Radeon HD 7970 vs R9 380

Place in performance ranking	315	355
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.08	4.00
Architecture	GCN (2011−2017)	GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code name	Tonga Pro	Tahiti XT
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	reference
Release date	26 June 2015 (9 years ago)	22 December 2011 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$549
Current price	$12.90 (0.1x MSRP)	$89 (0.2x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 380 has 127% better value for money than HD 7970.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1792	2048
Compute units	28	no data
Boost clock speed	970 MHz	925 MHz
Number of transistors	5,000 million	4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	190 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	108.6	118.4
Floating-point performance	3,476 gflops	3,789 gflops

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	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 2.1 x16
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	221 mm	274 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Form factor	full height / full length / dual slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2 x 6-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Bridgeless CrossFire	1	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
High bandwidth memory (HBM)	-	no data
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	970 MHz	1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth	182.4 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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity	+	+
Number of Eyefinity displays	6	no data
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	-

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	-	-
CrossFire	1	1
Enduro	-	-
FRTC	1	no data
FreeSync	1	1
HD3D	+	-
LiquidVR	1	no data
PowerTune	+	-
TrueAudio	+	-
ZeroCore	+	-
VCE	+	no data
DDMA audio	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	DirectX® 11
Shader Model	6.3	5.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	+	no data
Mantle	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

R9 380 15.91
+17.1%

HD 7970 13.59

R9 380 outperforms HD 7970 by 17% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

R9 380 6146
+17.1%

HD 7970 5248

R9 380 outperforms HD 7970 by 17% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

R9 380 12191
+56.9%

HD 7970 7770

R9 380 outperforms HD 7970 by 57% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

R9 380 29722
+20.1%

HD 7970 24757

R9 380 outperforms HD 7970 by 20% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R9 380 8218
+19.8%

HD 7970 6862

R9 380 outperforms HD 7970 by 20% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

R9 380 50723
+15.8%

HD 7970 43795

R9 380 outperforms HD 7970 by 16% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

R9 380 928

HD 7970 985
+6.1%

HD 7970 outperforms R9 380 by 6% in Unigine Heaven 4.0.

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	120−130 +14.3%	105 −14.3%
Full HD	63 −63.5%	103 +63.5%
4K	24 +33.3%	18−21 −33.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

24−27

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Battlefield 5	50−55	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	75−80	no data
Hitman 3	30−35	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Metro Exodus	50−55	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Battlefield 5	50−55	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	75−80	no data
Hitman 3	30−35	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Metro Exodus	50−55	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	51	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Forza Horizon 4	75−80	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	30−33	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9	no data
Far Cry 5	24−27	no data
Forza Horizon 4	30−35	no data
Hitman 3	18−20	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35	no data
Metro Exodus	27−30	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−11	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14	no data
Hitman 3	12−14	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	19	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	no data
Far Cry 5	9−10	no data
Forza Horizon 4	21−24	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18	no data
Metro Exodus	14−16	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7	no data