Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Radeon HD 7970 vs HD 7870 XT
Aggregated performance score
HD 7870 XT
2012
2 GB GDDR5
11.54
HD 7970
2011
6144 MB GDDR5
13.55
+17.4%
HD 7970 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 17% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 378 | 351 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 3.80 | 4.00 |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) | GCN (2011−2017) |
| GPU code name | Tahiti | Tahiti XT |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | no data | reference |
| Release date | 19 November 2012 (11 years old) | 22 December 2011 (12 years old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $270 | $549 |
| Current price | $133 (0.5x MSRP) | $89 (0.2x MSRP) |
Value for money
HD 7970 has 5% better value for money than HD 7870 XT.
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 cores | 1536 | 2048 |
| Core clock speed | 925 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 975 MHz | 925 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 4,313 million | 4,313 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 185 Watt | 300 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 93.60 | 118.4 |
| Floating-point performance | 2,995 gflops | 3,789 gflops |
Size and 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 support | no data | PCIe 2.1 x16 |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | 267 mm | 274 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |
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 type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 384 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 6000 MHz | 1375 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 264 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
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 Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | no data | + |
| HDMI | + | + |
| DisplayPort support | no data | - |
Technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| AppAcceleration | no data | - |
| CrossFire | no data | 1 |
| Enduro | no data | - |
| FreeSync | no data | 1 |
| HD3D | no data | - |
| PowerTune | no data | - |
| TrueAudio | no data | - |
| ZeroCore | no data | - |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | DirectX® 11 |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | 1.2.131 | no data |
| Mantle | 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.
HD 7970 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 17% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.
Benchmark coverage: 25%
HD 7970 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 17% in Passmark.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
HD 7970 outperforms HD 7870 XT by 7% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.
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 | 85−90
−23.5%
| 105
+23.5%
|
| Full HD | 75−80
−24%
| 93
+24%
|
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 11.54 | 13.55 |
| Recency | 19 November 2012 | 22 December 2011 |
| Cost | $270 | $549 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 185 Watt | 300 Watt |
The Radeon HD 7970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7870 XT in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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