AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs AMD Radeon Pro 5700 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 utterly dominates the AMD Radeon HD 7970M in the single benchmark where both cards have results. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Pro 5700 scores 52,787 against the HD 7970M’s 17,019. That is a 210.2% advantage — the newer card delivers more than three times the compute performance. This is not a marginal generational step; it is a complete tier shift. The HD 7970M has no wins in any head-to-head comparison, with the Pro 5700 taking the sole victory by a landslide.

Context from the nearest-rival data reinforces how far ahead the Pro 5700 sits. Its average benchmark score of 18,189 places it 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18,159) and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2060 SUPER (18,093). Meanwhile, the HD 7970M’s average of 17,019 sits 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037) and 0.4% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083). In practical terms, the Pro 5700 competes with modern mid-range laptop GPUs, while the HD 7970M barely keeps pace with a dual-GPU flagship from a decade prior. The delta between the two AMD cards is so large that the HD 7970M’s nearest rivals are all significantly closer to each other than they are to the Pro 5700.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in compute workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 is decisively faster. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 52,787 versus 17,019 for the HD 7970M, a 210.2% advantage.

Q: Does the HD 7970M have any benchmark where it beats the Pro 5700?

A: No. The head-to-head benchmark comparison shows only one test (Geekbench OpenCL), and the Pro 5700 wins it. The HD 7970M has zero wins in the head-to-head data.

Q: How does each card compare to its own nearest rivals?

A: The Pro 5700’s average score of 18,189 is within 1.1% of the Intel Arc A770M (18,383) and 1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373). The HD 7970M’s average of 17,019 is 1.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17,208) but 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (16,932).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The Pro 5700 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 7970M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 153.6 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The Pro 5700, built on TSMC’s 7 nm process, packs 10,300 million transistors into 251 mm², yielding 41.0M transistors per mm². The HD 7970M, on 28 nm, has 2,800 million transistors across 212 mm², for 13.2M per mm².

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The Pro 5700 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the HD 7970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1) — a feature-level difference.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational and fundamental. The Pro 5700 uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process. The HD 7970M uses the Wimbledon chip on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on 28 nm. The process shrink alone explains much of the performance disparity: the Pro 5700 fits 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The HD 7970M, with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, manages only 13.2M per mm² — roughly one-third the density.

The compute resources differ proportionally. The Pro 5700 has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The HD 7970M has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. That is a 1.8x advantage in shaders, 1.8x in TMUs, and 2x in ROPs. Pixel rate tells the same story: 86.40 GPixel/s for the Pro 5700 versus 27.20 GPixel/s for the HD 7970M. Texture rate is 194.4 GTexel/s versus 68.00 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 6.221 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS — a 2.9x gap that exceeds even the shader count difference, suggesting the RDNA architecture extracts more work per shader than GCN.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The Pro 5700 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 at 12 Gbps effective, delivering 384.0 GB/s over a 256-bit bus. The HD 7970M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 at 4.8 Gbps effective, delivering 153.6 GB/s over the same 256-bit width. The bandwidth advantage is 2.5x, which matters for texture-heavy and compute-bound scenes. The Pro 5700 also supports FP16 compute at 12.44 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the HD 7970M has no FP16 data listed.

API support differs as well. The Pro 5700 reaches DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 7970M reaches DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Pro 5700 also uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the HD 7970M uses the MXM-B (3.0) interface. Power draw is surprisingly closer than the performance gap suggests: the Pro 5700 is rated at 130 W TDP, the HD 7970M at 100 W. The Pro 5700 delivers roughly 3x the compute at only 1.3x the power.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 is the superior GPU by every measurable metric. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 210.2%, holds a massive average-score advantage (18,189 versus 17,019), and ranks in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs compared to the HD 7970M’s 60th percentile. The Pro 5700’s nearest rivals are modern mainstream cards like the RTX 3060 Mobile and RTX 2060 SUPER, while the HD 7970M’s nearest rivals are a mix of older flagships (GTX 690) and newer budget cards (RX 7600 XT). If you need compute performance, 8 GB of memory, or modern API support, the Pro 5700 is the only rational choice.

The HD 7970M is not without a niche, but it is an extremely narrow one. It draws 100 W versus 130 W, and its MXM module form factor makes it suitable for specific laptop upgrades where the Pro 5700’s IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor cannot fit. However, the HD 7970M’s 2 GB memory capacity is a hard ceiling for modern workloads, and its 2.176 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is less than half the Pro 5700’s 6.221 TFLOPS. For any task that stresses the GPU — rendering, compute, or modern gaming — the Pro 5700 wins by a factor of three or more.

Specification Differences

| Field | AMD Radeon Pro 5700 | AMD Radeon HD 7970M |

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

| Chip | Navi 10 | Wimbledon |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | GCN 1.0 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 10,300 million | 2,800 million |

| Die Size | 251 mm² | 212 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 41.0M / mm² | 13.2M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Clock | 12 Gbps effective | 4.8 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bandwidth | 384.0 GB/s | 153.6 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 144 | 80 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 86.40 GPixel/s | 27.20 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 194.4 GTexel/s | 68.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 6.221 TFLOPS | 2.176 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 12.44 TFLOPS (2:1) | null |

| TDP | 130 W | 100 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | MXM Module |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2020-08-03 | 2012-04-23 |

| Predecessor | null | Vancouver |

| Successor | null | Solar System |

Where Each One Wins

The Pro 5700 wins in every compute-heavy and memory-intensive scenario. Its 384.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB frame buffer let it handle large textures, high-resolution render targets, and data-parallel workloads that would exhaust the HD 7970M’s 153.6 GB/s and 2 GB capacity. The 6.221 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is 2.9x the HD 7970M’s 2.176 TFLOPS, making it the clear choice for OpenCL compute, GPU-accelerated rendering, and any modern workload that uses DirectX 12 (12_1) features or Vulkan 1.4 extensions. Its 86.40 GPixel/s pixel rate and 194.4 GTexel/s texture rate also win decisively for fill-rate-bound scenes.

The HD 7970M’s only practical advantages are its lower 100 W TDP and its MXM module form factor. In a laptop where 130 W is not available and the chassis accepts MXM-B modules, the HD 7970M is the only one of the two that physically fits. It also supports Vulkan 1.2.170, which is sufficient for many older titles and compute frameworks. However, these are accommodation wins, not performance wins. The HD 7970M’s 27.20 GPixel/s and 68.00 GTexel/s rates are roughly one-third of the Pro 5700’s, and its 2 GB memory will bottleneck even modest modern workloads. For any user who can choose between the two, the data says pick the Pro 5700 without hesitation. The HD 7970M is only relevant when the platform mandates its specific power envelope and MXM interface.