Radeon RX 460 vs HD 7970

Place in the ranking	379	433
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.46	1.12
Power efficiency	3.77	9.82
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Tahiti	Baffin
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	22 December 2011 (13 years ago)	8 August 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$86

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7970 has 120% better value for money than RX 460.

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	896
Core clock speed	no data	1090 MHz
Boost clock speed	925 MHz	1200 MHz
Number of transistors	4,313 million	3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	75 Watt
Texture fill rate	118.4	67.20
Floating-point processing power	3.789 TFLOPS	2.15 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	16
TMUs	128	56

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	PCIe 3.0 x8
Length	274 mm	170 mm
Width	2-slot	2-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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	264 GB/s	112.0 GB/s
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 Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	-	1.2.131

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
+27.9%

RX 460 10.67

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
+27.9%

RX 460 4102

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

HD 7970 7770

RX 460 8597
+10.6%

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.

HD 7970 6862
+20.4%

RX 460 5701

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

HD 7970 43795
+25.5%

RX 460 34892

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 +31.3%	80−85 −31.3%
Full HD	92 +130%	40 −130%
1440p	85−90 +21.4%	70 −21.4%
4K	24−27 +14.3%	21 −14.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	5.97 −178%	2.15 +178%
1440p	6.46 −426%	1.23 +426%
4K	22.88 −459%	4.10 +459%

RX 460 has 178% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 460 has 426% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 460 has 459% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +33.3%	18 −33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +28.6%	21−24 −28.6%
Elden Ring	40−45 +32.3%	30−35 −32.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +28.6%	35−40 −28.6%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +20%	20−22 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +28.6%	21−24 −28.6%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +27.9%	40−45 −27.9%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −10.8%	41 +10.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 +21.4%	27−30 −21.4%
Valorant	50−55 +35%	40−45 −35%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +28.6%	35−40 −28.6%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +20%	20−22 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +28.6%	21−24 −28.6%
Dota 2	45−50 +104%	24 −104%
Elden Ring	40−45 +32.3%	30−35 −32.3%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +15.9%	44 −15.9%
Fortnite	75−80 +24.2%	60−65 −24.2%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +27.9%	40−45 −27.9%
Grand Theft Auto V	45−50 +40%	35 −40%
Metro Exodus	35−40 +37%	27 −37%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−105 +96.1%	51 −96.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 +100%	17 −100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 +28.1%	30−35 −28.1%
Valorant	50−55 +35%	40−45 −35%
World of Tanks	212 +40.4%	150−160 −40.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +36.4%	33 −36.4%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +140%	10 −140%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +28.6%	21−24 −28.6%
Dota 2	45−50 +28.9%	35−40 −28.9%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +18.6%	40−45 −18.6%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +27.9%	40−45 −27.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−105 +257%	28 −257%
Valorant	50−55 +35%	40−45 −35%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	18−20 +35.7%	14−16 −35.7%
Elden Ring	21−24 +40%	14−16 −40%
Grand Theft Auto V	20−22 +42.9%	14−16 −42.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−110 +114%	50−55 −114%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +33.3%	9−10 −33.3%
World of Tanks	95−100 +26.3%	75−80 −26.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +28.6%	21−24 −28.6%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 +9.1%	10−12 −9.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +25%	8−9 −25%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +39.1%	21−24 −39.1%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +37.5%	24−27 −37.5%
Metro Exodus	27−30 +38.1%	21−24 −38.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +30.8%	12−14 −30.8%
Valorant	30−35 +30.8%	24−27 −30.8%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Dota 2	24−27 +14.3%	21−24 −14.3%
Elden Ring	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27 +14.3%	21−24 −14.3%
Metro Exodus	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 +25%	32 −25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	9−10 +28.6%	7−8 −28.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +14.3%	21−24 −14.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +44.4%	9−10 −44.4%
Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Dota 2	24−27 +14.3%	21−24 −14.3%
Far Cry 5	16−18 +30.8%	12−14 −30.8%
Fortnite	14−16 +36.4%	10−12 −36.4%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +35.7%	14−16 −35.7%
Valorant	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%

This is how HD 7970 and RX 460 compete in popular games:

HD 7970 is 31% faster in 900p
HD 7970 is 130% faster in 1080p
HD 7970 is 21% faster in 1440p
HD 7970 is 14% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970 is 257% faster.
in Metro Exodus, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 460 is 11% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 7970 is ahead in 62 tests (98%)
RX 460 is ahead in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	13.65	10.67
Recency	22 December 2011	8 August 2016
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	75 Watt