GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB vs Radeon HD 7970

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7970 and GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7970
2011
6 GB GDDR5, 300 Watt
11.74

RTX 3050 4 GB outperforms HD 7970 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 ranking394323
Place by popularitynot in top-10038
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.1235.85
Power efficiency3.7213.61
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code nameTahitiGA107
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date22 December 2011 (13 years ago)27 January 2022 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$549 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

RTX 3050 4 GB has 1591% better value for money than HD 7970.

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 cores20482048
Core clock speedno data1545 MHz
Boost clock speed925 MHz1740 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million8,700 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)300 Watt90 Watt
Texture fill rate118.4111.4
Floating-point processing power3.789 TFLOPS7.127 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs12864
Tensor Coresno data64
Ray Tracing Coresno data16

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 supportPCIe 2.1 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x8
Length274 mm242 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 6-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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount6 GB4 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth264 GB/s192.0 GB/s
Shared memory--
Resizable BAR-+

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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
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 compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1112 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.7
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.23.0
Vulkan-1.3
CUDA-8.6
DLSS-+

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.

HD 7970 11.74
RTX 3050 4 GB 15.46
+31.7%

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.

HD 7970 5248
RTX 3050 4 GB 6908
+31.6%

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:

900p105
−23.8%
130−140
+23.8%
Full HD93
−29%
120−130
+29%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.90
−256%
1.66
+256%
  • RTX 3050 4 GB has 256% lower cost per frame in 1080p

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
−25%
40−45
+25%
Counter-Strike 2 70−75
−26.8%
90−95
+26.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
−25%
40−45
+25%
Battlefield 5 55−60
−25%
70−75
+25%
Counter-Strike 2 70−75
−26.8%
90−95
+26.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−27.9%
55−60
+27.9%
Fortnite 70−75
−28.4%
95−100
+28.4%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
−29.6%
70−75
+29.6%
Forza Horizon 5 40−45
−25%
50−55
+25%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
−30.4%
60−65
+30.4%
Valorant 110−120
−27.3%
140−150
+27.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 30−35
−25%
40−45
+25%
Battlefield 5 55−60
−25%
70−75
+25%
Counter-Strike 2 70−75
−26.8%
90−95
+26.8%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 212
−27.4%
270−280
+27.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%
Dota 2 80−85
−31%
110−120
+31%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−27.9%
55−60
+27.9%
Fortnite 70−75
−28.4%
95−100
+28.4%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
−29.6%
70−75
+29.6%
Forza Horizon 5 40−45
−25%
50−55
+25%
Grand Theft Auto V 45−50
−22.4%
60−65
+22.4%
Metro Exodus 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
−30.4%
60−65
+30.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−17.6%
40−45
+17.6%
Valorant 110−120
−27.3%
140−150
+27.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 55−60
−25%
70−75
+25%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
−15.4%
30−33
+15.4%
Dota 2 80−85
−31%
110−120
+31%
Far Cry 5 40−45
−27.9%
55−60
+27.9%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
−29.6%
70−75
+29.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
−30.4%
60−65
+30.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−17.6%
40−45
+17.6%
Valorant 110−120
−27.3%
140−150
+27.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 70−75
−28.4%
95−100
+28.4%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 24−27
−25%
30−33
+25%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 95−100
−25%
120−130
+25%
Grand Theft Auto V 20−22
−20%
24−27
+20%
Metro Exodus 14−16
−20%
18−20
+20%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 100−110
−29.6%
140−150
+29.6%
Valorant 130−140
−25%
170−180
+25%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
−28.6%
45−50
+28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
−27.3%
14−16
+27.3%
Far Cry 5 27−30
−25%
35−40
+25%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
−29%
40−45
+29%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 20−22
−20%
24−27
+20%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 27−30
−25%
35−40
+25%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 10−11
−20%
12−14
+20%
Counter-Strike 2 8−9
−25%
10−11
+25%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
−25%
30−33
+25%
Metro Exodus 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
−23.5%
21−24
+23.5%
Valorant 65−70
−30.4%
90−95
+30.4%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
−16.7%
21−24
+16.7%
Counter-Strike 2 8−9
−25%
10−11
+25%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Dota 2 45−50
−30.4%
60−65
+30.4%
Far Cry 5 12−14
−23.1%
16−18
+23.1%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
−22.7%
27−30
+22.7%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
−16.7%
14−16
+16.7%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 12−14
−16.7%
14−16
+16.7%

This is how HD 7970 and RTX 3050 4 GB compete in popular games:

  • RTX 3050 4 GB is 24% faster in 900p
  • RTX 3050 4 GB is 29% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.74 15.46
Recency 22 December 2011 27 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 4 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 8 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt 90 Watt

HD 7970 has a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount.

RTX 3050 4 GB, on the other hand, has a 31.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 233.3% lower power consumption.

The GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970 in performance tests.

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AMD Radeon HD 7970
Radeon HD 7970
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB
GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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