Radeon HD 7970 vs Pro Vega 64

Place in the ranking	158	378
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	2.38
Power efficiency	9.27	3.77
Architecture	GCN 5.0 (2017−2020)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	Vega 10	Tahiti
Market segment	Workstation	Desktop
Design	no data	reference
Release date	27 June 2017 (7 years ago)	22 December 2011 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$549

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	4096	2048
Core clock speed	1250 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1350 MHz	925 MHz
Number of transistors	12,500 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	345.6	118.4
Floating-point processing power	11.06 TFLOPS	3.789 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	32
TMUs	256	128

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 support	no data	PCIe 2.1 x16
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	267 mm	274 mm
Width	IGP	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 type	HBM2	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	16 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	2048 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	786 MHz	1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth	402.4 GB/s	264 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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-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.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.125	-

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.

Pro Vega 64 33.49
+146%

HD 7970 13.60

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.

Pro Vega 64 12920
+146%

HD 7970 5248

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	250−260 +138%	105 −138%
Full HD	220−230 +139%	92 −139%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

no data

5.97

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

21−24

+0%

21−24

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Hitman 3	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Metro Exodus	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Hitman 3	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Metro Exodus	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Hitman 3	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Far Cry 5	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

+0%

21−24

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Hitman 3	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Metro Exodus	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14

+0%

12−14

+0%

This is how Pro Vega 64 and HD 7970 compete in popular games:

Pro Vega 64 is 138% faster in 900p
Pro Vega 64 is 139% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	33.49	13.60
Recency	27 June 2017	22 December 2011
Maximum RAM amount	16 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	300 Watt

Pro Vega 64 has a 146.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 20% lower power consumption.

The Radeon Pro Vega 64 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 7970 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon Pro Vega 64 is a workstation graphics card while Radeon HD 7970 is a desktop one.

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