Radeon RX 6800 vs HD 7970

Place in the ranking	381	44
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.37	50.42
Power efficiency	3.76	15.84
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Tahiti	Navi 21
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	22 December 2011 (13 years ago)	28 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$579

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6800 has 2027% 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 cores	2048	3840
Core clock speed	no data	1700 MHz
Boost clock speed	925 MHz	2105 MHz
Number of transistors	4,313 million	26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	250 Watt
Texture fill rate	118.4	505.2
Floating-point processing power	3.789 TFLOPS	16.17 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	96
TMUs	128	240
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	60

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 4.0 x16
Length	274 mm	267 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	2x 8-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 type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	264 GB/s	512.0 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 HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
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 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.1	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	-	1.2

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 13.13

RX 6800 55.33
+321%

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

RX 6800 22113
+321%

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 6800 55084
+609%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

HD 7970 24757

RX 6800 106236
+329%

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

RX 6800 45441
+562%

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

RX 6800 205274
+369%

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 −281%	400−450 +281%
Full HD	92 −92.4%	177 +92.4%
1440p	21−24 −376%	100 +376%
4K	14−16 −343%	62 +343%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	5.97 −82.4%	3.27 +82.4%
1440p	26.14 −352%	5.79 +352%
4K	39.21 −320%	9.34 +320%

RX 6800 has 82% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 6800 has 352% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 6800 has 320% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	24−27 −675%	186 +675%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 −400%	135 +400%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 −160%	110−120 +160%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 −517%	148 +517%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 −244%	93 +244%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −655%	415 +655%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 −244%	124 +244%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −343%	164 +343%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −209%	100−110 +209%
Valorant	55−60 −362%	250−260 +362%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 −160%	110−120 +160%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 −392%	118 +392%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 −222%	87 +222%
Dota 2	45−50 −214%	154 +214%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −100%	104 +100%
Fortnite	75−80 −195%	220−230 +195%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −520%	341 +520%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 −356%	164 +356%
Grand Theft Auto V	45−50 −224%	159 +224%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −257%	132 +257%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−105 −115%	210−220 +115%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −209%	100−110 +209%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 −324%	170−180 +324%
Valorant	55−60 −362%	250−260 +362%
World of Tanks	212 −31.6%	270−280 +31.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 −160%	110−120 +160%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 −450%	130−140 +450%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 −211%	84 +211%
Dota 2	45−50 −161%	128 +161%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −123%	110−120 +123%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −436%	295 +436%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 −222%	116 +222%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−105 −115%	210−220 +115%
Valorant	55−60 −362%	250−260 +362%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	18−20 −558%	125 +558%
Grand Theft Auto V	20−22 −525%	125 +525%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−110 −62%	170−180 +62%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 −450%	65−70 +450%
World of Tanks	95−100 −293%	350−400 +293%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −219%	85−90 +219%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −317%	50−55 +317%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 −590%	69 +590%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −400%	160−170 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 −552%	215 +552%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 −410%	107 +410%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −376%	138 +376%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −550%	110−120 +550%
Valorant	30−35 −547%	220−230 +547%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −106%	30−35 +106%
Dota 2	24−27 −450%	132 +450%
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27 −450%	132 +450%
Metro Exodus	9−10 −511%	55 +511%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 −410%	200−210 +410%
Red Dead Redemption 2	9−10 −378%	40−45 +378%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −450%	132 +450%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −462%	70−75 +462%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +14.3%	14 −14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −700%	32 +700%
Dota 2	24−27 −325%	102 +325%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −512%	100−110 +512%
Fortnite	14−16 −540%	95−100 +540%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 −568%	127 +568%
Forza Horizon 5	10−11 −510%	61 +510%
Valorant	14−16 −779%	120−130 +779%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2

30−35

+0%

30−35

+0%

This is how HD 7970 and RX 6800 compete in popular games:

RX 6800 is 281% faster in 900p
RX 6800 is 92% faster in 1080p
RX 6800 is 376% faster in 1440p
RX 6800 is 343% faster in 4K

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

in Counter-Strike 2, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970 is 14% faster.
in Valorant, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6800 is 779% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 7970 is ahead in 1 test (2%)
RX 6800 is ahead in 62 tests (97%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	13.13	55.33
Recency	22 December 2011	28 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	300 Watt	250 Watt

RX 6800 has a 321.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 20% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6800 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970 in performance tests.

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