Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
RX 5500M vs HD 7970M Crossfire
Combined performance score
HD 7970M Crossfire outperforms RX 5500M by 13% in our combined benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
Place in performance ranking | 310 | 341 |
Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
Value for money | 30.64 | 9.10 |
Architecture | GCN (2011−2017) | Navi / RDNA (2019−2020) |
GPU code name | Wimbledon XT | Navi 14 / R19M-E85 |
Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
Release date | 1 May 2012 (11 years old) | 29 September 2019 (4 years old) |
Current price | $126 | $998 |
HD 7970M Crossfire has 237% better value for money than RX 5500M.
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 | 2560 | 1408 |
Core clock speed | 850 MHz | 1327 MHz |
Boost clock speed | no data | 1645 MHz |
Number of transistors | no data | 6,400 million |
Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 7 nm |
Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 85 Watt |
Texture fill rate | no data | 144.8 |
Size and compatibility
Information on Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire and Radeon RX 5500M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
Laptop size | large | medium sized |
Interface | no data | PCIe 4.0 x8 |
Supplementary power connectors | no data | None |
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 | GDDR6 |
Maximum RAM amount | no data | 4 GB |
Memory bus width | 2x 256 Bit | 128 Bit |
Memory clock speed | 4800 MHz | 14000 MHz |
Memory bandwidth | no data | 224.0 GB/s |
Shared memory | - | - |
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 | no data | No outputs |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
DirectX | 11.1 | 12 (12_1) |
Shader Model | no data | 6.5 |
OpenGL | no data | 4.6 |
OpenCL | no data | 2.0 |
Vulkan | no data | 1.2.131 |
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 7970M Crossfire outperforms RX 5500M by 13% in our combined benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
RX 5500M outperforms HD 7970M Crossfire by 48% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.
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 | 132
+20%
| 110−120
−20%
|
Full HD | 102
+78.9%
| 57
−78.9%
|
1440p | 50−55
+6.4%
| 47
−6.4%
|
4K | 30−35
+0%
| 30
+0%
|
Performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
−120%
|
55
+120%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
−30.3%
|
43
+30.3%
|
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 27−30
−107%
|
56
+107%
|
Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+14.6%
|
45−50
−14.6%
|
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 40−45
−129%
|
94
+129%
|
Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
−72%
|
43
+72%
|
Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+13.5%
|
35−40
−13.5%
|
Far Cry New Dawn | 40−45
+12.8%
|
35−40
−12.8%
|
Forza Horizon 4 | 55−60
+12%
|
50−55
−12%
|
Hitman 3 | 45−50
−86.7%
|
84
+86.7%
|
Horizon Zero Dawn | 30−35
−97.1%
|
67
+97.1%
|
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 27−30
−133%
|
63
+133%
|
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 30−35
+13.3%
|
30−33
−13.3%
|
Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
−93.3%
|
58
+93.3%
|
Full HD
High Preset
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
−21.2%
|
40
+21.2%
|
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 27−30
+3.8%
|
26
−3.8%
|
Battlefield 5 | 55−60
−69.1%
|
93
+69.1%
|
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 40−45
−78%
|
73
+78%
|
Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
−32%
|
33
+32%
|
Far Cry 5 | 40−45
−47.6%
|
62
+47.6%
|
Far Cry New Dawn | 40−45
+12.8%
|
35−40
−12.8%
|
Forza Horizon 4 | 55−60
+12%
|
50−55
−12%
|
Hitman 3 | 45−50
−22.2%
|
55
+22.2%
|
Horizon Zero Dawn | 30−35
−58.8%
|
54
+58.8%
|
Metro Exodus | 24−27
−56%
|
39
+56%
|
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 27−30
−18.5%
|
32
+18.5%
|
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 30−35
−70.6%
|
58
+70.6%
|
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
−112%
|
72
+112%
|
Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
−70%
|
51
+70%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+6.5%
|
31
−6.5%
|
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 27−30
+92.9%
|
14
−92.9%
|
Battlefield 5 | 55−60
−36.4%
|
75
+36.4%
|
Cyberpunk 2077 | 24−27
−20%
|
30
+20%
|
Far Cry 5 | 40−45
−40.5%
|
59
+40.5%
|
Far Cry New Dawn | 40−45
−15.9%
|
51
+15.9%
|
Forza Horizon 4 | 55−60
+12%
|
50−55
−12%
|
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
−32.4%
|
45
+32.4%
|
Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
+36.4%
|
22
−36.4%
|
1440p
High Preset
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 24−27
−45.8%
|
35
+45.8%
|
Hitman 3 | 24−27
−84%
|
46
+84%
|
Horizon Zero Dawn | 21−24
−54.5%
|
34
+54.5%
|
Metro Exodus | 14−16
−66.7%
|
25
+66.7%
|
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 12−14
+20%
|
10−11
−20%
|
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 20−22
−60%
|
32
+60%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 16−18
+21.4%
|
14−16
−21.4%
|
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 12−14
+30%
|
10
−30%
|
Battlefield 5 | 30−35
−29.4%
|
44
+29.4%
|
Cyberpunk 2077 | 9−10
+28.6%
|
7−8
−28.6%
|
Far Cry 5 | 24−27
−84.6%
|
48
+84.6%
|
Far Cry New Dawn | 30−33
−56.7%
|
47
+56.7%
|
Forza Horizon 4 | 30−35
+18.5%
|
27−30
−18.5%
|
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 16−18
+21.4%
|
14−16
−21.4%
|
Watch Dogs: Legion | 10−11
−60%
|
16
+60%
|
4K
High Preset
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−12
−81.8%
|
20
+81.8%
|
Hitman 3 | 14−16
−53.3%
|
23
+53.3%
|
Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
+22.2%
|
9
−22.2%
|
Metro Exodus | 8−9
+14.3%
|
7−8
−14.3%
|
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 9−10
+12.5%
|
8−9
−12.5%
|
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 10−11
−50%
|
15
+50%
|
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
+15.4%
|
12−14
−15.4%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 10−11
+25%
|
8−9
−25%
|
Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 8−9
+14.3%
|
7−8
−14.3%
|
Battlefield 5 | 16−18
+6.3%
|
16
−6.3%
|
Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
Far Cry 5 | 12−14
+18.2%
|
10−12
−18.2%
|
Far Cry New Dawn | 16−18
−56.3%
|
25
+56.3%
|
Forza Horizon 4 | 21−24
+15.8%
|
18−20
−15.8%
|
Watch Dogs: Legion | 6−7
+20%
|
5−6
−20%
|
This is how HD 7970M Crossfire and RX 5500M compete in popular games:
900p resolution:
- HD 7970M Crossfire is 20% faster than RX 5500M
1080p resolution:
- HD 7970M Crossfire is 78.9% faster than RX 5500M
1440p resolution:
- HD 7970M Crossfire is 6.4% faster than RX 5500M
4K resolution:
- RX 5500M is 0% faster than HD 7970M Crossfire
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M Crossfire is 92.9% faster than the RX 5500M.
- in Red Dead Redemption 2, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 5500M is 133% faster than the HD 7970M Crossfire.
All in all, in popular games:
- HD 7970M Crossfire is ahead in 29 tests (43%)
- RX 5500M is ahead in 39 tests (57%)
Advantages and disadvantages
Performance score | 16.00 | 14.12 |
Recency | 1 May 2012 | 29 September 2019 |
Chip lithography | 28 nm | 7 nm |
Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 85 Watt |
The Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 5500M 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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