Radeon HD 7970M vs RX 560

Place in the ranking	467	473
Place by popularity	64	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.48	no data
Power efficiency	8.80	6.44
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	Polaris 21	Wimbledon
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	18 April 2017 (7 years ago)	24 April 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$99	no data

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	1024	1280
Core clock speed	1175 MHz	850 MHz
Boost clock speed	1275 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	3,000 million	2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	100 Watt
Texture fill rate	81.60	68.00
Floating-point processing power	2.611 TFLOPS	2.176 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	64	80

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	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x8	MXM-B (3.0)
Length	170 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1750 MHz	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112.0 GB/s	153.6 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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	No outputs
HDMI	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
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.

RX 560 9.46
+2.5%

HD 7970M 9.23

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.

RX 560 3648
+2.5%

HD 7970M 3559

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	85−90 +1.2%	84 −1.2%
Full HD	35 −74.3%	61 +74.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

2.83

no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

14−16

+0%

14−16

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Battlefield 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Metro Exodus	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Battlefield 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Metro Exodus	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

+0%

24−27

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Hitman 3	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Metro Exodus	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

+0%

14−16

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Hitman 3	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

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

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10

+0%

9−10

+0%

This is how RX 560 and HD 7970M compete in popular games:

RX 560 is 1% faster in 900p
HD 7970M is 74% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

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

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.46	9.23
Recency	18 April 2017	24 April 2012
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	100 Watt

RX 560 has a 2.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 33.3% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon RX 560 and Radeon HD 7970M.

Be aware that Radeon RX 560 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 7970M is a notebook one.

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