AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A and AMD Radeon HD 7970 represent two very different generations of GPU design. Benchmark data shows the MX570 A holds a clear performance lead, scoring 39,780 in Geekbench OpenCL against the HD 7970’s 34,541. This 15.2% advantage, combined with its much lower power draw and modern feature set, makes it the stronger choice for most tasks. The HD 7970, however, retains a significant memory bandwidth advantage and a larger frame buffer, which may matter in specific memory-bound scenarios. The data indicates the MX570 A is the better overall performer, but the HD 7970 remains relevant for users with workloads that prioritize raw memory throughput or require its specific display outputs.

The Verdict

From the benchmark results, the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A is the clear winner. It outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 7970 in the only shared test, Geekbench OpenCL, by a margin of 15.2%. Its average benchmark score of 38,691 also places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 7970 sits at the 79th percentile. The MX570 A achieves this with a TDP of just 25 W, compared to the HD 7970’s 250 W. This suggests that for the vast majority of users, particularly those in portable or power-constrained systems, the MX570 A is the superior option.

However, the HD 7970 is not without merit. Its memory subsystem is far more robust, offering 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 264.0 GB/s. This is over 2.7 times the bandwidth of the MX570 A’s 96.00 GB/s. For specific workloads that are heavily dependent on memory bandwidth—such as certain compute tasks or high-resolution texture streaming—the HD 7970 could potentially show an advantage, even if its raw compute score is lower. The choice ultimately depends on whether the user prioritizes overall compute performance and efficiency (MX570 A) or raw memory throughput and capacity (HD 7970).

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A uses the Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². In contrast, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 uses the older GCN 1.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It has just 4,313 million transistors spread over a much larger 352 mm² die, giving a density of only 12.3 million per mm². This generational leap in manufacturing allows the MX570 A to pack more than twice the transistors into a smaller space.

The MX570 A’s Ampere architecture brings modern features that the HD 7970 lacks entirely. It includes 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, while the HD 7970 has no equivalent hardware. The MX570 A supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the HD 7970 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1). Vulkan support also differs, with the MX570 A supporting version 1.4 and the HD 7970 supporting 1.2.170. These architectural differences mean the MX570 A is capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads, while the HD 7970 must rely on older, less efficient methods for such tasks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL. Here, the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A scores 39,780, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541. This gives the MX570 A a decisive 15.2% victory. The MX570 A also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 37,601, a test the HD 7970 does not have a result for. This Vulkan result suggests that the MX570 A is capable of strong performance in modern cross-platform graphics APIs, further widening the performance gap in contemporary workloads.

It is worth remembering the MX570 A’s average benchmark score of 38,691 is remarkably close to its OpenCL score, indicating consistency across tests. The HD 7970’s average score is identical to its OpenCL score, as it has no other benchmarks listed. In terms of nearest rivals, the MX570 A sits just 0.9% behind the RTX 5080 Mobile and 1% behind the standard MX570, while being 1.1% ahead of the Radeon Pro 575X. The HD 7970, meanwhile, is nearly tied with the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (0.1% slower) and the NVIDIA A2 (0.4% slower), while edging out the TITAN V by 0.5%.

Specification Differences

The most striking specification difference is power consumption. The MX570 A has a TDP of 25 W and requires no power connectors, whereas the HD 7970 has a TDP of 250 W and requires both a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector, along with a suggested 600 W power supply. This makes the MX570 A suitable for integrated-style, IGP slot implementations, while the HD 7970 is a dual-slot card measuring 275 mm in length.

Memory configuration also differs significantly. The MX570 A has 2 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, running at 12 Gbps effective, for a bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s. The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, running at 5.5 Gbps effective, for a bandwidth of 264.0 GB/s. The HD 7970’s bandwidth advantage is substantial, but the MX570 A’s newer GDDR6 memory operates at a higher effective speed.

Compute resources are similar in count, with both GPUs featuring 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs. However, the MX570 A has 64 TMUs, while the HD 7970 has 128 TMUs. This gives the HD 7970 a higher texture rate of 118.4 GTexel/s versus the MX570 A’s 73.92 GTexel/s. The MX570 A’s pixel rate is higher at 36.96 GPixel/s compared to the HD 7970’s 29.60 GPixel/s. In terms of raw FP32 compute, the MX570 A leads with 4.731 TFLOPS versus the HD 7970’s 3.789 TFLOPS. The MX570 A also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, a feature the HD 7970 does not list.

The bus interface differs, with the MX570 A using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the HD 7970 using PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs also vary: the HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, while the MX570 A’s outputs are portable-device dependent. The HD 7970 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A scores 39,780 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 15.2% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970’s score of 34,541.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The MX570 A has a TDP of 25 W and uses no power connectors, while the HD 7970 has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector with a suggested 600 W power supply.

Q: Does the HD 7970 have any advantage in memory?

A: Yes. The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The MX570 A has 2 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A has 16 dedicated RT cores, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: What is the difference in their manufacturing process?

A: The MX570 A is built on an 8 nm process at Samsung, while the HD 7970 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. The MX570 A has a transistor density of 43.5M / mm² compared to the HD 7970’s 12.3M / mm².

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the HD 7970 performs better?

A: No. The only head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, which the MX570 A wins. The HD 7970 does not have a Vulkan benchmark score, while the MX570 A scores 37,601 in that test.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A wins in all measured compute benchmarks. Its 15.2% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, higher FP32 throughput (4.731 TFLOPS vs 3.789 TFLOPS), and superior pixel rate (36.96 GPixel/s vs 29.60 GPixel/s) make it the clear choice for general-purpose computing, modern game rendering, and any workload leveraging DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan 1.4 features. Its support for ray tracing and tensor cores gives it a decisive edge in emerging applications that use these technologies. The MX570 A is also the only choice for power-constrained or portable systems, given its 25 W TDP and lack of power connectors.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970, despite losing the compute battle, wins in specific niche scenarios. Its memory bandwidth of 264.0 GB/s is nearly triple that of the MX570 A, which could benefit tasks that are purely memory-bandwidth limited, such as certain data processing or mining workloads. Its larger 3 GB frame buffer also allows it to hold more texture data than the MX570 A’s 2 GB, which might matter at very high resolutions or with heavy texture modding. Additionally, the HD 7970 offers a full complement of fixed display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2), making it easier to connect to multiple external monitors without adapters, whereas the MX570 A’s outputs are dependent on the portable device it is integrated into. The HD 7970’s dual-slot design and 275 mm length also allow for more robust cooling solutions in a desktop chassis, although this comes at the cost of significantly higher power draw.