AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs AMD Radeon RX 590 GME Comparison

AMD Radeon HD 7970 and AMD Radeon RX 590 GME represent two distinct eras of AMD graphics, separated by eight years of architectural evolution. The HD 7970 launched with a 549 USD MSRP, while the RX 590 GME arrived without a listed launch price. The benchmark data shows a clear, though not overwhelming, victory for the newer card. In the only shared benchmark test (Geekbench OpenCL), the RX 590 GME scores 36,294 against the HD 7970’s 34,541, a 4.8% advantage. This is a modest generational gain, but the architectural differences suggest the gap widens in modern workloads that utilize newer feature sets.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, which measures raw compute throughput. The RX 590 GME wins with a score of 36,294, beating the HD 7970’s 34,541 by 4.8%. This is a narrow margin, and both cards sit in a similar performance tier. The HD 7970’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB at 34,561 (0.1% faster) and the NVIDIA TITAN V at 34,355 (0.5% slower). The RX 590 GME’s closest competitors are the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 at 32,540 (0.2% slower) and the NVIDIA T600 Mobile at 32,849 (0.8% faster). These rival placements indicate that neither card is drastically faster than the other in raw OpenCL compute — the 4.8% delta is within the noise of typical performance variation.

Looking at the card’s overall standings, the HD 7970 holds a 79th percentile rank among all GPUs, while the RX 590 GME sits at the 77th percentile. The HD 7970’s average benchmark score is 34,541, identical to its Geekbench OpenCL result, while the RX 590 GME’s average across three tests (including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 1,001 and Geekbench Vulkan at 60,508) is 32,601. This lower average is dragged down by the 3DMark result, which is a much heavier workload than a compute test. The OpenCL score of 36,294 is the RX 590 GME’s best compute result, but its Vulkan score of 60,508 is nearly double that, suggesting the card is significantly stronger in graphics-oriented APIs than in general-purpose compute.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 590 GME wins the only head-to-head benchmark, so it takes the compute crown by 4.8%. However, this narrow OpenCL victory does not tell the full story. The RX 590 GME’s Vulkan score of 60,508 is far above its OpenCL score, indicating that it excels in modern graphics APIs. The HD 7970 has no Vulkan benchmark result in the data, but its API support list includes Vulkan 1.2.170, so it can run such workloads — we just have no score to compare. The HD 7970’s single OpenCL score of 34,541 puts it at the 79th percentile, which is higher than the RX 590 GME’s 77th percentile overall standing, but that percentile includes all benchmark types, not just compute.

For gaming, the RX 590 GME is the clear pick based on its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,001 — a result the HD 7970 cannot match, as it has no 3DMark score in the data. The HD 7970’s DirectX support is limited to 12 (11_1), while the RX 590 GME supports DirectX 12 (12_0), meaning the newer card can handle more recent DX12 features. The RX 590 GME also has a higher pixel rate (45.44 GPixel/s vs 29.60 GPixel/s) and texture rate (204.5 GTexel/s vs 118.4 GTexel/s), which directly benefits rasterization-heavy games. The HD 7970’s advantage lies in memory bandwidth: 264.0 GB/s vs 256.0 GB/s, a 3.1% edge that helps at high resolutions with heavy textures.

Architecture Differences

The HD 7970 is built on the Tahiti chip using the GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 28 nm process. It packs 4,313 million transistors into a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The RX 590 GME uses the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, built on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process. It contains 5,700 million transistors in a smaller 232 mm² die, achieving a much higher density of 24.6M per mm². This is a fundamental generational leap: GCN 4.0 is a refined version of the same basic design, but the smaller process node allows for more transistors in a smaller area.

The RX 590 GME has more shading units (2,304 vs 2,048) and more texture mapping units (144 vs 128), but both have 32 ROPs. The newer card’s FP32 compute is 6.543 TFLOPS — 73% higher than the HD 7970’s 3.789 TFLOPS. The RX 590 GME also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (6.543 TFLOPS), while the HD 7970 has no FP16 capability listed. This makes the RX 590 GME dramatically better for workloads that use half-precision math, such as certain machine learning inference tasks. The RX 590 GME also has a newer Vulkan version (1.3 vs 1.2.170) and DirectX 12 (12_0) vs the HD 7970’s 12 (11_1), giving it access to more modern rendering features.

Specification Differences

Memory is a major differentiator: the HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, while the RX 590 GME has 8 GB on a 256-bit bus. The HD 7970’s wider bus gives it slightly higher bandwidth (264.0 GB/s vs 256.0 GB/s), but the RX 590 GME’s larger capacity is far more useful in modern games that exceed 3 GB. The HD 7970’s memory clock is 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), while the RX 590 GME runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The RX 590 GME has a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1420 MHz; the HD 7970’s base and boost clocks are not listed.

Power consumption differs significantly: the HD 7970 has a 250 W TDP and requires a 600 W suggested PSU with dual power connectors (1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin). The RX 590 GME draws 175 W, needs only a 450 W PSU, and uses a single 8-pin connector. This makes the RX 590 GME substantially easier to cool and power. The HD 7970 is physically longer at 275 mm (10.8 inches) vs 241 mm (9.5 inches) for the RX 590 GME, but the HD 7970’s dimensions are fully listed (111 mm height, 38 mm width) while the RX 590 GME’s height and width are not. Display outputs also differ: the HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2; the RX 590 GME offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, supporting higher resolutions and refresh rates.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The RX 590 GME scores 36,294 in Geekbench OpenCL, beating the HD 7970’s 34,541 by 4.8%. This is the only head-to-head benchmark available.

Q: Does the older HD 7970 have any advantage?

A: Yes, it has higher memory bandwidth (264.0 GB/s vs 256.0 GB/s) and a higher percentile rank (79th vs 77th). Its 384-bit memory bus helps in bandwidth-bound scenarios.

Q: Can the HD 7970 run modern APIs?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. However, the RX 590 GME supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, which are newer versions.

Q: Why is the RX 590 GME’s average benchmark score lower than its OpenCL score?

A: The RX 590 GME’s average of 32,601 includes a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,001, which is a much heavier workload. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 36,294, and its Vulkan score is 60,508.

Q: Which card has better raw compute throughput?

A: The RX 590 GME delivers 6.543 TFLOPS FP32, which is 73% higher than the HD 7970’s 3.789 TFLOPS. It also supports FP16 at 6.543 TFLOPS, which the HD 7970 lacks.

Q: How do power requirements compare?

A: The HD 7970 has a 250 W TDP with a 600 W suggested PSU, while the RX 590 GME uses 175 W and a 450 W suggested PSU. The newer card is significantly more power-efficient.

The Verdict

The data points to the RX 590 GME as the better all-around card. It wins the only direct benchmark by 4.8%, offers 73% higher FP32 compute, has 8 GB of memory instead of 3 GB, supports newer API versions (Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12_0), and consumes 75 W less power. The HD 7970’s only quantitative advantages are its 3.1% higher memory bandwidth, its slightly better percentile ranking (79th vs 77th), and its higher average benchmark score (34,541 vs 32,601) — the latter being misleading because the HD 7970 has only one benchmark result while the RX 590 GME’s average includes a heavy 3DMark test.

For a builder choosing between these two end-of-life cards, the RX 590 GME is the practical pick for modern gaming. Its 8 GB frame buffer and DX12_0 support make it viable for current titles, while its lower TDP means it fits in more systems with less power and cooling overhead. The HD 7970 is a historical piece — its 3 GB memory and older API support will struggle with recent releases, and its 250 W draw is hard to justify. The HD 7970’s only compelling use case is a niche workload that specifically needs its 384-bit memory bus and higher bandwidth, but even then, the 4.8% compute deficit in the shared test shows it is not faster in general compute. The verdict is straightforward: the RX 590 GME wins on performance, features, and efficiency, making it the only sensible choice between the two.