GeForce GTX 580M SLI vs Radeon HD 8970M

Place in the ranking	452	445
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	6.94	7.01
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	Neptune	N12E-GTX2
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	14 May 2013 (11 years ago)	6 January 2011 (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 cores	1280	768
Core clock speed	850 MHz	620 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,800 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	100 Watt
Texture fill rate	72.00	no data
Floating-point processing power	2.304 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	32	no data
TMUs	80	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
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no 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 type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	no data
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 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

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	11
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.6	no data
OpenCL	1.2	no data
Vulkan	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 8970M 10.08

GTX 580M SLI 10.18
+1%

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 8970M 6818
+11.7%

GTX 580M SLI 6106

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 8970M 18667

GTX 580M SLI 25022
+34%

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	75−80 −1.3%	76 +1.3%
Full HD	51 −78.4%	91 +78.4%
1200p	80−85 −1.3%	81 +1.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Elden Ring	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −2.5%	40−45 +2.5%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −3.7%	27−30 +3.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Valorant	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Dota 2	26 −38.5%	35−40 +38.5%
Elden Ring	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Far Cry 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Fortnite	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −2.5%	40−45 +2.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	39 +8.3%	35−40 −8.3%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −3.7%	27−30 +3.7%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 −3.3%	30−35 +3.3%
Valorant	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
World of Tanks	148 +1.4%	140−150 −1.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Dota 2	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −2.5%	40−45 +2.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Valorant	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Elden Ring	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
World of Tanks	70−75 −1.4%	70−75 +1.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −5.3%	20−22 +5.3%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Valorant	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Dota 2	20−22 −5%	21−24 +5%
Elden Ring	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Metro Exodus	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	27−30 −3.4%	30−33 +3.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −16.7%	7−8 +16.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Dota 2	20−22 −5%	21−24 +5%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Fortnite	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −8.3%	12−14 +8.3%
Valorant	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%

This is how HD 8970M and GTX 580M SLI compete in popular games:

GTX 580M SLI is 1% faster in 900p
GTX 580M SLI is 78% faster in 1080p
GTX 580M SLI is 1% faster in 1200p

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

in Grand Theft Auto V, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 8970M is 8% faster.
in Dota 2, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 580M SLI is 38% faster.

All in all, in popular games: