AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data in this comparison relies on two different benchmark suites: the AMD Radeon HD 7970 was measured with Geekbench OpenCL, producing a score of 34,541, while the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q was evaluated with Geekbench Vulkan, yielding a score of 31,220. Because these are distinct API workloads, the scores are not directly comparable as a single numerical head-to-head. However, the database places both cards in context through their nearest rivals, which offers a way to interpret their relative standing.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 achieves a score of 34,541 in OpenCL. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB, scores 34,561, which is a delta of -0.1%, meaning the HD 7970 trails by a mere 0.1%. The NVIDIA A2 is next at 34,690, putting the HD 7970 0.4% behind. Against the NVIDIA TITAN V, which scores 34,355, the HD 7970 leads by 0.5%. The NVIDIA RTX A1000 scores 34,207, and the HD 7970 is 1% ahead of it. These deltas are all within a tight band, indicating that the HD 7970 sits in a dense performance cluster where small percentage differences separate the cards. The percentile ranking of the HD 7970 is 79, meaning it outperforms 79% of all GPUs in the database.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q, with its Vulkan score of 31,220, is surrounded by high-end NVIDIA parts. The Quadro M5000 scores 31,206, which is a delta of 0%, so the M60-1Q and Quadro M5000 are effectively tied. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scores 31,087, placing the M60-1Q 0.4% ahead. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell scores 31,532, meaning the M60-1Q trails by 1%. The TITAN RTX scores 31,676, putting the M60-1Q 1.4% behind. The M60-1Q's percentile is 76, indicating it outperforms 76% of all GPUs, three percentage points lower than the HD 7970's 79th percentile.

When interpreting these numbers, the key insight is that the HD 7970's OpenCL score is roughly 10.6% higher than the M60-1Q's Vulkan score (34,541 versus 31,220). Yet, because the APIs differ, this raw gap should not be read as a direct performance comparison. The HD 7970's rivals in the database are all within 1% of its score, suggesting it is a well-balanced card for its era. The M60-1Q shows a wider spread among its rivals, from -1.4% to +0.4%, which reflects a slightly more variable competitive position. The HD 7970 edges out the M60-1Q in overall percentile standing, 79 versus 76, which is a consistent but modest margin.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split between these two GPUs is significant, reflecting different design philosophies from AMD and NVIDIA. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip, built on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) 1.0 architecture, and belongs to the Southern Islands (HD 7900) generation. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q uses the GM204 chip, based on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, and is part of the GRID (Mx) generation. Both are fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, which is a common manufacturing node for their respective release windows. The HD 7970 launched on January 8, 2012, while the M60-1Q arrived later on August 29, 2015, so the M60-1Q benefits from roughly three and a half years of additional architectural evolution.

Transistor counts and die sizes differ notably. The HD 7970 packs 4,313 million transistors onto a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The M60-1Q contains 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, giving a density of 13.1 million per mm². The M60-1Q is thus a larger and denser chip, with 20.6% more transistors (887 million more) and a 13.1% larger die area (46 mm² more). This translates into a higher peak compute capability for the M60-1Q, which is reflected in its FP32 rating of 4.825 TFLOPS compared to the HD 7970's 3.789 TFLOPS, a 27.3% advantage.

Memory architecture is another clear differentiator. The HD 7970 comes with 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The M60-1Q has only 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with 160.4 GB/s. The HD 7970 therefore offers three times the memory capacity and 65.6% more bandwidth. This is a substantial gap that favors the HD 7970 for memory-heavy workloads, even though the M60-1Q has a higher raw compute throughput. The memory clock also differs: the HD 7970 runs at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), while the M60-1Q runs at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Core counts are identical in one respect: both have 2,048 shading units and 128 texture mapping units (TMUs). However, the render output units (ROPs) differ sharply. The HD 7970 has 32 ROPs, while the M60-1Q has 64, exactly double. This explains the pixel rate difference: the M60-1Q achieves 75.39 GPixel/s versus the HD 7970's 29.60 GPixel/s, a 154.7% advantage for the NVIDIA card. The texture rate also favors the M60-1Q at 150.8 GTexel/s against 118.4 GTexel/s, a 27.4% lead.

Clock speeds show a major divergence. The HD 7970 has no recorded base or boost clock in the database, only a memory clock. The M60-1Q has a base clock of 557 MHz and a boost clock of 1178 MHz. The M60-1Q's boost clock is more than double its base, indicating aggressive dynamic clocking. The HD 7970's lack of clock data suggests a fixed-clock design from that era. The power draw is also distinct: the HD 7970 has a TDP of 250 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W and uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors. The M60-1Q has a lower TDP of 225 W, a suggested PSU of 550 W, and a single 8-pin connector. The M60-1Q is also shorter at 267 mm (10.5 inches) versus the HD 7970's 275 mm (10.8 inches).

API support diverges in favor of the newer card. The HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The M60-1Q supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The higher DirectX feature level and newer Vulkan version on the M60-1Q reflect its later release. Display outputs also differ completely: the HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, while the M60-1Q has no outputs, as it is designed for virtualized environments.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher raw compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q achieves 4.825 TFLOPS in FP32, which is 27.3% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970's 3.789 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the memory capacities compare?

A: The HD 7970 offers 3 GB of GDDR5, while the M60-1Q has 1 GB. The HD 7970 also has a wider 384-bit bus, delivering 264.0 GB/s versus 160.4 GB/s.

Q: What is the pixel rate difference?

A: The M60-1Q's pixel rate is 75.39 GPixel/s, which is 154.7% higher than the HD 7970's 29.60 GPixel/s, due to its 64 ROPs versus 32.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The M60-1Q has a transistor density of 13.1M per mm², slightly higher than the HD 7970's 12.3M per mm², on a 28 nm TSMC process.

Q: Are the benchmark scores directly comparable?

A: No, the HD 7970 was tested with Geekbench OpenCL (34,541) and the M60-1Q with Geekbench Vulkan (31,220). They use different APIs, so the raw scores should not be treated as a direct comparison.

Q: Which card sits higher in the database percentile rankings?

A: The HD 7970 ranks in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, while the M60-1Q ranks in the 76th percentile.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every measurable specification. The process node is identical at 28 nm from TSMC, but the chip design diverges. The HD 7970 uses the Tahiti chip with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die. The M60-1Q uses the GM204 chip with 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die. Transistor density is 12.3M per mm² for the HD 7970 and 13.1M per mm² for the M60-1Q.

Clock speeds: The HD 7970 has no base or boost clock recorded, only a memory clock of 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective). The M60-1Q has a base clock of 557 MHz and a boost clock of 1178 MHz, with a memory clock of 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration: The HD 7970 has 3 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 264.0 GB/s bandwidth. The M60-1Q has 1 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute resources: Both have 2,048 shading units and 128 TMUs, but the HD 7970 has 32 ROPs while the M60-1Q has 64 ROPs. Pixel rate is 29.60 GPixel/s for the HD 7970 versus 75.39 GPixel/s for the M60-1Q. Texture rate is 118.4 GTexel/s versus 150.8 GTexel/s. FP32 is 3.789 TFLOPS versus 4.825 TFLOPS.

Power and physical: TDP is 250 W for the HD 7970 and 225 W for the M60-1Q. The HD 7970 requires a 600 W PSU and uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors, while the M60-1Q needs a 550 W PSU and a single 8-pin connector. The HD 7970 measures 275 mm (10.8 inches) in length, 111 mm (4.4 inches) in height, and 38 mm (1.5 inches) in width. The M60-1Q is 267 mm (10.5 inches) long, with no height or width recorded.

Display and API: The HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The M60-1Q has no display outputs. API support: DirectX 12 (11_1) for the HD 7970 versus DirectX 12 (12_1) for the M60-1Q. OpenGL is 4.6 for both. Vulkan is 1.2.170 for the HD 7970 and 1.4 for the M60-1Q.

Production and release: Both are end-of-life. The HD 7970 was released on January 8, 2012, with a launch MSRP of 549 USD. The M60-1Q was released on August 29, 2015, with no launch MSRP recorded. The HD 7970 has a predecessor (Northern Islands) and successor (Sea Islands), while the M60-1Q has neither recorded.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 wins in scenarios that demand large memory capacity and high bandwidth. Its 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus provides 264.0 GB/s, which is 65.6% more bandwidth than the M60-1Q. This makes the HD 7970 better suited for workloads that stream large textures or datasets, such as high-resolution gaming assets or compute tasks with large working sets. Its 79th percentile ranking also indicates a stronger overall position in the database compared to the M60-1Q's 76th percentile. The HD 7970 has a lower FP32 throughput, but its memory advantage could offset that in memory-bound applications. Additionally, the HD 7970 offers physical display outputs, making it usable for direct rendering to a monitor, whereas the M60-1Q has no outputs.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q wins in raw compute and rasterization throughput. Its FP32 of 4.825 TFLOPS is 27.3% higher than the HD 7970, and its pixel rate of 75.39 GPixel/s is more than double. The M60-1Q's 64 ROPs enable efficient fill-rate-heavy tasks, such as high-resolution rendering or post-processing effects. Its texture rate of 150.8 GTexel/s is also 27.4% higher. The M60-1Q supports newer API versions, including DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, which could provide better compatibility with modern software. Its lower TDP of 225 W and shorter length make it more power-efficient and easier to fit in constrained chassis. The M60-1Q also has a higher boost clock of 1178 MHz, which helps in burst workloads.

For use-case segmentation, the HD 7970 is better for client-side rendering where memory capacity matters, given its 3 GB frame buffer and display outputs. The M60-1Q is designed for virtualized GRID environments where compute density and fill rate are prioritized, as evidenced by its lack of display outputs and its higher compute metrics. The HD 7970's nearest rivals, all within 1% of its score, suggest it performs consistently across a range of OpenCL workloads. The M60-1Q's rival spread, from -1.4% to +0.4%, shows it is competitive but slightly less consistent. Ultimately, the HD 7970 leads in memory and overall percentile, while the M60-1Q leads in compute, pixel rate, and API currency.