Radeon HD 7950 vs GeForce GTX 970

Place in the ranking	213	399
Place by popularity	57	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	13.63	2.39
Power efficiency	11.68	4.27
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	GM204	Tahiti
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	no data	reference
Release date	19 September 2014 (10 years ago)	31 January 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$329	$449

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970 has 470% better value for money than HD 7950.

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	1664	1792
Compute units	no data	28
Core clock speed	1050 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1178 MHz	1250 MHz
Number of transistors	5,200 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	148 Watt	200 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	98 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	122.5	89.60
Floating-point processing power	3.92 TFLOPS	2.867 TFLOPS
ROPs	56	32
TMUs	104	112

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	PCI Express 3.0	PCIe 3.0 x16
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	267 mm	267 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	500 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	2x 6-pin
SLI options	+	-

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	3 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224 GB/s	240 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	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
Eyefinity	-	+
Number of Eyefinity displays	no data	6
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	-	+
CrossFire	-	+
FreeSync	-	+
PowerTune	-	+
ZeroCore	-	+
GameStream	+	-
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	-
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	-
CUDA	+	-

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.

GTX 970 24.98
+102%

HD 7950 12.35

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

GTX 970 9636
+102%

HD 7950 4764

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.

GTX 970 11954
+59.4%

HD 7950 7500

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.

GTX 970 1543
+54.3%

HD 7950 1000

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	80 +129%	35−40 −129%
1440p	49 +104%	24−27 −104%
4K	38 +111%	18−20 −111%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	4.11	12.83
1440p	6.71	18.71
4K	8.66	24.94

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

40−45
+128%

18−20

−128%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	55−60 +104%	27−30 −104%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 +105%	21−24 −105%
Battlefield 5	80−85 +105%	40−45 −105%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 +113%	24−27 −113%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +128%	18−20 −128%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +111%	27−30 −111%
Far Cry New Dawn	65−70 +117%	30−33 −117%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 +109%	70−75 −109%
Hitman 3	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 +109%	55−60 −109%
Metro Exodus	85−90 +115%	40−45 −115%
Red Dead Redemption 2	65−70 +117%	30−33 −117%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90 +113%	40−45 −113%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +106%	50−55 −106%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	55−60 +104%	27−30 −104%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 +105%	21−24 −105%
Battlefield 5	80−85 +105%	40−45 −105%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	52 +117%	24−27 −117%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +128%	18−20 −128%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +111%	27−30 −111%
Far Cry New Dawn	29 +107%	14−16 −107%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 +109%	70−75 −109%
Hitman 3	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 +109%	55−60 −109%
Metro Exodus	35 +119%	16−18 −119%
Red Dead Redemption 2	65−70 +117%	30−33 −117%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90 +113%	40−45 −113%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	109 +118%	50−55 −118%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +106%	50−55 −106%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	55−60 +104%	27−30 −104%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 +105%	21−24 −105%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	36 +125%	16−18 −125%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +128%	18−20 −128%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +111%	27−30 −111%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 +109%	70−75 −109%
Hitman 3	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 +109%	55−60 −109%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90 +113%	40−45 −113%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	43 +105%	21−24 −105%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +106%	50−55 −106%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

65−70
+117%

30−33

−117%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +124%	21−24 −124%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +111%	18−20 −111%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +117%	12−14 −117%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 +140%	10−11 −140%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +133%	12−14 −133%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +129%	7−8 −129%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +107%	14−16 −107%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 +104%	70−75 −104%
Hitman 3	30−33 +114%	14−16 −114%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +117%	24−27 −117%
Metro Exodus	45−50 +124%	21−24 −124%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55−60 +104%	27−30 −104%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 +121%	14−16 −121%
Watch Dogs: Legion	140−150 +117%	65−70 −117%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45
+133%

18−20

−133%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 +108%	12−14 −108%
Far Cry New Dawn	20 +122%	9−10 −122%
Hitman 3	20−22 +122%	9−10 −122%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 +113%	60−65 −113%
Metro Exodus	23 +130%	10−11 −130%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 +107%	14−16 −107%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +200%	2−3 −200%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 +113%	16−18 −113%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 +114%	14−16 −114%
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24
+120%

10−11

−120%

This is how GTX 970 and HD 7950 compete in popular games:

GTX 970 is 129% faster in 1080p
GTX 970 is 104% faster in 1440p
GTX 970 is 111% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	24.98	12.35
Recency	19 September 2014	31 January 2012
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	3 GB
Power consumption (TDP)	148 Watt	200 Watt

GTX 970 has a 102.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 35.1% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7950 in performance tests.

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