AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a single direct benchmark comparison between these two mobile graphics processors: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M scores 14509 points. The AMD part wins by a decisive 17.3% margin. This is not a narrow win; it is a substantial performance gap that separates the two in compute workloads. The Radeon HD 7970M's raw score places it in the 60th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the GTX 965M sits at the 56th percentile. That four-percentile difference reflects a real, measurable advantage for the older AMD chip.

Looking at the rivals surrounding each card clarifies the picture further. The Radeon HD 7970M sits within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (which scores 17037) and within 0.4% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17083). It also trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 by only 1.1% (17208), and it edges out the NVIDIA Tesla M4 by 0.5% (16932). In other words, the 7970M is punching far above its weight, competing with desktop-class cards that launched years later and with much more modern architectures. The GTX 965M, by contrast, sits in a lower performance tier. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, which scores 14385 and beats the 965M by 0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (14373) trails by 0.2%, the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352) trails by 0.4%, and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315) trails by 0.6%. The GTX 965M is essentially at parity with integrated and low-end discrete solutions, whereas the 7970M is trading blows with flagship desktop hardware.

There is only one head-to-head benchmark in the data, and AMD wins it. The GTX 965M has no recorded wins in direct comparison, though it does have an additional Vulkan score of 14299 that is not part of the head-to-head table. That Vulkan result is consistent with its OpenCL performance, suggesting the 965M's compute capability is stable across APIs. The 7970M has no Vulkan score recorded, so we cannot make a cross-API comparison for AMD. What we can say is that in the one benchmark where both cards were measured under the same test, the AMD Radeon HD 7970M outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M by a clear, double-digit margin.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural eras and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture, built on the Wimbledon chip, and belongs to the London generation of the HD 7900M series. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M uses Maxwell 2.0, built on the GM204 chip, and belongs to the GeForce 900M generation. Both are fabricated on the same 28 nm process at TSMC, so the process node does not explain the performance difference. Instead, the architecture itself and the chip configuration drive the results.

The transistor counts diverge sharply. The GM204 chip packs 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 13.1M per mm². The Wimbledon chip contains 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, with a density of 13.2M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is physically much larger and has nearly twice the transistor budget, but that does not translate into higher compute performance in the recorded benchmark. The AMD chip achieves its higher OpenCL score with fewer transistors on a smaller die, which points to a more efficient compute design for this workload.

The compute resources differ as well. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M has 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 965M has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. AMD has 25% more shading units and 25% more TMUs, while both cards have the same ROP count. This explains the AMD win in raw compute: more shading units means more parallel work can be processed per clock cycle. The AMD card also has a higher texture fill rate of 68.00 GTexel/s compared to 60.80 GTexel/s for the 965M, and a higher FP32 throughput of 2.176 TFLOPS versus 1.946 TFLOPS. The pixel rate is one place where NVIDIA wins: 30.40 GPixel/s for the 965M versus 27.20 GPixel/s for the 7970M, due to its higher clock speeds.

Memory configuration adds another layer of difference. The AMD card uses a 256-bit memory bus with 2 GB of GDDR5, delivering 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 965M uses a 128-bit bus with 2 GB of GDDR5, delivering only 80.19 GB/s. That is nearly half the bandwidth, a significant handicap for the NVIDIA part in bandwidth-sensitive workloads. However, the GTX 965M has higher memory clocks: 1253 MHz base (5 Gbps effective) versus 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective) for the AMD card. The narrower bus still leaves the NVIDIA card at a clear bandwidth disadvantage.

API support also differs. The GTX 965M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the 7970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1). In Vulkan, the NVIDIA card supports version 1.4, while the AMD card supports 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. For modern games and applications that rely on newer DirectX 12 features, the 965M has the advantage. For raw compute throughput, the 7970M has the edge.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M wins in raw compute throughput. Its higher shading unit count, wider memory bus, and higher FP32 rating make it the stronger card for OpenCL-style workloads, as evidenced by its 17.3% lead in the recorded benchmark. If you are running compute tasks, physics simulations, or any workload that scales with parallel shading units, the 7970M is the clear choice. Its 153.6 GB/s memory bandwidth also gives it a major advantage in bandwidth-bound scenarios, such as large data transfers or high-resolution texture streaming.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M wins in modern API compatibility and pixel throughput. Its DirectX 12 (12_1) support is a newer feature level than the 7970M's 11_1, which matters for games that use advanced DX12 features like conservative rasterization or rasterizer-ordered views. Its Vulkan 1.4 support is also newer than the 7970M's 1.2.170, meaning it will have better compatibility with current and future Vulkan-based titles. The higher pixel rate of 30.40 GPixel/s versus 27.20 GPixel/s gives it an edge in fill-rate-bound scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where pixel throughput is the bottleneck.

The GTX 965M also has a higher base clock (924 MHz) and boost clock (950 MHz), which helps in lightly threaded or latency-sensitive workloads that do not scale perfectly with core count. The AMD card has no recorded base or boost clock, so we cannot compare clock-for-clock, but the NVIDIA part's clock advantage is evident from the data.

For gaming specifically, the choice depends on the game. Older titles that are compute-heavy will favor the 7970M. Newer titles that rely on DX12 features or Vulkan will favor the 965M. For productivity and compute tasks, the 7970M is the better performer.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7970M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M |

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

| Chip | Wimbledon | GM204 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Maxwell 2.0 |

| Generation | London (HD 7900M) | GeForce 900M |

| Transistors | 2,800 million | 5,200 million |

| Die Size | 212 mm² | 398 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.2M / mm² | 13.1M / mm² |

| Memory Clock | 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective) | 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 153.6 GB/s | 80.19 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1280 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 80 | 64 |

| ROPs | 32 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 27.20 GPixel/s | 30.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 68.00 GTexel/s | 60.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.176 TFLOPS | 1.946 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 100 W | Not specified |

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

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2012-04-23 | 2015-01-08 |

| Predecessor | Vancouver | GeForce 800M |

| Successor | Solar System | GeForce 10 Mobile |

The table shows a clear trade-off. The NVIDIA card has a much larger die and more transistors, but the AMD card has more shading units and more memory bandwidth. The AMD card also has a slightly lower TDP of 100 W, though the GTX 965M's TDP is not recorded, so a direct power comparison is not possible.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 17.3% higher than the GTX 965M's 14509. The AMD card also has higher FP32 throughput (2.176 TFLOPS vs 1.946 TFLOPS).

Q: Does the NVIDIA card have any advantages?

A: Yes. The GTX 965M has higher pixel rate (30.40 GPixel/s vs 27.20 GPixel/s), higher memory clocks (1253 MHz vs 1200 MHz), and newer API support (DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4 vs DirectX 11_1 and Vulkan 1.2.170).

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare?

A: The AMD card has a 256-bit bus delivering 153.6 GB/s, while the NVIDIA card has a 128-bit bus delivering 80.19 GB/s. The AMD card has nearly double the bandwidth.

Q: Which card is newer?

A: The GTX 965M was released on 2015-01-08, while the 7970M was released on 2012-04-23. The NVIDIA card is nearly three years newer.

Q: Do both cards support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, but at different feature levels. The GTX 965M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the 7970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1).

Q: How do these cards compare to other GPUs in the database?

A: The 7970M sits in the 60th percentile and is within 1.1% of the RTX 3070. The GTX 965M sits in the 56th percentile and is within 0.6% of the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon HD 7970M is the faster card in compute workloads. Its 17.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, combined with higher shading unit count, wider memory bus, and higher FP32 throughput, makes it the superior choice for anyone prioritizing raw performance. The fact that it achieves this with a smaller die and fewer transistors than the GTX 965M reflects its compute-oriented design.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M has its own strengths, but they are not in raw compute. Its newer API support (DirectX 12_1, Vulkan 1.4) makes it more future-proof for software compatibility, and its higher pixel rate (30.40 GPixel/s) gives it an edge in fill-rate-bound scenarios. If you are choosing between these two for a modern gaming laptop, the GTX 965M will likely have better driver support and compatibility with newer titles that use DX12 features. However, the 7970M's sheer compute advantage means it will outperform the 965M in any workload that stresses the shading units or memory bandwidth.

For a builder or buyer deciding between these two used mobile GPUs, the recommendation depends on the intended use. If the system will run compute tasks, older games, or any application that leverages OpenCL, the AMD Radeon HD 7970M is the clear winner. If the priority is modern API support and the latest game features, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M is the safer bet. The 7970M wins the benchmark crown, but the 965M wins on compatibility. Choose accordingly based on your workload.