Radeon HD 8970M vs RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)

Place in the ranking	491	452
Place by popularity	28	not in top-100
Power efficiency	41.36	6.94
Architecture	Vega (2017−2020)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	Vega	Neptune
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	7 January 2020 (5 years ago)	14 May 2013 (11 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	512	1280
Core clock speed	no data	850 MHz
Boost clock speed	2100 MHz	900 MHz
Number of transistors	no data	2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	100 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	72.00
Floating-point processing power	no data	2.304 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	32
TMUs	no data	80

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	no data	large
Interface	no data	PCIe 3.0 x16

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	no data	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	no data	4 GB
Memory bus width	no data	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	153.6 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

No outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12_1	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	no data	5.1
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	1.2
Vulkan	-	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.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 8.67

HD 8970M 9.70
+11.9%

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.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 5891

HD 8970M 6818
+15.7%

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.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 22428
+20.2%

HD 8970M 18667

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.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 3743

HD 8970M 5039
+34.6%

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.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 27084

HD 8970M 31027
+14.6%

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	23 −122%	51 +122%
1440p	17 −5.9%	18−20 +5.9%
4K	9 −11.1%	10−12 +11.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	13 −46.2%	18−20 +46.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	19 −5.3%	20−22 +5.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −13.8%	30−35 +13.8%
Counter-Strike 2	9 −111%	18−20 +111%
Cyberpunk 2077	15 −33.3%	20−22 +33.3%
Forza Horizon 4	32 −25%	40−45 +25%
Forza Horizon 5	21 −19%	24−27 +19%
Metro Exodus	27 +0%	27−30 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	33 +22.2%	27−30 −22.2%
Valorant	44 +12.8%	35−40 −12.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −13.8%	30−35 +13.8%
Counter-Strike 2	9 −111%	18−20 +111%
Cyberpunk 2077	11 −81.8%	20−22 +81.8%
Dota 2	29 +11.5%	26 −11.5%
Far Cry 5	30 −36.7%	40−45 +36.7%
Fortnite	50−55 −11.3%	55−60 +11.3%
Forza Horizon 4	27 −48.1%	40−45 +48.1%
Forza Horizon 5	13 −92.3%	24−27 +92.3%
Grand Theft Auto V	19 −105%	39 +105%
Metro Exodus	19 −42.1%	27−30 +42.1%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	57 −36.8%	75−80 +36.8%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12 −125%	27−30 +125%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
Valorant	14 −179%	35−40 +179%
World of Tanks	48 −208%	148 +208%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 −13.8%	30−35 +13.8%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 −5.6%	18−20 +5.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	9 −122%	20−22 +122%
Dota 2	48 +33.3%	35−40 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	35−40 −7.9%	40−45 +7.9%
Forza Horizon 4	23 −73.9%	40−45 +73.9%
Forza Horizon 5	14 −78.6%	24−27 +78.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	70−75 −9.9%	75−80 +9.9%
Valorant	37 −5.4%	35−40 +5.4%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	9 −44.4%	12−14 +44.4%
Grand Theft Auto V	9 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	22 −118%	45−50 +118%
Red Dead Redemption 2	7−8 −28.6%	9−10 +28.6%
World of Tanks	21 −243%	70−75 +243%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 −11.8%	18−20 +11.8%
Counter-Strike 2	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	2 −300%	8−9 +300%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%
Forza Horizon 4	16 −43.8%	21−24 +43.8%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 −15.4%	14−16 +15.4%
Metro Exodus	17 −11.8%	18−20 +11.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −8.3%	12−14 +8.3%
Valorant	39 +56%	24−27 −56%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −7.7%	14−16 +7.7%
Dota 2	10 −100%	20−22 +100%
Grand Theft Auto V	10 −100%	20−22 +100%
Metro Exodus	6 +20%	5−6 −20%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	13 −123%	27−30 +123%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10 −100%	20−22 +100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%
Counter-Strike 2	12−14 −7.7%	14−16 +7.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Dota 2	18 −11.1%	20−22 +11.1%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −9.1%	12−14 +9.1%
Fortnite	9−10 −22.2%	10−12 +22.2%
Forza Horizon 4	9 −44.4%	12−14 +44.4%
Forza Horizon 5	6−7 −16.7%	7−8 +16.7%
Valorant	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%

This is how RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and HD 8970M compete in popular games:

HD 8970M is 122% faster in 1080p
HD 8970M is 6% faster in 1440p
HD 8970M is 11% faster in 4K

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

in Valorant, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is 56% faster.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 8970M is 300% faster.

All in all, in popular games: