AMD Radeon HD 7950 vs AMD Radeon HD 7970 Comparison

# AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs AMD Radeon HD 7950

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 and HD 7950 are two closely related graphics cards from the Southern Islands generation, both built on the Tahiti chip using TSMC's 28 nm process with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die. The HD 7970 carries a higher launch MSRP of 549 USD against the HD 7950's 449 USD, and benchmark data shows the 7970 achieving an average score of 34,541 in Geekbench OpenCL while the 7950 posts 33,951 in Geekbench Metal. These scores place the 7970 at the 79th percentile of all GPUs and the 7950 at the 78th percentile, indicating that despite their differences, both cards sit within roughly the same performance tier, separated by less than 2% in aggregate benchmark results.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in synthetic compute benchmarks?

A: The HD 7970 scores 34,541 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the HD 7950 scores 33,951 in Geekbench Metal. This represents a 1.7% advantage for the 7970, though the benchmarks use different APIs, so direct comparison should account for that.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The HD 7970 is 0.1% behind the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (34,561), 0.4% behind the NVIDIA A2 (34,690), 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN V (34,355), and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (34,207). The HD 7950 is 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 480 (33,997), 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (33,849), 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT (34,133), and 0.6% behind the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (34,154).

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: Both cards feature 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus. The HD 7970 operates its memory at 1375 MHz with 5.5 Gbps effective speed, yielding 264.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 7950 runs memory at 1250 MHz with 5 Gbps effective speed, producing 240.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards share the same architecture and chip?

A: Yes, both use the Tahiti chip with GCN 1.0 architecture from the Southern Islands (HD 7900) generation, fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process with 4,313 million transistors and a 352 mm² die size.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The HD 7970 has a 250 W TDP and requires a 600 W suggested PSU, using one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector. The HD 7950 has a 200 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU, using two 6-pin connectors.

Q: Which card has more shading units and texture units?

A: The HD 7970 has 2,048 shading units and 128 texture mapping units (TMUs), while the HD 7950 has 1,792 shading units and 112 TMUs. Both cards have 32 ROPs.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 7970 wins on raw compute throughput and memory bandwidth. Its FP32 performance reaches 3.789 TFLOPS compared to 2.867 TFLOPS for the HD 7950, a 32% advantage that makes the 7970 the stronger choice for compute-heavy workloads such as OpenCL acceleration. Texture rate follows suit: the 7970 delivers 118.4 GTexel/s against 89.60 GTexel/s, a 32% lead. Pixel rate also favors the 7970 at 29.60 GPixel/s versus 25.60 GPixel/s, a 15.6% advantage. Memory bandwidth is 10% higher on the 7970 (264.0 GB/s vs 240.0 GB/s), which helps in high-resolution textures and large data sets.

The HD 7950 wins on power efficiency and system integration. Its 200 W TDP is 20% lower than the 7970's 250 W, and it requires a 550 W suggested PSU instead of 600 W. The 7950 also uses two 6-pin connectors rather than the 7970's combination of one 6-pin and one 8-pin, making it easier to power in older or lower-capacity systems. For gaming at typical resolutions, the 7950's 78th percentile standing versus the 7970's 79th percentile means the performance gap is modest, so users prioritizing lower power draw and simpler cabling may prefer the 7950. In benchmark scores, the 7950 trails by only 1.7%, yet it consumes 20% less power, making it the more efficient option per watt.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on the Tahiti chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, but they are configured differently. The HD 7970 enables 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the HD 7950 disables some compute resources, leaving 1,792 shading units and 112 TMUs while retaining all 32 ROPs. This configuration difference directly explains the performance gap: the 7970 has 14.3% more shading units and 14.3% more TMUs than the 7950, which scales almost linearly into the observed FP32 and texture rate deltas.

Memory clocks also differ between the two. The 7970 runs its GDDR5 at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), while the 7950 runs at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). With identical 384-bit memory buses, the 7970 achieves 264.0 GB/s versus 240.0 GB/s. The architecture itself supports PCIe 3.0 x16 on both cards, and both expose the same display outputs: one DVI, one HDMI 1.4a, and two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connections. API support is identical: DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The transistor count and die size are identical at 4,313 million and 352 mm², respectively, yielding the same transistor density of 12.3M per mm². This confirms that the HD 7950 is not a different die but rather a binning or configuration variant of Tahiti with some compute units disabled. The 28 nm process node and TSMC foundry are shared, so architectural differences stem entirely from enabled hardware blocks and clock speeds, not from silicon revisions.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several measurable specifications. Shading units: 2,048 on the 7970 versus 1,792 on the 7950. TMUs: 128 versus 112. ROPs are identical at 32. Memory clock: 1375 MHz versus 1250 MHz, with effective data rates of 5.5 Gbps versus 5 Gbps. Memory bandwidth: 264.0 GB/s versus 240.0 GB/s. Pixel rate: 29.60 GPixel/s versus 25.60 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 118.4 GTexel/s versus 89.60 GTexel/s. FP32 performance: 3.789 TFLOPS versus 2.867 TFLOPS.

TDP differs significantly: 250 W for the 7970 versus 200 W for the 7950. Power connectors also differ: the 7970 uses one 6-pin and one 8-pin, while the 7950 uses two 6-pin connectors. Suggested PSU is 600 W for the 7970 and 550 W for the 7950. Physical dimensions are nearly identical: the 7970 measures 275 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width, while the 7950 measures 278 mm, 111 mm, and 38 mm. Both are dual-slot cards.

Memory size, type, and bus width are the same: 3 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit interface. Both cards share the same generation, architecture, process node, foundry, transistor count, die size, transistor density, bus interface, display outputs, API support, production status (end-of-life), predecessor (Northern Islands), and successor (Sea Islands). Release dates differ slightly: the 7970 launched on January 8, 2012, and the 7950 on January 30, 2012.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The available benchmark results show the HD 7970 scoring 34,541 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the HD 7950 scores 33,951 in Geekbench Metal. The 7970's score is 590 points higher, a 1.7% margin. While these tests use different APIs, the proximity of scores suggests that real-world performance differences are modest in many applications. The 7970's 79th percentile versus the 7950's 78th percentile reinforces this: both cards land in the same broad performance band.

The most significant wins for the 7970 come from its hardware configuration. FP32 throughput is 3.789 TFLOPS versus 2.867 TFLOPS, a 32% advantage that makes the 7970 substantially better for compute tasks that scale with shader throughput. Texture rate shows the same 32% gap (118.4 GTexel/s vs 89.60 GTexel/s), which benefits games and applications that are texture-fill limited. Memory bandwidth is 10% higher (264.0 GB/s vs 240.0 GB/s), helping in scenarios with large texture caches or heavy memory traffic.

The 7950's wins are more about efficiency than raw performance. Its 200 W TDP versus 250 W means it draws 20% less power while delivering 98.3% of the 7970's benchmark score. Pixel rate is 25.60 GPixel/s versus 29.60 GPixel/s, a 15.6% deficit that is less severe than the compute gap. For users with smaller power supplies or thermal constraints, the 7950 offers a compelling balance, especially given that its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 480 (0.1% ahead) and NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (0.6% ahead), showing it remains competitive in its segment.

Looking at rival deltas, the HD 7970's closest competitor is the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB at 34,561, just 0.1% ahead, while the NVIDIA TITAN V trails by 0.5%. The HD 7950's closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 480 at 33,997, again 0.1% ahead, with the AMD Radeon RX 7700S trailing by 0.3%. These tight deltas indicate that both cards occupy a crowded performance tier where a few percent separates several products. The 7970's 0.5% lead over the TITAN V is notable given the TITAN V's different architecture and market positioning, while the 7950's 0.3% lead over the RX 7700S shows it holding its own against much newer hardware.