ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire vs HD 7970M

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7970M and Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7970M
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 100 Watt
9.26
+91.3%
ATI Mobility HD 5870 Crossfire
2010
2x1 GB DDR3, GDDR3, GDDR5, 120 Watt
4.84

HD 7970M outperforms ATI Mobility HD 5870 Crossfire by an impressive 91% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking475639
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency6.352.77
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameWimbledonBroadway-XT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date24 April 2012 (12 years ago)7 January 2010 (14 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 cores12801600
Core clock speed850 MHz700 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)100 Watt120 Watt
Texture fill rate68.00no data
Floating-point processing power2.176 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs80no 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 sizelargelarge
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)no data
Supplementary power connectorsNoneno data

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 typeGDDR5DDR3, GDDR3, GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB2x1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1200 MHz1000 MHz
Memory bandwidth153.6 GB/sno 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 ConnectorsNo outputsno data

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)11
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan1.2.131-

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.

HD 7970M 9.26
+91.3%
ATI Mobility HD 5870 Crossfire 4.84

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.

HD 7970M 21938
+68.2%
ATI Mobility HD 5870 Crossfire 13046

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:

900p84
+58.5%
53
−58.5%
Full HD60
+11.1%
54
−11.1%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Battlefield 5 27−30
+133%
12−14
−133%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+110%
10−11
−110%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+85.7%
14−16
−85.7%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+96.8%
30−35
−96.8%
Hitman 3 16−18
+54.5%
10−12
−54.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+59.4%
30−35
−59.4%
Metro Exodus 27−30
+155%
10−12
−155%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+92.3%
12−14
−92.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−33
+66.7%
18−20
−66.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+30.4%
45−50
−30.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Battlefield 5 27−30
+133%
12−14
−133%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+110%
10−11
−110%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+85.7%
14−16
−85.7%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+96.8%
30−35
−96.8%
Hitman 3 16−18
+54.5%
10−12
−54.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+59.4%
30−35
−59.4%
Metro Exodus 27−30
+155%
10−12
−155%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+92.3%
12−14
−92.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−33
+66.7%
18−20
−66.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+30.4%
45−50
−30.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+110%
10−11
−110%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+96.8%
30−35
−96.8%
Hitman 3 16−18
+54.5%
10−12
−54.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+59.4%
30−35
−59.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−33
+66.7%
18−20
−66.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+30.4%
45−50
−30.4%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+92.3%
12−14
−92.3%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
+100%
9−10
−100%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+100%
7−8
−100%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+125%
4−5
−125%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+125%
4−5
−125%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+290%
10−11
−290%
Hitman 3 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+72.7%
10−12
−72.7%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+550%
2−3
−550%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+100%
5−6
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 55−60
+87.1%
30−35
−87.1%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+66.7%
9−10
−66.7%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 8−9
+167%
3−4
−167%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Hitman 3 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+517%
6−7
−517%
Metro Exodus 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+175%
4−5
−175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%

This is how HD 7970M and ATI Mobility HD 5870 Crossfire compete in popular games:

  • HD 7970M is 58% faster in 900p
  • HD 7970M is 11% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Metro Exodus, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M is 550% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7970M surpassed ATI Mobility HD 5870 Crossfire in all 68 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.26 4.84
Recency 24 April 2012 7 January 2010
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 120 Watt

HD 7970M has a 91.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 20% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7970M is our recommended choice as it beats the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire in performance tests.


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

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon HD 7970M
Radeon HD 7970M
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire
Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire

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.


4.2 43 votes

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
2.8 6 votes

Rate Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

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