AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data presents a starkly lopsided comparison. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 records a single OpenCL score of 34,541, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers 119,718 in that same test. That is a 71.1% deficit for the older card, and it is the only head-to-head measurement available. The RTX 3070 Ti wins across every category in which it has recorded scores, including DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 workloads, compute tests, and Vulkan. The HD 7970 has no recorded wins in any benchmark category.

The RTX 3070 Ti's PassMark scores illustrate its broad applicability. It posts a G3D score of 23,356, a GPU compute score of 11,601, and a G2D score of 1,055. For legacy API workloads, it records 261 in DirectX 9, 192 in DirectX 11, 155 in DirectX 10, and 91 in DirectX 12. The HD 7970, by contrast, has no recorded data for any of these tests. The only area where the HD 7970 can claim any comparison is OpenCL, and there it trails by a wide margin.

The RTX 3070 Ti also holds an advantage in modern rendering paths. Its Vulkan score of 139,541 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,478 indicate strong performance in current-generation workloads. The HD 7970's feature set, which includes DirectX 12 (11_1) support, does not extend to the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set that the RTX 3070 Ti supports. The data suggests the RTX 3070 Ti is the choice for any workload involving contemporary graphics APIs, while the HD 7970's strengths, if any, lie outside the recorded benchmark suite.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras of GPU design. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,313 million transistors into a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti uses the GA104 chip on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. That chip contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, for a density of 44.4 million per mm². The density difference, roughly 3.6 times, reflects the process node gap.

Shader resources differ substantially. The HD 7970 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3070 Ti has 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. That is three times the shader count, 1.5 times the TMUs, and three times the ROPs. The RTX 3070 Ti also adds 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores, features completely absent from the HD 7970.

Clock behavior is another separator. The HD 7970 has no recorded base or boost clock, only a memory clock of 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective). The RTX 3070 Ti has a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The memory systems differ in type and bus width: the HD 7970 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus delivering 264.0 GB/s, while the RTX 3070 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus delivering 608.3 GB/s. The newer card more than doubles memory bandwidth despite a narrower bus.

Compute throughput tells a similar story. The HD 7970 delivers 3.789 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, with no recorded FP16 capability. The RTX 3070 Ti delivers 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 and 21.75 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. Pixel and texture rates follow: 29.60 GPixel/s and 118.4 GTexel/s for the HD 7970, versus 169.9 GPixel/s and 339.8 GTexel/s for the RTX 3070 Ti.

Power and connectivity also diverge. The HD 7970 is rated at 250 W TDP with a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector setup, while the RTX 3070 Ti is rated at 290 W TDP with a single 12-pin connector. Both recommend a 600 W power supply. The HD 7970 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 3070 Ti uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs differ as well: the HD 7970 offers one DVI, one HDMI 1.4a, and two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, while the RTX 3070 Ti offers one HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

API support shows the generational gap. The HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 3070 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer card also has hardware ray tracing and tensor cores, enabling features the older card cannot access.

The Verdict

The recorded data points to the RTX 3070 Ti as the superior card in every measured dimension. Its OpenCL score is 71.1% higher than the HD 7970's, and it has a much broader benchmark footprint. The HD 7970's percentile ranking of 79 versus the RTX 3070 Ti's 75 might seem contradictory, but the percentile reflects each card's standing against all GPUs in the database, not against each other. The RTX 3070 Ti sits near rivals like the RTX 5070 Mobile (0.1% ahead), RX 6800 (0.5% behind), and RTX 2080 Ti (0.5% ahead). The HD 7970 sits near the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (0.1% behind), NVIDIA A2 (0.4% behind), TITAN V (0.5% ahead), and RTX A1000 (1% ahead).

For users choosing between these two, the RTX 3070 Ti is the clear pick for any modern workload. Its 8 GB of GDDR6X memory, 608.3 GB/s bandwidth, and 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 throughput position it for high-resolution gaming, compute tasks, and ray-traced content. The HD 7970, with 3 GB of GDDR5 and 3.789 TFLOPS, is limited to older APIs and lighter workloads. Its DirectX 12 (11_1) support is a partial implementation, and it has no ray tracing or tensor cores.

The HD 7970 might still serve in legacy systems where older drivers or specific API behavior matter. Its 384-bit bus and 264.0 GB/s bandwidth were notable for its era, and its 28 nm process with 4,313 million transistors was dense for 2012. But the RTX 3070 Ti represents a generational leap in every category the database measures. The only scenario where the HD 7970 makes sense is one where the user cannot upgrade the rest of the platform to PCIe 4.0, though even then the RTX 3070 Ti's PCIe 4.0 interface is backward-compatible.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 3070 Ti in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti scores 119,718 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the HD 7970 scores 34,541. That is a 71.1% higher score for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Does the HD 7970 support ray tracing?

A: No. The HD 7970 has no ray tracing cores listed in the database. The RTX 3070 Ti has 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has 608.3 GB/s bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus. The HD 7970 has 264.0 GB/s from 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus.

Q: What is the difference in FP32 compute?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti delivers 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32, while the HD 7970 delivers 3.789 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA card also matches that figure in FP16 at a 1:1 ratio; the HD 7970 has no recorded FP16 performance.

Q: Which card supports newer DirectX features?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1). The HD 7970 also has no Vulkan 1.4 support; it tops out at Vulkan 1.2.170 versus the RTX 3070 Ti's Vulkan 1.4.

Q: How do the cards compare in absolute terms?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti wins every benchmark in which both cards have recorded scores. The HD 7970 has zero wins in the head-to-head comparison, while the RTX 3070 Ti has one.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL. The HD 7970 scores 34,541, and the RTX 3070 Ti scores 119,718. The delta of 71.1% in favor of the RTX 3070 Ti is the largest gap in the recorded data. To put that in perspective, the HD 7970's nearest rival, the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB, scores 34,561, just 0.1% higher. The RTX 3070 Ti's nearest rival, the RTX 5070 Mobile, scores 29,928, just 0.1% higher. The two cards operate in entirely different performance brackets.

The RTX 3070 Ti's other benchmarks reinforce its position. Its PassMark G3D score of 23,356 is a strong result for rasterized workloads. Its GPU compute score of 11,601 shows solid general-purpose performance. The Vulkan score of 139,541 is particularly noteworthy, as it exceeds the OpenCL score, suggesting the card is well optimized for Vulkan workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,478 further confirms its DirectX 12 capabilities.

The HD 7970 has no recorded scores for any of these tests. Its only benchmark is OpenCL, where it trails. The lack of data for legacy API tests like PassMark DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 means the older card's compatibility with older software cannot be quantified from the database. What the data does show is that in the one test both cards took, the RTX 3070 Ti is decisively faster.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Ampere |

| Process node | 28 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 4,313 million | 17,400 million |

| Die size | 352 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor density | 12.3M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base clock | Not listed | 1575 MHz |

| Boost clock | Not listed | 1770 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 3 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR6X |

| Memory bus | 384 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 264.0 GB/s | 608.3 GB/s |

| Shading units | 2048 | 6144 |

| TMUs | 128 | 192 |

| ROPs | 32 | 96 |

| RT cores | None | 48 |

| Tensor cores | None | 192 |

| Pixel rate | 29.60 GPixel/s | 169.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 118.4 GTexel/s | 339.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.789 TFLOPS | 21.75 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not listed | 21.75 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 290 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 12-pin |

| 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) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release date | 2012-01-08 | 2021-05-30 |

| Launch MSRP | 549 USD | 599 USD |