AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data paints a starkly one-sided picture in direct head-to-head comparison. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile secures the only win in the shared benchmark test, leaving the AMD Radeon HD 7970 without a single victory in this matchup. This is not a close contest; it is a generational gap made visible through raw compute performance.

The RTX 5090 Mobile dominates in the Geekbench OpenCL test, which is a strong indicator of general-purpose GPU compute capability. The database shows a delta of 484.3 percent in favor of the NVIDIA part. This is not a marginal improvement, it is a multifaceted leap that reflects a complete architectural overhaul. For workloads that leverage OpenCL, such as rendering, physics simulation, or data processing, the RTX 5090 Mobile is in a different category entirely.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970, by contrast, has no benchmark wins in this comparison. Its single recorded test result, the Geekbench OpenCL score of 34541, places it firmly in a lower performance tier. Its percentile rank of 79 across all GPUs is respectable for its era, but it cannot compete with the 84th percentile of the RTX 5090 Mobile. When looking at the average benchmark score, the RTX 5090 Mobile posts a value of 45152, while the HD 7970 trails at 34541. That gap is decisive.

For gaming, the data is more limited. The RTX 5090 Mobile has a suite of PassMark scores, including DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, alongside 3DMark Steel Nomad results. The HD 7970 has no such records in the pack. Based on the available evidence, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the only viable choice for modern DirectX 12 Ultimate workloads, while the HD 7970 is left without a recorded claim in that arena.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast, representing over a decade of development. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile uses the GB203 chip built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip based on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process, also by TSMC. This node difference alone explains much of the performance and efficiency disparity.

The transistor counts tell separate stories. The RTX 5090 Mobile packs 45,600 million transistors onto a 378 mm² die, yielding a density of 120.6 million transistors per square millimeter. The HD 7970 has 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, with a density of just 12.3 million per square millimeter. The RTX 5090 Mobile fits over ten times the transistors into a similar physical area, allowing for far more complex compute units.

Feature support is where the gap widens further. The RTX 5090 Mobile includes dedicated ray tracing cores (82 of them) and tensor cores (328 of them), enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The HD 7970 has no such units. The RTX 5090 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), Vulkan 1.2.170, and OpenGL 4.6. The API support difference directly impacts game compatibility and performance in modern titles.

Memory architecture also diverges. The RTX 5090 Mobile uses GDDR7 memory with a 256 bit bus, while the HD 7970 uses GDDR5 with a 384 bit bus. The newer card's memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed, versus 1375 MHz with 5.5 Gbps effective on the older card. The RTX 5090 Mobile's 24 GB capacity is eight times larger than the HD 7970's 3 GB, and its bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s is more than triple the 264.0 GB/s of the HD 7970.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201834, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34541. The delta is 484.3 percent in favor of the RTX 5090 Mobile. This is a massive margin, indicating that the newer card is nearly six times faster in this compute workload.

To contextualize this number, look at the nearest rivals for both cards. The RTX 5090 Mobile's average benchmark score is 45152, placing it very close to the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45384, a delta of -0.5 percent) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44795, a delta of 0.8 percent). It sits slightly behind the Intel Arc A730M (45592, a delta of -1 percent) and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (45972, a delta of -1.8 percent). This means the RTX 5090 Mobile is competitive with a broad range of mid-to-high-end cards from the recent past.

The HD 7970's average score of 34541 places it near the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (34561, a delta of -0.1 percent) and the NVIDIA A2 (34690, a delta of -0.4 percent). It is ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN V (34355, a delta of 0.5 percent) and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (34207, a delta of 1 percent). The HD 7970's performance is thus aligned with entry-level workstation cards, not with the RTX 5090 Mobile.

The RTX 5090 Mobile's PassMark suite provides further evidence of its strength. Its PassMark G3D score is 30034, and its GPU compute score is 13401. These are strong numbers for a mobile part, but they have no direct counterpart in the HD 7970's data. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5871 further reinforces the RTX 5090 Mobile's capability in modern rendering.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every measurable specification. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile runs at a base clock of 990 MHz and a boost clock of 1515 MHz. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 has no base or boost clock listed in the database. The RTX 5090 Mobile has 10496 shading units, 328 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. The HD 7970 has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The RTX 5090 Mobile has 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores; the HD 7970 has none of either.

Pixel and texture rates reflect the compute difference. The RTX 5090 Mobile achieves a pixel rate of 169.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 496.9 GTexel/s. The HD 7970's rates are 29.60 GPixel/s and 118.4 GTexel/s respectively. The fp32 performance of the RTX 5090 Mobile is 31.80 TFLOPS, versus 3.789 TFLOPS for the HD 7970. The RTX 5090 Mobile also supports fp16 at 31.80 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the HD 7970 has no fp16 listing.

Power and physical design differ profoundly. The RTX 5090 Mobile has a TDP of 95 W and is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, designed for portable devices. The HD 7970 has a TDP of 250 W, is dual-slot, requires a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector, and a 600 W suggested PSU. The HD 7970 measures 275 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width, while the RTX 5090 Mobile has no fixed dimensions as it is portable-device dependent.

The HD 7970 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD, stated once here. The RTX 5090 Mobile has no launch MSRP in the database. The HD 7970 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the RTX 5090 Mobile is the first to use PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs for the HD 7970 are 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2; the RTX 5090 Mobile outputs are portable device dependent. Production status shows the RTX 5090 Mobile as active, while the HD 7970 is end-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201834 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34541. The delta is 484.3 percent in favor of the RTX 5090 Mobile.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon HD 7970 still competitive for modern gaming?

A: The database shows no modern gaming benchmark scores for the HD 7970. It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), but without recent test data, its performance in current titles is unverified. The RTX 5090 Mobile has full DirectX 12 Ultimate support and a suite of PassMark DirectX scores.

Q: What are the memory differences between the two cards?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256 bit bus with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384 bit bus with 264.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has a TDP of 95 W, is integrated (IGP) with no power connectors. The HD 7970 has a TDP of 250 W, requires a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector, and a 600 W suggested PSU.

Q: Are there any features exclusive to the RTX 5090 Mobile?

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 Mobile includes 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores. The HD 7970 has none of these. The RTX 5090 Mobile also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Which card has the higher transistor density?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has 120.6 million transistors per mm² on a 378 mm² die, while the HD 7970 has 12.3 million per mm² on a 352 mm² die.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is the superior GPU for any task that requires raw compute, modern graphics features, or high memory capacity. Its 484.3 percent lead in OpenCL over the HD 7970 is not a close race; it is a full generation ahead. The RTX 5090 Mobile's 24 GB VRAM, 896.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 31.80 TFLOPS fp32 performance make it suitable for high-resolution textures, large datasets, and compute-heavy workloads.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is a relic of a different era. With 3 GB of VRAM, 264 GB/s bandwidth, and no ray tracing or tensor acceleration, it lacks the hardware to handle modern gaming and AI tasks. Its 3.789 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is lower than the RTX 5090 Mobile's by an order of magnitude. Its 79th percentile versus the RTX 5090 Mobile's 84th percentile further underscores its lower standing in the overall GPU hierarchy. The HD 7970's proximity to the NVIDIA A2 and NVIDIA T1000 in average score shows it is now entry-level.

For any user building a new system or upgrading an old one, the choice is obvious. The RTX 5090 Mobile, despite being a mobile part, outperforms the HD 7970 in every measurable way. The HD 7970 is interesting as a piece of computing history, but as an active component in a modern build, it has no merit. The database recommends the RTX 5090 Mobile for gamers, creators, and professionals alike. The HD 7970 is not a viable product.