AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs Intel Arc A370M Comparison

AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs Intel Arc A370M: two very different generations of graphics hardware face off in the database, with the older desktop card holding a clear edge in the one benchmark where both appear. The HD 7970, a 2012 flagship from AMD’s Southern Islands generation, outscores the 2022 mobile Arc part by 16.4% in Geekbench OpenCL, landing at 34,541 points versus 29,676. That places the HD 7970 in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, while the Arc A370M sits at the 74th percentile. The numbers tell a story of raw compute persistence versus modern efficiency, but the use cases diverge sharply.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 wins the only direct head-to-head test recorded in the database: Geekbench OpenCL. Its score of 34,541 beats the Intel Arc A370M’s 29,676 by 16.4%. This is a compute-heavy workload, and the HD 7970’s large 384-bit memory bus and 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth give it a substantial advantage in memory-intensive tasks. The card also holds a higher percentile ranking overall, 79th versus 74th, meaning it outperforms a larger share of all GPUs in the database.

The Intel Arc A370M wins in contexts that are not covered by the shared benchmark list. It has a Vulkan score of 28,673, which the HD 7970 does not have recorded. The Arc also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7970 only reaches DirectX 12 (11_1). For workloads that leverage ray tracing, the Arc A370M has 8 dedicated RT cores, a feature the HD 7970 lacks entirely. The Arc is also a mobile part with a 35 W TDP, so it is designed for portable devices where the HD 7970’s 250 W power draw and dual-slot cooler are simply not viable.

In short, the HD 7970 is the stronger compute performer per the recorded data, but the Arc A370M brings modern API support and ray tracing to a power envelope that the HD 7970 cannot match.

Architecture Differences

The HD 7970 uses AMD’s GCN 1.0 architecture on the Tahiti chip, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,313 million transistors into a 352 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The Arc A370M uses Intel’s Xe-HPG architecture on the DG2-128 chip, fabricated on a 6 nm process also at TSMC. It contains 7,200 million transistors on a 157 mm² die, with a density of 45.9M per mm². The process node difference is stark: 28 nm versus 6 nm, and the density advantage is nearly 4x.

The HD 7970 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Arc A370M has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Despite half the shading units, the Arc produces higher pixel and texture rates: 65.60 GPixel/s and 131.2 GTexel/s versus 29.60 GPixel/s and 118.4 GTexel/s for the HD 7970. The Arc also has 8 RT cores for ray tracing, which the HD 7970 does not have.

Memory architectures differ fundamentally. The HD 7970 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Arc A370M uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7970’s bandwidth is more than double, a major factor in its OpenCL win.

FP32 compute favors the Arc slightly: 4.198 TFLOPS versus 3.789 TFLOPS. The Arc also has FP16 capability at 8.397 TFLOPS, while the HD 7970 has no recorded FP16 figure. The Arc’s base clock is 1550 MHz with a boost of 2050 MHz; the HD 7970 has no base or boost clock recorded, only a memory clock of 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records one head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541, while the Intel Arc A370M scores 29,676. That is a delta of 16.4% in favor of the HD 7970. This is the only shared test, so it defines the direct comparison.

Looking at the HD 7970’s nearest rivals in the database, its 34,541 average score sits just below the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB at 34,561 (a 0.1% gap) and just above the NVIDIA TITAN V at 34,355 (0.5% ahead). The NVIDIA A2 scores 34,690, which is 0.4% higher, and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 scores 34,207, which is 1% lower. These margins are tiny, meaning the HD 7970 performs at roughly the same level as those modern workstation and datacenter cards in this specific test.

The Arc A370M’s nearest rivals tell a similar story of tight clustering. Its average score of 29,175 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH at 29,197 (0.1% gap) and the AMD FirePro W8000 at 29,211 (0.1% gap). The AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28,996, which is 0.6% lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 28,874, which is 1% lower. The Arc is essentially tied with these parts in OpenCL.

The Vulkan score for the Arc A370M is 28,673, but there is no corresponding Vulkan result for the HD 7970, so no direct comparison is possible. The HD 7970’s lead in OpenCL is substantial enough that the Arc would need a significant Vulkan advantage to overturn the overall picture, but the database does not provide that data.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. Process node: 28 nm for the HD 7970 versus 6 nm for the Arc A370M. Transistors: 4,313 million versus 7,200 million. Die size: 352 mm² versus 157 mm². Transistor density: 12.3M per mm² versus 45.9M per mm².

Memory: 3 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 264.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 4 GB GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 112.0 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock: 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Shading units: 2,048 versus 1,024. TMUs: 128 versus 64. ROPs are equal at 32. The Arc has 8 RT cores; the HD 7970 has none. FP32: 3.789 TFLOPS versus 4.198 TFLOPS. FP16: not recorded for the HD 7970, 8.397 TFLOPS for the Arc.

Pixel rate: 29.60 GPixel/s versus 65.60 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 118.4 GTexel/s versus 131.2 GTexel/s. TDP: 250 W versus 35 W. The HD 7970 uses dual-slot cooling with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors; the Arc is an IGP with no power connectors listed. The HD 7970 requires a 600 W suggested PSU; the Arc has none listed.

Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the HD 7970, PCIe 4.0 x8 for the Arc. Display outputs: the HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2; the Arc is portable device dependent. DirectX support: 12 (11_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). OpenGL is the same at 4.6. Vulkan: 1.2.170 versus 1.4.

Physical dimensions: the HD 7970 measures 275 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width; the Arc has no dimensions recorded. Release dates: January 8, 2012 for the HD 7970, March 29, 2022 for the Arc. Both are end-of-life. The HD 7970 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD, which is stated once here; the Arc has no launch MSRP recorded.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7970 has an average benchmark score of 34,541, compared to the Intel Arc A370M’s 29,175. The HD 7970 is 16.4% ahead in the shared Geekbench OpenCL test.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A370M support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the Arc A370M has 8 dedicated RT cores. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 has no ray tracing cores.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The HD 7970 has 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The Arc A370M has 112.0 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The HD 7970 has a 250 W TDP and requires a 600 W suggested PSU, while the Arc A370M has a 35 W TDP with no PSU requirement listed.

Q: Which GPU has better DirectX support?

A: The Intel Arc A370M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1).

Q: How does the Arc A370M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc A370M’s average score of 29,175 is nearly tied with the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (29,197) and AMD FirePro W8000 (29,211), and it sits 0.6% above the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28,996) and 1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28,874).