Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire vs GeForce GTX 980M

Place in the ranking	293	338
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	13.16	5.52
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)	GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code name	GM204	Wimbledon XT
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	7 October 2014 (10 years ago)	1 May 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	1536	2560
Core clock speed	1038 MHz	850 MHz
Boost clock speed	1127 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,200 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	unknown	200 Watt
Texture fill rate	51.84	no data
Floating-point processing power	1.659 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	64	no data
TMUs	96	no data

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	large	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data
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	8 GB	no data
Memory bus width	256 Bit	2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz	4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	160 GB/s	no data
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 outputs	no data
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	-
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	+	-
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	-
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	-
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	-
Optimus	+	-
BatteryBoost	+	-
Ansel	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	11.1
Shader Model	6.4	no data
OpenGL	4.5	no data
OpenCL	1.1	no data
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 980M 19.12
+19.2%

HD 7970M Crossfire 16.04

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.

GTX 980M 12517
+12.6%

HD 7970M Crossfire 11119

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.

GTX 980M 31944
+2.6%

HD 7970M Crossfire 31127

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	173 +31.1%	132 −31.1%
Full HD	71 −42.3%	101 +42.3%
1440p	34 +25.9%	27−30 −25.9%
4K	28 +33.3%	21−24 −33.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +21.4%	27−30 −21.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +18.8%	30−35 −18.8%
Elden Ring	60−65 +22.4%	45−50 −22.4%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	56 +7.7%	50−55 −7.7%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +21.4%	27−30 −21.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +18.8%	30−35 −18.8%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 +21.2%	65−70 −21.2%
Metro Exodus	60 +36.4%	40−45 −36.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 +12.8%	35−40 −12.8%
Valorant	75−80 +20.3%	60−65 −20.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	59 +13.5%	50−55 −13.5%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +21.4%	27−30 −21.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +18.8%	30−35 −18.8%
Dota 2	40 −42.5%	55−60 +42.5%
Elden Ring	60−65 +22.4%	45−50 −22.4%
Far Cry 5	65−70 +12.1%	55−60 −12.1%
Fortnite	88 +0%	85−90 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 +21.2%	65−70 −21.2%
Grand Theft Auto V	60 +5.3%	55−60 −5.3%
Metro Exodus	40 −10%	40−45 +10%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	182 +59.6%	110−120 −59.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45 +12.8%	35−40 −12.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	58 +18.4%	45−50 −18.4%
Valorant	75−80 +20.3%	60−65 −20.3%
World of Tanks	230 +13.3%	200−210 −13.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50 −4%	50−55 +4%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +21.4%	27−30 −21.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40 +18.8%	30−35 −18.8%
Dota 2	65−70 +19.3%	55−60 −19.3%
Far Cry 5	65−70 +12.1%	55−60 −12.1%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 +21.2%	65−70 −21.2%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	49 −133%	110−120 +133%
Valorant	75−80 +20.3%	60−65 −20.3%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	30−33 +25%	24−27 −25%
Elden Ring	30−35 +24%	24−27 −24%
Grand Theft Auto V	30−33 +25%	24−27 −25%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	160−170 +13.4%	140−150 −13.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +21.4%	14−16 −21.4%
World of Tanks	130−140 +17.1%	110−120 −17.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	34 +6.3%	30−35 −6.3%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +14.3%	14−16 −14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +25%	12−14 −25%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +27.5%	40−45 −27.5%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 +22.5%	40−45 −22.5%
Metro Exodus	38 +8.6%	35−40 −8.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +23.8%	21−24 −23.8%
Valorant	45−50 +22.5%	40−45 −22.5%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +25%	12−14 −25%
Dota 2	41 +46.4%	27−30 −46.4%
Elden Ring	14−16 +27.3%	10−12 −27.3%
Grand Theft Auto V	41 +51.9%	27−30 −51.9%
Metro Exodus	12 +9.1%	10−12 −9.1%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	48 +0%	45−50 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +20%	10−11 −20%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	41 +51.9%	27−30 −51.9%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	17 +13.3%	14−16 −13.3%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +25%	12−14 −25%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Dota 2	30−35 +14.3%	27−30 −14.3%
Far Cry 5	24−27 +25%	20−22 −25%
Fortnite	21 +16.7%	18−20 −16.7%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +21.7%	21−24 −21.7%
Valorant	21−24 +22.2%	18−20 −22.2%

This is how GTX 980M and HD 7970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

GTX 980M is 31% faster in 900p
HD 7970M Crossfire is 42% faster in 1080p
GTX 980M is 26% faster in 1440p
GTX 980M is 33% faster in 4K

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

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 980M is 60% faster.
in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M Crossfire is 133% faster.

All in all, in popular games: