Radeon HD 7970 vs RX 570

Place in performance ranking	283	352
Place by popularity	15	not in top-100
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation	15.79	4.00
Architecture	Polaris (2016−2019)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	Polaris 20 Ellesmere	Tahiti XT
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	no data	reference
Release date	18 April 2017 (7 years ago)	22 December 2011 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$169	$549
Current price	$114 (0.7x MSRP)	$89 (0.2x MSRP)

Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 570 has 295% better value for money than HD 7970.

Detailed Specifications

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	2048	2048
Core clock speed	1168 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1244 MHz	925 MHz
Number of transistors	5,700 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	159.2	118.4
Floating-point performance	5,095 gflops	3,789 gflops

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).

Bus support	no data	PCIe 2.1 x16
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	241 mm	274 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	7000 MHz	1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224.0 GB/s	264 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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	no data	-

Supported GPU Technologies

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

AppAcceleration	no data	-
CrossFire	no data	1
Enduro	no data	-
FreeSync	+	1
HD3D	no data	-
PowerTune	no data	-
TrueAudio	no data	-
ZeroCore	no data	-

API Compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	+	no data
Mantle	no data	-

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.

RX 570 18.00
+32.7%

HD 7970 13.56

RX 570 outperforms HD 7970 by 33% based on our aggregated 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%

RX 570 6967
+32.8%

HD 7970 5248

RX 570 outperforms HD 7970 by 33% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 570 45560
+84%

HD 7970 24757

RX 570 outperforms HD 7970 by 84% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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 570 18967
+144%

HD 7970 7770

RX 570 outperforms HD 7970 by 144% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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%

RX 570 13827
+102%

HD 7970 6862

RX 570 outperforms HD 7970 by 102% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

RX 570 71096
+62.3%

HD 7970 43795

RX 570 outperforms HD 7970 by 62% in 3DMark Cloud Gate 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	130−140 +23.8%	105 −23.8%
Full HD	85 −9.4%	93 +9.4%
1440p	48 +37.1%	35−40 −37.1%
4K	29 +38.1%	21−24 −38.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

27−30
+33.3%

21−24

−33.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	62 +121%	27−30 −121%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +40.9%	21−24 −40.9%
Battlefield 5	88 +91.3%	45−50 −91.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	91 +160%	35−40 −160%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	77 +120%	35−40 −120%
Far Cry New Dawn	76 +105%	35−40 −105%
Forza Horizon 4	100 +108%	45−50 −108%
Hitman 3	50−55 +37.8%	35−40 −37.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +35.7%	27−30 −35.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−33 +30.4%	21−24 −30.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	69 +146%	27−30 −146%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +36%	24−27 −36%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	51 +82.1%	27−30 −82.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +40.9%	21−24 −40.9%
Battlefield 5	75 +63%	45−50 −63%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70 +100%	35−40 −100%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	70 +100%	35−40 −100%
Far Cry New Dawn	71 +91.9%	35−40 −91.9%
Forza Horizon 4	94 +95.8%	45−50 −95.8%
Hitman 3	50−55 +37.8%	35−40 −37.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +35.7%	27−30 −35.7%
Metro Exodus	43 +105%	21−24 −105%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−33 +30.4%	21−24 −30.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	59 +111%	27−30 −111%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	77 +175%	27−30 −175%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +36%	24−27 −36%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	33 +17.9%	27−30 −17.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−35 +40.9%	21−24 −40.9%
Battlefield 5	68 +47.8%	45−50 −47.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	65 +85.7%	35−40 −85.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	66 +78.4%	35−40 −78.4%
Forza Horizon 4	75 +56.3%	45−50 −56.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	43 +53.6%	27−30 −53.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +36%	24−27 −36%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	47 +135%	20−22 −135%
Hitman 3	27−30 +38.1%	21−24 −38.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 +26.3%	18−20 −26.3%
Metro Exodus	25 +108%	12−14 −108%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +30%	10−11 −30%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	37 +118%	16−18 −118%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	29 +107%	14−16 −107%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 +60%	10−11 −60%
Battlefield 5	52 +92.6%	27−30 −92.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	46 +109%	21−24 −109%
Far Cry New Dawn	48 +100%	24−27 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	59 +127%	24−27 −127%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +35.7%	14−16 −35.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	23 +156%	9−10 −156%
Hitman 3	16−18 +41.7%	12−14 −41.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +20%	10−11 −20%
Metro Exodus	16 +167%	6−7 −167%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +42.9%	7−8 −42.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	19 +138%	8−9 −138%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 +133%	12−14 −133%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	17 +113%	8−9 −113%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
Battlefield 5	31 +121%	14−16 −121%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Far Cry 5	24 +118%	10−12 −118%
Far Cry New Dawn	26 +100%	12−14 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	39 +117%	18−20 −117%
Watch Dogs: Legion	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%

This is how RX 570 and HD 7970 compete in popular games:

RX 570 is 23.8% faster than HD 7970 in 900p
HD 7970 is 9.4% faster than RX 570 in 1080p
RX 570 is 37.1% faster than HD 7970 in 1440p
RX 570 is 38.1% faster than HD 7970 in 4K

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

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RX 570 is 175% faster than the HD 7970.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 570 surpassed HD 7970 in all 68 of our tests.

Pros & Cons Summary

Performance score	18.00	13.56
Recency	18 April 2017	22 December 2011
Cost	$169	$549
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	300 Watt