Radeon HD 7970M vs Apple M1 8-Core GPU
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Apple M1 8-Core GPU and Radeon HD 7970M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
Apple M1 8-Core GPU outperforms HD 7970M by an impressive 56% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 360 | 475 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 6.35 |
| Architecture | no data | GCN 1.0 (2011−2020) |
| GPU code name | no data | Wimbledon |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 10 November 2020 (4 years ago) | 24 April 2012 (12 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 | 8 | 1280 |
| Core clock speed | 1278 MHz | 850 MHz |
| Number of transistors | no data | 2,800 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 5 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 100 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 68.00 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 2.176 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 | MXM-B (3.0) |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | None |
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 | 2 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 | no data | 12 (11_1) |
| Shader Model | no data | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | no data | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | - | 1.2.131 |
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
+54.8%
| 84
−54.8%
|
| Full HD | 29
−107%
| 60
+107%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+57.1%
|
14−16
−57.1%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+45.5%
|
21−24
−45.5%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+76.9%
|
12−14
−76.9%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 45−50
+64.3%
|
27−30
−64.3%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
+47.4%
|
18−20
−47.4%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+57.1%
|
14−16
−57.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+57.1%
|
21−24
−57.1%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
+50%
|
24−27
−50%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90−95
+50.8%
|
60−65
−50.8%
|
| Hitman 3 | 27−30
+58.8%
|
16−18
−58.8%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 70−75
+41.2%
|
50−55
−41.2%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+67.9%
|
27−30
−67.9%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+56%
|
24−27
−56%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 45−50
+53.3%
|
30−33
−53.3%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 75−80
+26.7%
|
60−65
−26.7%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+45.5%
|
21−24
−45.5%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+76.9%
|
12−14
−76.9%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 45−50
+64.3%
|
27−30
−64.3%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
+47.4%
|
18−20
−47.4%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+57.1%
|
14−16
−57.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+57.1%
|
21−24
−57.1%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
+50%
|
24−27
−50%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90−95
+50.8%
|
60−65
−50.8%
|
| Hitman 3 | 27−30
+58.8%
|
16−18
−58.8%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 70−75
+41.2%
|
50−55
−41.2%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+67.9%
|
27−30
−67.9%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+56%
|
24−27
−56%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 45−50
+53.3%
|
30−33
−53.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
+36%
|
24−27
−36%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 75−80
+26.7%
|
60−65
−26.7%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+45.5%
|
21−24
−45.5%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+76.9%
|
12−14
−76.9%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
+47.4%
|
18−20
−47.4%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+57.1%
|
14−16
−57.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+57.1%
|
21−24
−57.1%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90−95
+50.8%
|
60−65
−50.8%
|
| Hitman 3 | 27−30
+58.8%
|
16−18
−58.8%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 70−75
+41.2%
|
50−55
−41.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 45−50
+53.3%
|
30−33
−53.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
+36%
|
24−27
−36%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 75−80
+26.7%
|
60−65
−26.7%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+56%
|
24−27
−56%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 27−30
+50%
|
18−20
−50%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 21−24
+57.1%
|
14−16
−57.1%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 14−16
+55.6%
|
9−10
−55.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−12
+120%
|
5−6
−120%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 14−16
+66.7%
|
9−10
−66.7%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 16−18
+45.5%
|
10−12
−45.5%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+84.6%
|
35−40
−84.6%
|
| Hitman 3 | 16−18
+41.7%
|
12−14
−41.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 27−30
+52.6%
|
18−20
−52.6%
|
| Metro Exodus | 24−27
+84.6%
|
12−14
−84.6%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
+140%
|
10−11
−140%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
+87.5%
|
8−9
−87.5%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 85−90
+50%
|
55−60
−50%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 21−24
+53.3%
|
14−16
−53.3%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 14−16
+75%
|
8−9
−75%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 10−11
+66.7%
|
6−7
−66.7%
|
| Hitman 3 | 10−11
+100%
|
5−6
−100%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 65−70
+86.5%
|
35−40
−86.5%
|
| Metro Exodus | 12−14
+85.7%
|
7−8
−85.7%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 12−14
+117%
|
6−7
−117%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8−9
+60%
|
5−6
−60%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 7−8
+75%
|
4−5
−75%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+60%
|
5−6
−60%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18−20
+72.7%
|
10−12
−72.7%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 12−14
+160%
|
5−6
−160%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 12−14
+44.4%
|
9−10
−44.4%
|
This is how Apple M1 8-Core GPU and HD 7970M compete in popular games:
- Apple M1 8-Core GPU is 55% faster in 900p
- HD 7970M is 107% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the Apple M1 8-Core GPU is 160% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, Apple M1 8-Core GPU surpassed HD 7970M in all 72 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 14.49 | 9.26 |
| Recency | 10 November 2020 | 24 April 2012 |
| Chip lithography | 5 nm | 28 nm |
Apple M1 8-Core GPU has a 56.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.
The Apple M1 8-Core GPU is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970M in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
