AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs AMD Radeon RX 6700 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single direct comparison between these two cards, and the result is decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 scores 97,841, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541. This produces a delta of -64.7% for the older card, meaning the RX 6700 outperforms the HD 7970 by roughly 64.7% in raw compute throughput. That is not a marginal generational step; it is a fundamental shift in capability.

The HD 7970’s score of 34,541 places it at the 79th percentile among all GPUs in the database, which is respectable for a card from its era. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB at 34,561 (a 0.1% advantage for the T1000), the NVIDIA A2 at 34,690 (0.4% ahead), the NVIDIA TITAN V at 34,355 (0.5% behind), and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 at 34,207 (1% behind). The HD 7970 effectively sits in a cluster of professional and workstation-oriented cards, all within 1% of each other. This suggests that, in pure OpenCL compute, the HD 7970 remains competitive with much newer low-end and midrange professional GPUs, despite its age.

The RX 6700, by contrast, scores 97,841 in the same test, placing it at the 75th percentile overall. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA CMP 70HX at 30,476 (0.1% behind the RX 6700), the NVIDIA Tesla M60 at 30,490 (0.2% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6800 at 30,095 (1.1% ahead of the RX 6700), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti at 29,945 (1.6% ahead). The RX 6700’s OpenCL score is nearly triple that of the HD 7970. However, it is worth remembering the RX 6700’s percentile rank is slightly lower (75 vs. 79) because the broader database includes many modern high-end cards that push the absolute top scores higher. But within this head-to-head, the RX 6700 is the clear winner.

The benchmark data shows only one test where both cards appear. There is no 3DMark or PassMark entry for the HD 7970 in this comparison, so the analysis of rasterization, DirectX, and gaming-specific workloads rests on the architectural and specification differences rather than direct measurements. Still, the OpenCL result alone indicates a massive compute advantage for the newer card.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is enormous, reflecting roughly nine years of GPU evolution. The HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip, built on GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the Southern Islands generation (HD 7900 series). It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The RX 6700 uses the Navi 22 chip, based on RDNA 2.0 architecture, from the Navi II generation (RX 6000 series). It is built on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.3 million per mm². The density increase is roughly fourfold, which explains how the RX 6700 packs four times the transistor count into a slightly smaller die.

The HD 7970 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines. It has no dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 29.60 GPixel/s, texture rate is 118.4 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute is 3.789 TFLOPS. It has no listed FP16 capability. The RX 6700 has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, plus 36 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 156.8 GPixel/s (over 5 times the HD 7970), texture rate is 352.8 GTexel/s (roughly 3 times), and FP32 compute is 11.29 TFLOPS. It also offers FP16 at 22.58 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a capability the HD 7970 lacks entirely.

Memory architecture differs fundamentally. The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 264.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6700 has 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, yet achieves 320.0 GB/s bandwidth due to much faster memory clocks. The RX 6700’s memory clock is 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the HD 7970’s is 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective). The RX 6700 also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, double the bus bandwidth of the HD 7970’s PCIe 3.0 x16.

API support shows the generational leap: the HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 6700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer card adds hardware ray tracing cores, which the HD 7970 cannot handle at all. The RX 6700 also has a game clock of 2174 MHz and boost clock of 2450 MHz, while the HD 7970 has no base or boost clock listed in the database, only its memory clock.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance in OpenCL?

A: The RX 6700 scores 97,841 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 34,541 for the HD 7970, a 64.7% advantage for the RX 6700.

Q: How do their transistor counts compare?

A: The HD 7970 has 4,313 million transistors, while the RX 6700 has 17,200 million, a nearly 4x difference.

Q: Does the HD 7970 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The HD 7970 has no ray tracing cores, while the RX 6700 includes 36 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory size and type for each card?

A: The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus; the RX 6700 has 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 6700 at 320.0 GB/s, despite a narrower bus, versus 264.0 GB/s for the HD 7970.

Q: What is the DirectX support level for each?

A: The HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the RX 6700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon RX 6700 |

|----------------|---------------------|---------------------|

| Chip | Tahiti | Navi 22 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | RDNA 2.0 |

| Generation | Southern Islands (HD 7900) | Navi II (RX 6000) |

| Process node | 28 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 4,313 million | 17,200 million |

| Die size | 352 mm² | 335 mm² |

| Transistor density | 12.3M / mm² | 51.3M / mm² |

| Base clock | Not listed | 1941 MHz |

| Boost clock | Not listed | 2450 MHz |

| Game clock | Not listed | 2174 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 3 GB | 10 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Bus width | 384 bit | 160 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 264.0 GB/s | 320.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 2048 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 128 | 144 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| Ray tracing cores | None | 36 |

| Pixel rate | 29.60 GPixel/s | 156.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 118.4 GTexel/s | 352.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 compute | 3.789 TFLOPS | 11.29 TFLOPS |

| FP16 compute | Not listed | 22.58 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 175 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 450 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release date | 2012-01-08 | 2021-06-08 |

| Launch MSRP | 549 USD | Not listed |

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6700 wins the only direct benchmark comparison: Geekbench OpenCL, by 64.7%. It also dominates every architectural metric that matters for modern workloads. It has more shading units (2,304 vs. 2,048), more TMUs (144 vs. 128), double the ROPs (64 vs. 32), and 36 ray tracing cores that the HD 7970 lacks entirely. Its FP32 compute is 11.29 TFLOPS versus 3.789 TFLOPS, and it offers FP16 at 22.58 TFLOPS where the HD 7970 has none. Memory bandwidth is higher (320.0 GB/s vs. 264.0 GB/s), even with a narrower bus, and it has more than triple the memory capacity (10 GB vs. 3 GB). It draws less power (175 W vs. 250 W) and requires a smaller PSU (450 W vs. 600 W).

The HD 7970, however, is not without its strengths when viewed in context. Its OpenCL score of 34,541 places it at the 79th percentile, higher than the RX 6700’s 75th percentile. This means that, among all GPUs in the database, the HD 7970 sits in a better relative position than the RX 6700, though this is largely because the database contains many modern high-end cards that push the RX 6700 down. The HD 7970 also has a wider memory bus (384-bit vs. 160-bit), which historically aided bandwidth-heavy workloads, but the RX 6700’s faster GDDR6 compensates fully. In terms of absolute performance, the RX 6700 wins everywhere that a direct comparison exists.

For legacy DirectX 9 or 10 workloads, the HD 7970 may still function adequately, but the RX 6700 has PassMark DirectX 9 and 10 scores of 250 and 115, respectively, which the database does not list for the HD 7970, so no direct comparison is possible. The HD 7970’s 3 GB memory may be sufficient for older titles, but modern games that require more than 3 GB will hit a hard wall.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 is the superior card by a wide margin in every measurable dimension that appears in the database. Its OpenCL score is 64.7% higher, its FP32 throughput is roughly three times higher, it has more memory, faster memory, higher pixel and texture rates, and it adds hardware ray tracing that the HD 7970 cannot perform. It also does all of this while consuming 75 W less power and requiring a smaller PSU.

The HD 7970 remains a historical curiosity. Its 79th percentile rank among all GPUs is respectable, and its OpenCL score sits within 1% of the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB, A2, TITAN V, and RTX A1000, making it competitive with professional cards from a much later era. But that is faint praise next to the RX 6700, which outperforms it by nearly 3x in the only shared benchmark.

For anyone choosing between these two, the RX 6700 is the only rational pick for modern gaming, compute, or content creation. The HD 7970 belongs in a collection or a retro system, not in a machine running current software. The data shows a generational chasm that no amount of driver tuning or overclocking can bridge. The RX 6700 wins this comparison decisively, and the HD 7970’s only consolation is that it still outperforms its own era’s peers in relative percentile terms.