Radeon RX 5500M vs HD 7970M

Place in the ranking	472	360
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	6.38	11.73
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020)
GPU code name	Wimbledon	Navi 14
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)	7 October 2019 (5 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	1280	1408
Core clock speed	850 MHz	1375 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1645 MHz
Number of transistors	2,800 million	6,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	85 Watt
Texture fill rate	68.00	144.8
Floating-point processing power	2.176 TFLOPS	4.632 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	80	88

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	medium sized
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	PCIe 4.0 x8
Supplementary power connectors	None	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	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	224.0 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 Connectors

No outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2.131

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 9.23

RX 5500M 14.42
+56.2%

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 7970M 3559

RX 5500M 5563
+56.3%

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.

HD 7970M 5645

RX 5500M 16476
+192%

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.

HD 7970M 4694

RX 5500M 12276
+162%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

HD 7970M 31869

RX 5500M 50946
+59.9%

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	84 −54.8%	130−140 +54.8%
Full HD	58 +1.8%	57 −1.8%
1440p	35−40 −60%	56 +60%
4K	18−20 −72.2%	31 +72.2%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

14−16

−293%

55
+293%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −95.5%	43 +95.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −331%	56 +331%
Battlefield 5	27−30 −64.3%	45−50 +64.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −179%	53 +179%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −207%	43 +207%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −57.1%	30−35 +57.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 −50%	35−40 +50%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −52.5%	90−95 +52.5%
Hitman 3	16−18 −241%	58 +241%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −186%	146 +186%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −71.4%	45−50 +71.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −128%	57 +128%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 −53.3%	45−50 +53.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −182%	169 +182%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −50%	30−35 +50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −100%	26 +100%
Battlefield 5	27−30 −21.4%	34 +21.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −153%	48 +153%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −136%	33 +136%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −57.1%	30−35 +57.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 −50%	35−40 +50%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −52.5%	90−95 +52.5%
Hitman 3	16−18 −241%	58 +241%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −182%	144 +182%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −28.6%	36 +28.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 −108%	52 +108%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 −173%	82 +173%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −36%	30−35 +36%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −180%	168 +180%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −40.9%	31 +40.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −7.7%	14 +7.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 −36.8%	26 +36.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −114%	30 +114%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −57.1%	30−35 +57.1%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 −52.5%	90−95 +52.5%
Hitman 3	16−18 −194%	50 +194%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −35.3%	69 +35.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 −140%	72 +140%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −80%	45 +80%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +173%	22 −173%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

−116%

54
+116%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −200%	54 +200%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −57.1%	21−24 +57.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 −100%	10 +100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 −66.7%	14−16 +66.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 −75%	7−8 +75%
Far Cry 5	10−12 −45.5%	16−18 +45.5%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −87.2%	70−75 +87.2%
Hitman 3	12−14 −175%	33 +175%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 −189%	55 +189%
Metro Exodus	12−14 −262%	47 +262%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 −150%	24−27 +150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 −87.5%	14−16 +87.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −181%	163 +181%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

−167%

40
+167%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 −263%	29 +263%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 −66.7%	10−11 +66.7%
Hitman 3	5−6 −80%	9 +80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −75.7%	65 +75.7%
Metro Exodus	7−8 −300%	28 +300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 −117%	12−14 +117%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 −60%	8−9 +60%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 −75%	7−8 +75%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 −75%	7−8 +75%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −60%	8−9 +60%
Forza Horizon 4	10−12 −72.7%	18−20 +72.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 −160%	12−14 +160%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 −100%	6−7 +100%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10

−122%

20
+122%

This is how HD 7970M and RX 5500M compete in popular games:

RX 5500M is 55% faster in 900p
HD 7970M is 2% faster in 1080p
RX 5500M is 60% faster in 1440p
RX 5500M is 72% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M is 173% faster.
in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 5500M is 331% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 7970M is ahead in 1 test (1%)
RX 5500M is ahead in 71 test (99%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.23	14.42
Recency	24 April 2012	7 October 2019
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	85 Watt

RX 5500M has a 56.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 17.6% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 5500M 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.