Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs HD 8970M Crossfire

Place in the ranking	296	8
Place by popularity	not in top-100	70
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	34.70
Power efficiency	6.38	15.56
Architecture	GCN (2012−2015)	RDNA 3.0 (2022−2024)
GPU code name	Neptune CF	Navi 31
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	1 May 2012 (12 years ago)	3 November 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$999

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	6144
Core clock speed	850 MHz	1929 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	2498 MHz
Number of transistors	no data	57,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	200 Watt	355 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	959.2
Floating-point processing power	no data	61.39 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	192
TMUs	no data	384
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	96

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	no data	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	no data	287 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	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	no data	24 GB
Memory bus width	2x 256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	4800 MHz	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	960.0 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 data	1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.1	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	no data	6.7
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	2.2
Vulkan	-	1.3

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 8970M Crossfire 18.62

RX 7900 XTX 80.60
+333%

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 8970M Crossfire 12424

RX 7900 XTX 83322
+571%

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 8970M Crossfire 34215

RX 7900 XTX 148746
+335%

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 8970M Crossfire 10354

RX 7900 XTX 64680
+525%

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 8970M Crossfire 70114

RX 7900 XTX 211480
+202%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

HD 8970M Crossfire 269832

RX 7900 XTX 758139
+181%

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	67 −276%	252 +276%
1440p	35−40 −389%	171 +389%
4K	24−27 −338%	105 +338%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	3.96
1440p	no data	5.84
4K	no data	9.51

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−33

−707%

242
+707%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −286%	166 +286%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −784%	283 +784%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −287%	240−250 +287%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −208%	120−130 +208%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −670%	231 +670%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −162%	110−120 +162%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −294%	200−210 +294%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 −111%	250−260 +111%
Hitman 3	35−40 −249%	120−130 +249%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −206%	280−290 +206%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −135%	150−160 +135%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −143%	120−130 +143%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −456%	350−400 +456%
Watch Dogs: Legion	85−90 −73%	150−160 +73%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −667%	330 +667%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −653%	241 +653%
Battlefield 5	60−65 −287%	240−250 +287%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −208%	120−130 +208%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −593%	208 +593%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −162%	110−120 +162%
Far Cry New Dawn	50−55 −294%	200−210 +294%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 −111%	250−260 +111%
Hitman 3	35−40 −249%	120−130 +249%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −206%	280−290 +206%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −135%	150−160 +135%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −143%	120−130 +143%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −749%	535 +749%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 −312%	170−180 +312%
Watch Dogs: Legion	85−90 −73%	150−160 +73%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −212%	134 +212%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 −556%	210 +556%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	35−40 −208%	120−130 +208%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −563%	199 +563%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −162%	110−120 +162%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 −148%	295 +148%
Hitman 3	35−40 −249%	120−130 +249%
Horizon Zero Dawn	90−95 −337%	406 +337%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	60−65 −648%	471 +648%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 −593%	298 +593%
Watch Dogs: Legion	85−90 −77.5%	158 +77.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

50−55

−143%

120−130
+143%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 −349%	160−170 +349%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −286%	110−120 +286%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −595%	132 +595%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −906%	171 +906%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −290%	80−85 +290%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 −1182%	141 +1182%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −282%	80−85 +282%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 −158%	270−280 +158%
Hitman 3	21−24 −436%	110−120 +436%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −741%	328 +741%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −317%	146 +317%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40 −847%	360 +847%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −982%	238 +982%
Watch Dogs: Legion	110−120 −111%	240−250 +111%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

−288%

120−130
+288%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −363%	85−90 +363%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −393%	65−70 +393%
Hitman 3	14−16 −421%	70−75 +421%
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100 −131%	220−230 +131%
Metro Exodus	20−22 −580%	130−140 +580%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −858%	182 +858%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−12 −900%	110 +900%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −970%	107 +970%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −420%	50−55 +420%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −1675%	71 +1675%
Far Cry 5	10−11 −400%	50−55 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	24−27 −773%	227 +773%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −838%	197 +838%
Watch Dogs: Legion	8−9 −1188%	103 +1188%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

−459%

95−100
+459%

This is how HD 8970M Crossfire and RX 7900 XTX compete in popular games:

RX 7900 XTX is 276% faster in 1080p
RX 7900 XTX is 389% faster in 1440p
RX 7900 XTX is 338% faster in 4K

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

in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 7900 XTX is 1675% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 7900 XTX surpassed HD 8970M Crossfire in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	18.62	80.60
Recency	1 May 2012	3 November 2022
Chip lithography	28 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	200 Watt	355 Watt

HD 8970M Crossfire has 77.5% lower power consumption.

RX 7900 XTX, on the other hand, has a 332.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire is a notebook card while Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a desktop one.

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