model5.0no data
OpenGL4.4no data
OpenCL1.2no data
VulkanN/A-

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.

ATI HD 5970 5.92
+31.6%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 4.50

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.

ATI HD 5970 2282
+31.4%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 1737

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

ATI HD 5970 3690
+55%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 2381

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:

Full HD21−24
+23.5%
17
−23.5%
4K12−14
+20%
10
−20%

Cost per frame, $

1080p33.29no data
4K58.25no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 9
+0%
9
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 15
+0%
15
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10
+0%
10
+0%
Battlefield 5 18
+0%
18
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10
+0%
10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 9
+0%
9
+0%
Far Cry 5 18
+0%
18
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 18
+0%
18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 58
+0%
58
+0%
Hitman 3 9
+0%
9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Metro Exodus 22
+0%
22
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16
+0%
16
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 19
+0%
19
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 65
+0%
65
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30
+0%
30
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Battlefield 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10
+0%
10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6
+0%
6
+0%
Far Cry 5 10
+0%
10
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 13
+0%
13
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 52
+0%
52
+0%
Hitman 3 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−33
+0%
30−33
+0%
Metro Exodus 17
+0%
17
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10
+0%
10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16
+0%
16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 31
+0%
31
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55
+0%
55
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8
+0%
8
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7
+0%
7
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 5
+0%
5
+0%
Far Cry 5 7
+0%
7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 23
+0%
23
+0%
Hitman 3 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 15
+0%
15
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14
+0%
14
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8
+0%
8
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10
+0%
10
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Hitman 3 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 0−1 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4
+0%
4
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 9
+0%
9
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

This is how ATI HD 5970 and RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) compete in popular games:

  • ATI HD 5970 is 24% faster in 1080p
  • ATI HD 5970 is 20% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.92 4.50
Recency 18 November 2009 26 October 2017
Chip lithography 40 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 294 Watt 15 Watt

ATI HD 5970 has a 31.6% higher aggregate performance score.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), on the other hand, has an age advantage of 7 years, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 1860% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 5970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 5970 is a desktop card while Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is a notebook one.


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

Vote for your favorite

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


ATI Radeon HD 5970
Radeon HD 5970
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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 43 votes

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3.5 1381 vote

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Questions & comments

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