ATI Radeon 9600 PRO vs HD 7970

Place in the ranking	380	1447
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.46	no data
Power efficiency	3.76	0.42
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Rage 8 (2002−2007)
GPU code name	Tahiti	RV350
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	22 December 2011 (13 years ago)	1 October 2003 (21 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	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 cores	2048	no data
Core clock speed	no data	400 MHz
Boost clock speed	925 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	4,313 million	60 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	130 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	18 Watt
Texture fill rate	118.4	1.600
Floating-point processing power	3.789 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	32	4
TMUs	128	4

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 support	PCIe 2.1 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	AGP 8x
Length	274 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	None

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 type	GDDR5	DDR
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	128 MB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	300 MHz
Memory bandwidth	264 GB/s	9.6 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

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 Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire	+	-
FreeSync	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	9.0 (9_0)
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.6	2.0
OpenCL	1.2	N/A
Vulkan	-	N/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.

HD 7970 13.65
+12309%

ATI 9600 PRO 0.11

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
+12395%

ATI 9600 PRO 42

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	105	0−1
Full HD	92	0−1

Cost per frame, $

1080p

5.97

no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30	0−1
Elden Ring	40−45	0−1

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	21−24	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	55−60	0−1
Metro Exodus	35−40	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35	0−1
Valorant	55−60	0−1

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	21−24	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30	0−1
Dota 2	45−50	0−1
Elden Ring	40−45	0−1
Far Cry 5	50−55	0−1
Fortnite	75−80	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	55−60	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	45−50	0−1
Metro Exodus	35−40	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−105	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45	0−1
Valorant	55−60	0−1
World of Tanks	212 +21100%	1−2 −21100%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	21−24	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30	0−1
Dota 2	45−50	0−1
Far Cry 5	50−55	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	55−60	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−105	0−1
Valorant	55−60	0−1

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	18−20	0−1
Elden Ring	21−24	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	20−22	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−110	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14	0−1
World of Tanks	95−100	0−1

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	30−35	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11	0−1
Far Cry 5	30−35	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	30−35	0−1
Metro Exodus	27−30	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20	0−1
Valorant	30−35	0−1

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	9−10	0−1
Dota 2	24−27	0−1
Elden Ring	9−10	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27	0−1
Metro Exodus	9−10	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	9−10	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	9−10	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5	0−1
Dota 2	24−27	0−1
Far Cry 5	16−18	0−1
Fortnite	14−16	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	18−20	0−1
Valorant	14−16	0−1

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	13.65	0.11
Recency	22 December 2011	1 October 2003
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	128 MB
Chip lithography	28 nm	130 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	18 Watt

HD 7970 has a 12309.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 4700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 364.3% more advanced lithography process.

ATI 9600 PRO, on the other hand, has 1566.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon 9600 PRO in performance tests.

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