Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs HD 7970M

Place in the ranking	473	274
Place by popularity	not in top-100	62
Power efficiency	6.43	9.26
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	Wimbledon	Polaris 20
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)	15 October 2018 (6 years ago)

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	1280	2048
Core clock speed	850 MHz	1168 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1284 MHz
Number of transistors	2,800 million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	68.00	164.4
Floating-point processing power	2.176 TFLOPS	5.259 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	80	128

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).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	224.0 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	No outputs	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	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 7970M 9.23

RX 580 2048SP 19.93
+116%

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 7970M 3559

RX 580 2048SP 7687
+116%

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	84 −114%	180−190 +114%
Full HD	61 −113%	130−140 +113%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

14−16

−114%

30−33
+114%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −105%	45−50 +105%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −108%	27−30 +108%
Battlefield 5	27−30 −114%	60−65 +114%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −111%	40−45 +111%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −114%	30−33 +114%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −114%	45−50 +114%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 −112%	55−60 +112%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −113%	130−140 +113%
Hitman 3	16−18 −106%	35−40 +106%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −116%	110−120 +116%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −114%	60−65 +114%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −100%	50−55 +100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 −100%	60−65 +100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −100%	120−130 +100%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −105%	45−50 +105%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −108%	27−30 +108%
Battlefield 5	27−30 −114%	60−65 +114%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −111%	40−45 +111%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −114%	30−33 +114%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −114%	45−50 +114%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 −112%	55−60 +112%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −113%	130−140 +113%
Hitman 3	16−18 −106%	35−40 +106%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −116%	110−120 +116%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −114%	60−65 +114%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −100%	50−55 +100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 −100%	60−65 +100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −100%	50−55 +100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −100%	120−130 +100%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −105%	45−50 +105%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −108%	27−30 +108%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −111%	40−45 +111%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −114%	30−33 +114%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −114%	45−50 +114%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −113%	130−140 +113%
Hitman 3	16−18 −106%	35−40 +106%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −116%	110−120 +116%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 −100%	60−65 +100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −100%	50−55 +100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −100%	120−130 +100%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

−100%

50−55
+100%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −94.4%	35−40 +94.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −114%	30−33 +114%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −100%	18−20 +100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −100%	10−11 +100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −100%	18−20 +100%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −100%	8−9 +100%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −90.9%	21−24 +90.9%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −105%	80−85 +105%
Hitman 3	12−14 −100%	24−27 +100%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 −111%	40−45 +111%
Metro Exodus	12−14 −108%	27−30 +108%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 −110%	21−24 +110%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 −100%	16−18 +100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −107%	120−130 +107%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

−100%

30−33
+100%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 −100%	16−18 +100%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 −100%	12−14 +100%
Hitman 3	5−6 −100%	10−11 +100%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −103%	75−80 +103%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −100%	14−16 +100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 −100%	12−14 +100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 −100%	10−11 +100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 −100%	8−9 +100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 −100%	8−9 +100%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −100%	10−11 +100%
Forza Horizon 4	10−12 −90.9%	21−24 +90.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 −100%	10−11 +100%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 −100%	6−7 +100%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10
−100%

18−20

+100%

This is how HD 7970M and RX 580 2048SP compete in popular games:

RX 580 2048SP is 114% faster in 900p
RX 580 2048SP is 113% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.23	19.93
Recency	24 April 2012	15 October 2018
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	150 Watt

HD 7970M has 50% lower power consumption.

RX 580 2048SP, on the other hand, has a 115.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 580 2048SP is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7970M is a notebook card while Radeon RX 580 2048SP is a desktop one.

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