AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs AMD Radeon RX 7700S Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single direct comparison available between the AMD Radeon HD 7970 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S is the Geekbench OpenCL compute test. The RX 7700S posts a score of 62,983, while the HD 7970 manages 34,541. That is a 45.2% deficit for the older card, meaning the RX 7700S delivers roughly 82% more compute performance in this workload. The delta is stark: the RX 7700S does not merely edge ahead, it more than doubles the raw output of the HD 7970 in this benchmark.

Looking at the rival context for each card, the HD 7970 sits in a tight cluster around its score. Its nearest competitor, the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB, scores 34,561, a mere 0.1% higher. The NVIDIA A2 is 0.4% ahead at 34,690, while the NVIDIA TITAN V trails by 0.5% at 34,355. The RTX A1000 sits 1% behind at 34,207. The HD 7970’s position in this group shows that its OpenCL result, while old, remains competitive with entry-level professional GPUs from much later generations.

The RX 7700S, by contrast, is surrounded by different company. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 7950 at 33,951, which is 0.3% lower. The RX 480 is 0.4% behind at 33,997. The GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB trails by 0.5% at 33,694, and the RTX A5000 is 0.7% lower at 33,622. This means the RX 7700S’s 62,983 OpenCL score is not just a win over the HD 7970; it also places the mobile card comfortably above several desktop GPUs that were considered mid-range and high-end in their respective eras.

The percentile rankings reinforce the gap. The HD 7970 sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 7700S is at the 78th percentile. Despite the RX 7700S scoring 82% higher in the OpenCL test, its overall benchmark average is 33,849 — slightly lower than the HD 7970’s 34,541. This is because the RX 7700S has two additional benchmark results (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2,185 and Geekbench Vulkan at 36,380) that drag its average down. The HD 7970 has only the one OpenCL result, so its average equals that score.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7700S wins the only head-to-head benchmark available, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a 45.2% margin. This is a compute-oriented workload that stresses raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth. The RX 7700S’s 20.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance versus the HD 7970’s 3.789 TFLOPS explains the scale of the victory. The newer card has more than five times the floating-point throughput, even though both have 2,048 shading units and 128 TMUs. The difference lies in clock speed: the RX 7700S boosts to 2,500 MHz, while the HD 7970’s memory runs at 1,375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) — the HD 7970’s core clocks are not listed in the data.

In terms of memory, the RX 7700S also leads. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, which yields 264 GB/s. The RX 7700S’s narrower bus is compensated by much faster memory (18 Gbps effective vs 5.5 Gbps), giving it 9% more bandwidth overall. This matters for compute tasks that saturate memory.

For gaming-oriented features, the RX 7700S has 32 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7970 has no ray tracing hardware and only reaches DirectX 12 (11_1). The RX 7700S also supports Vulkan 1.4, whereas the HD 7970 is limited to Vulkan 1.2.170. The pixel rate tells a similar story: the RX 7700S hits 160 GPixel/s versus the HD 7970’s 29.60 GPixel/s, a 5.4x advantage. Texture rate is 320 GTexel/s versus 118.4 GTexel/s, a 2.7x gap.

The HD 7970’s only clear wins are in the specification sheet where age works in its favor: it has a larger die size (352 mm² vs 204 mm²) and a wider memory bus (384-bit vs 128-bit). Neither of these translates into a benchmark victory. The HD 7970 also has a lower transistor density (12.3M per mm² vs 65.2M per mm²), which reflects the much older 28 nm process versus the RX 7700S’s 6 nm node.

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon RX 7700S. In the only shared benchmark, it beats the HD 7970 by 45.2% in OpenCL compute. The RX 7700S also offers more memory (8 GB vs 3 GB), faster memory (288 GB/s vs 264 GB/s), higher pixel and texture rates, and modern API support including ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate. The HD 7970’s higher percentile ranking (79 vs 78) is an artifact of having only a single benchmark score, not evidence of superior performance.

For a user choosing between these two, the RX 7700S is the clear pick for any modern workload that benefits from compute throughput, ray tracing, or newer graphics APIs. The HD 7970 remains a historical curiosity — a card that held its own among early GCN parts but is now outclassed by a mobile GPU from a decade later. The HD 7970’s 250 W TDP versus the RX 7700S’s 100 W TDP further underscores the efficiency gap: the newer card delivers far more performance while consuming less than half the power.

The only scenario where the HD 7970 makes sense is if a user specifically needs its 384-bit memory bus or its 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs — the RX 7700S has “Portable Device Dependent” outputs, meaning it relies on the laptop’s built-in display. For desktop use with legacy monitors, the HD 7970 has physical connectivity advantages. Otherwise, the RX 7700S wins on every measurable performance metric in the data.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700S scores 62,983, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541. The RX 7700S is 45.2% ahead in this benchmark.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The RX 7700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, while the HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The RX 7700S delivers 288 GB/s of bandwidth versus 264 GB/s for the HD 7970.

Q: Does the HD 7970 support ray tracing?

A: No. The HD 7970 has no ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 (11_1). The RX 7700S has 32 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: What are the transistor counts of these GPUs?

A: The HD 7970 has 4,313 million transistors on a 28 nm process, while the RX 7700S has 13,300 million transistors on a 6 nm process. The RX 7700S also has a higher transistor density at 65.2M per mm² versus 12.3M per mm².

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The RX 7700S achieves 160.0 GPixel/s, compared to the HD 7970’s 29.60 GPixel/s. That is a 5.4x advantage for the RX 7700S.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. The HD 7970 is end-of-life, released in 2012. The RX 7700S is active, released in 2023.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans a decade of AMD design evolution. The HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the Southern Islands generation. It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die. The RX 7700S uses the Navi 33 chip on RDNA 3.0 architecture, part of the Navi Mobile generation (codenamed “Hotpink Bonefish”). It is built on a 6 nm process at TSMC with 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die.

The transistor density difference is dramatic: the RX 7700S packs 65.2 million transistors per square millimeter, versus 12.3 million for the HD 7970. This is a 5.3x density improvement, enabled by the much smaller process node. Despite the HD 7970 having a larger die, the RX 7700S has over three times as many transistors.

Both cards have 2,048 shading units and 128 TMUs, but the ROP count differs: the RX 7700S has 64 ROPs, double the HD 7970’s 32. The RX 7700S also adds 32 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the HD 7970. The RX 7700S supports FP16 at 40.96 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the HD 7970 has no listed FP16 capability.

The API support reflects the generational leap. The HD 7970 maxes out at DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 7700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7700S also uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the HD 7970 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The HD 7970’s memory runs at 1,375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), while the RX 7700S runs at 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ on nearly every specification field. The process node is 28 nm for the HD 7970 versus 6 nm for the RX 7700S. Transistor count is 4,313 million versus 13,300 million. Die size is 352 mm² versus 204 mm². Transistor density is 12.3M per mm² versus 65.2M per mm².

Clock speeds: the HD 7970 lists no base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 1,375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective). The RX 7700S has a base clock of 1,500 MHz, a boost clock of 2,500 MHz, a game clock of 2,200 MHz, and a memory clock of 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

Memory: 3 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 264 GB/s bandwidth versus 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288 GB/s bandwidth. ROPs are 32 versus 64. Pixel rate is 29.60 GPixel/s versus 160.0 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 118.4 GTexel/s versus 320.0 GTexel/s. FP32 is 3.789 TFLOPS versus 20.48 TFLOPS. The RX 7700S also lists FP16 at 40.96 TFLOPS (2:1), which the HD 7970 does not.

Power and physical specs: TDP is 250 W for the HD 7970 versus 100 W for the RX 7700S. The HD 7970 is dual-slot with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors, a 600 W suggested PSU, dimensions of 275 mm x 111 mm x 38 mm, and display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The RX 7700S is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, no suggested PSU, no listed dimensions, and “Portable Device Dependent” display outputs. The HD 7970’s launch MSRP was 549 USD; the RX 7700S has no launch MSRP listed. The HD 7970 is end-of-life with a 2012 release date; the RX 7700S is active with a 2023 release date.