HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) vs Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire and HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge), covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 8970M Crossfire outperforms HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) by a whopping 5106% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 348 | 1351 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 6.53 | no data |
| Architecture | GCN (2012−2015) | Gen. 6 Sandy Bridge (2011) |
| GPU code name | Neptune CF | Sandy Bridge |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 May 2012 (13 years ago) | 1 May 2011 (14 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 | 2560 | 6 |
| Core clock speed | 850 MHz | 350 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 900 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | no data |
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 |
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 | no data |
| Memory bus width | 2x 256 Bit | 64/128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4800 MHz | no data |
| Shared memory | - | + |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 | 10.1 |
Synthetic benchmarks
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.
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3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution.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.
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.
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:
| Full HD | 69
+886%
| 7
−886%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low
| Counter-Strike 2 | 95−100
+9700%
|
1−2
−9700%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3600%
|
1−2
−3600%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 30−35
+560%
|
5−6
−560%
|
Full HD
Medium
| Battlefield 5 | 70−75
+7200%
|
1−2
−7200%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 95−100
+9700%
|
1−2
−9700%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3600%
|
1−2
−3600%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+5600%
|
1−2
−5600%
|
| Fortnite | 90−95
+9300%
|
1−2
−9300%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+1675%
|
4−5
−1675%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 50−55
+5300%
|
1−2
−5300%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 30−35
+560%
|
5−6
−560%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
+829%
|
7−8
−829%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+419%
|
24−27
−419%
|
Full HD
High
| Battlefield 5 | 70−75
+7200%
|
1−2
−7200%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 95−100
+9700%
|
1−2
−9700%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 128
+1180%
|
10
−1180%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3600%
|
1−2
−3600%
|
| Dota 2 | 100−110
+930%
|
10−11
−930%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+5600%
|
1−2
−5600%
|
| Fortnite | 90−95
+9300%
|
1−2
−9300%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+1675%
|
4−5
−1675%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 50−55
+5300%
|
1−2
−5300%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 65−70
+6400%
|
1−2
−6400%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 30−35
+560%
|
5−6
−560%
|
| Metro Exodus | 35−40 | 0−1 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
+829%
|
7−8
−829%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 45−50
+860%
|
5−6
−860%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+419%
|
24−27
−419%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 70−75
+7200%
|
1−2
−7200%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
+3600%
|
1−2
−3600%
|
| Dota 2 | 100−110
+930%
|
10−11
−930%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 55−60
+5600%
|
1−2
−5600%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+1675%
|
4−5
−1675%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 30−35
+560%
|
5−6
−560%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 65−70
+829%
|
7−8
−829%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 45−50
+860%
|
5−6
−860%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+419%
|
24−27
−419%
|
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 90−95
+9300%
|
1−2
−9300%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 35−40
+1650%
|
2−3
−1650%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 120−130 | 0−1 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 27−30 | 0−1 |
| Metro Exodus | 21−24 | 0−1 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 160−170
+5400%
|
3−4
−5400%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+5500%
|
3−4
−5500%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 45−50 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 16−18 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 35−40 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 40−45
+4200%
|
1−2
−4200%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 18−20 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 24−27 | 0−1 |
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 35−40 | 0−1 |
4K
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 30−35
+113%
|
14−16
−113%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 10−12 | 0−1 |
| Metro Exodus | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 24−27 | 0−1 |
| Valorant | 95−100
+4800%
|
2−3
−4800%
|
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 24−27 | 0−1 |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 14−16 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8 | 0−1 |
| Dota 2 | 60−65
+6000%
|
1−2
−6000%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 18−20 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 30−33 | 0−1 |
| Hogwarts Legacy | 10−12 | 0−1 |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 16−18
+750%
|
2−3
−750%
|
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 18−20
+800%
|
2−3
−800%
|
This is how HD 8970M Crossfire and HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) compete in popular games:
- HD 8970M Crossfire is 886% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 8970M Crossfire is 5400% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, HD 8970M Crossfire surpassed HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in all 29 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 16.14 | 0.31 |
| Recency | 1 May 2012 | 1 May 2011 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 32 nm |
HD 8970M Crossfire has a 5106.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and a 14.3% more advanced lithography process.
The Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire is our recommended choice as it beats the HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
