HD 7970 vs R9 270

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Combined performance score

R9 270
11.11

HD 7970 outperforms R9 270 by 22% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking386350
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money2.034.00
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2012−2020)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameCuracaoTahiti XT
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferencereference
Release date13 November 2013 (10 years old)22 December 2011 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$179 $549
Current price$229 (1.3x MSRP)$89 (0.2x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7970 has 97% better value for money than R9 270.

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 cores12802048
Boost clock speed925 MHz925 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt300 Watt
Texture fill rate74.00118.4
Floating-point performance2,368 gflops3,789 gflops

Size and 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 supportPCIe 3.0PCIe 2.1 x16
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length210 mm274 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB6 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speedno data1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth179.2 GB/s264 GB/s
Shared memoryno data-

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity1+
HDMI++
DisplayPort support+-

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

AppAcceleration--
CrossFire11
Enduro--
FreeSync11
HD3D+-
LiquidVR1no data
PowerTune--
TressFX1no data
TrueAudio+-
ZeroCore--
UVD+no data
DDMA audio+no data

API support

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

DirectXDirectX® 12DirectX® 11
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan+no data
Mantle--

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.

R9 270 11.11
HD 7970 13.54
+21.9%

HD 7970 outperforms R9 270 by 22% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

R9 270 4306
HD 7970 5248
+21.9%

HD 7970 outperforms R9 270 by 22% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R9 270 5930
HD 7970 6862
+15.7%

HD 7970 outperforms R9 270 by 16% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

R9 270 711
HD 7970 985
+38.5%

HD 7970 outperforms R9 270 by 39% in Unigine Heaven 4.0.

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:

900p85−90
−23.5%
105
+23.5%
Full HD75−80
−24%
93
+24%

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 11.11 13.54
Recency 13 November 2013 22 December 2011
Cost $179 $549
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 6 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 300 Watt

The Radeon HD 7970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 270 in performance tests.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon R9 270
Radeon R9 270
AMD Radeon HD 7970
Radeon HD 7970

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Questions and comments

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