Radeon Pro W6600 vs HD 7970

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7970 with Radeon Pro W6600, including specs and performance data.

HD 7970
2011
6 GB GDDR5, 300 Watt
13.60

Pro W6600 outperforms HD 7970 by a whopping 198% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking37899
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.3870.12
Power efficiency3.7828.13
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code nameTahitiNavi 23
Market segmentDesktopWorkstation
Designreferenceno data
Release date22 December 2011 (12 years ago)8 June 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$549 $649

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Pro W6600 has 2846% better value for money than HD 7970.

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 cores20481792
Core clock speedno data2331 MHz
Boost clock speed925 MHz2903 MHz
Number of transistors4,313 million11,060 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)300 Watt100 Watt
Texture fill rate118.4325.1
Floating-point processing power3.789 TFLOPS10.4 TFLOPS
ROPs3264
TMUs128112
Ray Tracing Coresno data28

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 supportPCIe 2.1 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Length274 mm241 mm
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 6-pin

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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount6 GB8 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth264 GB/s224.0 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort4x DisplayPort
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1112.0 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.16.5
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.1
Vulkan-1.2

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.

HD 7970 13.60
Pro W6600 40.47
+198%

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.

HD 7970 5248
Pro W6600 15615
+198%

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:

900p105
−186%
300−350
+186%
Full HD92
−193%
270−280
+193%

Cost per frame, $

1080p5.972.40

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−186%
60−65
+186%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−190%
90−95
+190%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−195%
65−70
+195%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−195%
130−140
+195%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−196%
80−85
+196%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−186%
60−65
+186%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−197%
95−100
+197%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−197%
110−120
+197%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
−192%
260−270
+192%
Hitman 3 24−27
−188%
75−80
+188%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−186%
200−210
+186%
Metro Exodus 45−50
−183%
130−140
+183%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−189%
110−120
+189%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−195%
130−140
+195%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−197%
220−230
+197%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−190%
90−95
+190%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−195%
65−70
+195%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−195%
130−140
+195%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−196%
80−85
+196%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−186%
60−65
+186%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−197%
95−100
+197%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−197%
110−120
+197%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
−192%
260−270
+192%
Hitman 3 24−27
−188%
75−80
+188%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−186%
200−210
+186%
Metro Exodus 45−50
−183%
130−140
+183%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−189%
110−120
+189%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−195%
130−140
+195%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−188%
95−100
+188%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−197%
220−230
+197%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−190%
90−95
+190%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−195%
65−70
+195%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−196%
80−85
+196%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−186%
60−65
+186%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−197%
95−100
+197%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
−192%
260−270
+192%
Hitman 3 24−27
−188%
75−80
+188%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−186%
200−210
+186%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
−195%
130−140
+195%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−188%
95−100
+188%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
−197%
220−230
+197%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−189%
110−120
+189%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
−188%
75−80
+188%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−186%
60−65
+186%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−186%
40−45
+186%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
−170%
27−30
+170%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
−186%
40−45
+186%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−181%
45−50
+181%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
−190%
200−210
+190%
Hitman 3 16−18
−181%
45−50
+181%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
−186%
80−85
+186%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−183%
65−70
+183%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 21−24
−183%
65−70
+183%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
−186%
40−45
+186%
Watch Dogs: Legion 80−85
−186%
240−250
+186%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−195%
65−70
+195%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
−169%
35−40
+169%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
−170%
27−30
+170%
Hitman 3 9−10
−167%
24−27
+167%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
−188%
190−200
+188%
Metro Exodus 12−14
−169%
35−40
+169%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
−192%
35−40
+192%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
−163%
21−24
+163%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
−167%
16−18
+167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−150%
5−6
+150%
Far Cry 5 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
−178%
50−55
+178%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
−192%
35−40
+192%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
−180%
14−16
+180%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−192%
35−40
+192%

This is how HD 7970 and Pro W6600 compete in popular games:

  • Pro W6600 is 186% faster in 900p
  • Pro W6600 is 193% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 13.60 40.47
Recency 22 December 2011 8 June 2021
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 8 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 7 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt 100 Watt

Pro W6600 has a 197.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 200% lower power consumption.

The Radeon Pro W6600 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7970 is a desktop card while Radeon Pro W6600 is a workstation one.


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

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AMD Radeon HD 7970
Radeon HD 7970
AMD Radeon Pro W6600
Radeon Pro W6600

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 301 vote

Rate Radeon HD 7970 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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4.2 64 votes

Rate Radeon Pro W6600 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.