AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs NVIDIA P104-100 Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 and the NVIDIA P104-100 represent two very different answers to the question of what a graphics card should be. The HD 7970 is a 2012 flagship from AMD’s Southern Islands generation, built on the GCN 1.0 architecture. The P104-100 is a 2017 NVIDIA product from its Pascal architecture, explicitly designed for the mining segment, which is reflected in its lack of display outputs and its unusual PCIe 1.0 x4 interface. The benchmark data shows a clear split: the P104-100 is the overwhelming performance leader in the single available head-to-head test, while the HD 7970 holds its own in terms of overall percentile ranking. This analysis will break down where each card wins, the architectural reasons behind those differences, and what the numbers mean for a potential user.

Where Each One Wins

The data presents a straightforward picture of performance in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The NVIDIA P104-100 emerges as the clear winner in this specific compute workload, scoring 52,368 against the AMD Radeon HD 7970’s 34,541. This is a substantial 34% advantage for the P104-100, as indicated by the deltaPct of -34 from the HD 7970’s perspective. This is the only head-to-head benchmark provided, and the P104-100 wins it decisively.

However, looking at the broader context of their average benchmark scores and percentile rankings reveals a more nuanced story. The HD 7970 has an average benchmark score of 34,541, which places it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. The P104-100’s average benchmark score is 32,982, which puts it in the 77th percentile. While the P104-100 wins the specific OpenCL test, its overall average score is actually lower than the HD 7970’s. This suggests that the HD 7970 might perform more consistently across a wider range of tests, or that the P104-100’s performance is more variable, potentially due to its specialized design. The P104-100’s other benchmark results, such as 1,413 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 45,165 in Geekbench Vulkan, are not directly comparable to the HD 7970’s single score, but they do show it is capable in both DX12 and Vulkan environments.

In terms of use cases, the data suggests the P104-100 is the superior choice for pure compute tasks like those measured by OpenCL. Its higher score in that test indicates a significant raw compute advantage. The HD 7970, despite its age, holds a higher percentile ranking, which implies it was a more well-rounded performer relative to its contemporaries. The HD 7970 also has a clear advantage in connectivity, with 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, while the P104-100 has no display outputs at all. This makes the HD 7970 the only option for any task that requires a visual output.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is vast, reflecting the five years of GPU evolution between their release dates. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, using a chip codenamed Tahiti. It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, packing 4,313 million transistors into a die size of 352 mm². This results in a transistor density of 12.3 million transistors per square millimeter.

In contrast, the NVIDIA P104-100 uses the Pascal architecture with the GP104 chip. It is built on a more advanced 16 nm process, also at TSMC. This process node, while not as dense as some later nodes, allowed NVIDIA to pack a significantly higher 7,200 million transistors into a smaller 314 mm² die. This works out to a much higher transistor density of 22.9 million transistors per square millimeter. The jump from 28 nm to 16 nm is a key factor in the P104-100’s ability to achieve higher clock speeds and power efficiency.

The memory subsystems are also fundamentally different. The HD 7970 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 264.0 GB/s. The P104-100 uses 4 GB of GDDR5X memory on a narrower 256-bit bus, but achieves a higher bandwidth of 320.3 GB/s. This is due to the higher effective memory clock speed of the GDDR5X, which runs at 10 Gbps effective, compared to the HD 7970’s 5.5 Gbps effective. The P104-100’s memory configuration gives it a 21% bandwidth advantage.

The compute configurations differ as well. The HD 7970 has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 render output units (ROPs). The P104-100 has 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, but a much higher 64 ROPs. The higher ROP count is a significant architectural difference, and it contributes to the P104-100’s massive lead in pixel fill rate. The HD 7970’s pixel rate is 29.60 GPixel/s, while the P104-100’s is 110.9 GPixel/s, a 3.7x difference. The texture rate also favors the P104-100, with 208.0 GTexel/s versus 118.4 GTexel/s.

The feature sets also show their respective ages. The HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The P104-100 supports the newer DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The P104-100 also has a specified fp16 performance of 104.0 GFLOPS (1:64), which is a very low ratio compared to its fp32, indicating it is not optimized for half-precision compute. The HD 7970 does not have a listed fp16 value.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test. This test measures general-purpose compute performance, which is a strong indicator of a card’s capability for non-gaming workloads like rendering, scientific simulation, and machine learning.

In this test, the NVIDIA P104-100 scores 52,368, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541. The deltaPct of -34 indicates that the HD 7970 is 34% slower than the P104-100. This is a dominant victory for the NVIDIA card. The score difference of 17,827 points is substantial and shows that the P104-100’s newer architecture, higher clock speeds, and greater memory bandwidth provide a significant compute advantage.

To put this in perspective, the HD 7970’s nearest rivals in the overall database are the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (score 34,561, deltaPct -0.1), the NVIDIA A2 (score 34,690, deltaPct -0.4), and the NVIDIA TITAN V (score 34,355, deltaPct 0.5). This shows that the HD 7970’s single OpenCL score is essentially on par with these cards, which are all much newer. The P104-100, with its score of 52,368, sits in a higher performance tier, far above these rivals.

The P104-100’s other benchmark scores, while not head-to-head against the HD 7970, provide additional context. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,413 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 45,165 show that it is a capable performer in modern graphics APIs. The HD 7970 has no equivalent scores in the data, so no direct comparison is possible. However, the 34% lead in OpenCL is the single most important number for understanding the performance relationship between these two cards.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA P104-100 is the clear winner with a score of 52,368, which is 34% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970’s score of 34,541.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 7970 have any performance advantage over the NVIDIA P104-100?

A: In terms of percentile ranking, yes. The HD 7970 sits in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, while the P104-100 is in the 77th percentile. The HD 7970 also has a higher average benchmark score of 34,541 compared to the P104-100’s 32,982.

Q: Can the NVIDIA P104-100 be used for display output?

A: No. The P104-100 has no display outputs, as it was designed for mining. The AMD Radeon HD 7970, in contrast, has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA P104-100 has 4 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 320.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports a newer version of DirectX?

A: The NVIDIA P104-100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), which is newer than the DirectX 12 (11_1) supported by the AMD Radeon HD 7970.

Q: What is the difference in pixel fill rate between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA P104-100 has a pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s, which is significantly higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970’s pixel rate of 29.60 GPixel/s.

Specification Differences

The following specifications are where the two cards differ, based on the data provided:

• Chip: AMD Radeon HD 7970 uses Tahiti; NVIDIA P104-100 uses GP104.
• Architecture: AMD Radeon HD 7970 uses GCN 1.0; NVIDIA P104-100 uses Pascal.
• Generation: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is from Southern Islands (HD 7900); NVIDIA P104-100 is from Mining GPUs.
• Process Node: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is on 28 nm; NVIDIA P104-100 is on 16 nm.
• Transistors: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 4,313 million; NVIDIA P104-100 has 7,200 million.
• Die Size: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 352 mm²; NVIDIA P104-100 is 314 mm².
• Transistor Density: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 12.3M / mm²; NVIDIA P104-100 is 22.9M / mm².
• Base Clock: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has none listed; NVIDIA P104-100 has 1607 MHz.
• Boost Clock: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has none listed; NVIDIA P104-100 has 1733 MHz.
• Memory Clock: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective); NVIDIA P104-100 has 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective).
• Memory Size: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 3 GB; NVIDIA P104-100 is 4 GB.
• Memory Type: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is GDDR5; NVIDIA P104-100 is GDDR5X.
• Memory Bus Width: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 384 bit; NVIDIA P104-100 is 256 bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 264.0 GB/s; NVIDIA P104-100 is 320.3 GB/s.
• Shading Units: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 2048; NVIDIA P104-100 has 1920.
• TMUs: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 128; NVIDIA P104-100 has 120.
• ROPs: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 32; NVIDIA P104-100 has 64.
• Pixel Rate: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 29.60 GPixel/s; NVIDIA P104-100 is 110.9 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 118.4 GTexel/s; NVIDIA P104-100 is 208.0 GTexel/s.
• FP32: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 3.789 TFLOPS; NVIDIA P104-100 is 6.655 TFLOPS.
• FP16: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has none listed; NVIDIA P104-100 is 104.0 GFLOPS (1:64).
• TDP: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 250 W; NVIDIA P104-100 has none listed.
• Power Connectors: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin; NVIDIA P104-100 is 1x 8-pin.
• Suggested PSU: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 600 W; NVIDIA P104-100 is 200 W.
• Bus Interface: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is PCIe 3.0 x16; NVIDIA P104-100 is PCIe 1.0 x4.
• Display Outputs: AMD Radeon HD 7970 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2; NVIDIA P104-100 has no outputs.
• DirectX: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 12 (11_1); NVIDIA P104-100 is 12 (12_1).
• Vulkan: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 1.2.170; NVIDIA P104-100 is 1.4.
• Release Date: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 2012-01-08; NVIDIA P104-100 is 2017-12-11.
• Launch MSRP: AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 549 USD; NVIDIA P104-100 has none listed.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear performance winner in raw compute terms: the NVIDIA P104-100. Its 34% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL test, combined with its higher FP32 throughput (6.655 TFLOPS vs 3.789 TFLOPS) and memory bandwidth (320.3 GB/s vs 264.0 GB/s), makes it the superior choice for any workload that depends on these specifications. The P104-100’s higher pixel and texture rates also indicate it would be stronger in rasterization-heavy tasks, were it able to output to a display.

However, the P104-100’s lack of display outputs is a critical limitation. It is a compute-only device. For any user who needs a card for a standard desktop environment, gaming, or content creation with visual feedback, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is the only viable option between the two. It offers a full suite of display connections and still holds a respectable 79th percentile ranking, suggesting it remains a competent performer for its era.

The verdict hinges on the use case. For a headless compute server or a dedicated mining rig, the NVIDIA P104-100 is the clear choice, offering significantly more compute performance. For a general-purpose GPU that can drive a monitor and still provide acceptable compute performance, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is the only logical pick. The P104-100 wins on performance, but the HD 7970 wins on versatility. The data shows that performance without connectivity is a hollow victory in most scenarios, but for the specific task of raw computation, the P104-100 is the definitive winner.