AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM delivers 8.087 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970M delivers 2.176 TFLOPS. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 3050 OEM scores 60,740 versus 17,019 for the HD 7970M, a 72% margin in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: Which GPU has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7970M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 153.6 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has both more capacity and higher bandwidth.

Q: What are the architectural differences between the two?

A: The HD 7970M uses AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture on a 28 nm TSMC process with 2,800 million transistors. The RTX 3050 OEM uses NVIDIA's Ampere architecture on an 8 nm Samsung process with 12,000 million transistors. The RTX 3050 OEM also includes 18 RT cores and 72 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely.

Q: Which GPU is more power efficient?

A: The HD 7970M has a 100 W TDP, while the RTX 3050 OEM has a 130 W TDP. However, the RTX 3050 OEM delivers nearly 3.7 times the FP32 throughput per watt: 62.2 GFLOPS per watt versus 21.8 GFLOPS per watt for the AMD card.

Q: How do their API support levels compare?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 7970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card also supports hardware ray tracing through its RT cores.

Q: Which GPU ranks higher in the database's overall percentile?

A: The HD 7970M ranks in the 60th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 OEM ranks in the 57th percentile. This appears counterintuitive given the raw scores, but it reflects the distribution of benchmark results across the database.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras of design philosophy. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M is built on GCN 1.0 architecture, AMD's first-generation Graphics Core Next design. It uses a 28 nm process at TSMC with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die. The transistor density works out to 13.2 million transistors per square millimeter. The chip is codenamed Wimbledon and belongs to the London generation of the HD 7900M series.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM uses the Ampere architecture on a much larger scale. Samsung's 8 nm process packs 12,000 million transistors onto a 276 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The GA106 chip powers the GeForce 30 series generation.

The shading engine layout differs substantially. The HD 7970M has 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3050 OEM has 2,304 shading units, 72 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. While the NVIDIA card has more shaders, it has fewer TMUs. Both match at 32 ROPs.

The most significant architectural gap is in specialized hardware. The RTX 3050 OEM includes 18 RT cores for ray tracing and 72 tensor cores for AI workloads. The HD 7970M has neither. This means the NVIDIA card can handle DirectX Raytracing workloads and tensor-based operations, while the AMD card relies purely on conventional shader execution.

The memory subsystems reflect their respective generations. The HD 7970M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 clocked at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, producing 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3050 OEM uses 8 GB of GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, producing 224.0 GB/s. The wider bus on the older card cannot compensate for the newer memory technology's higher data rates.

The process node difference is stark: 28 nm versus 8 nm. This explains how NVIDIA fits over four times the transistors on only a 30% larger die. The density improvement from 13.2M to 43.5M transistors per square millimeter is the enabling factor for the RTX 3050 OEM's higher shader count and specialized cores.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database includes one direct comparison between these two GPUs: the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark. The results are decisive. The RTX 3050 OEM scores 60,740, while the HD 7970M scores 17,019. This represents a 72% deficit for the AMD card relative to NVIDIA.

To put the HD 7970M's score in context, the database shows it sits within 0.1% of the GeForce GTX 690 (17,037) and 0.4% of the Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083). It is actually 0.5% ahead of the Tesla M4 (16,932) and 1.1% behind the RTX 3070 (17,208). These are remarkably tight margins, placing the HD 7970M's OpenCL performance in the same tier as much newer cards in this specific test.

The RTX 3050 OEM's 60,740 OpenCL score sits in a different league. Its nearest rivals in the database are the Radeon RX 7600 at 15,171 (0.2% behind), the Radeon 680M at 15,270 (0.5% ahead of NVIDIA), the GTX 580 at 15,283 (0.5% ahead), and the RTX 2060 at 15,290 (0.6% ahead). The 3.6x score difference between the two GPUs in this test aligns with the 3.7x difference in raw FP32 throughput: 8.087 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS.

The pixel and texture rates tell a similar story. The RTX 3050 OEM achieves 56.16 GPixel/s and 126.4 GTexel/s. The HD 7970M achieves 27.20 GPixel/s and 68.00 GTexel/s. NVIDIA is roughly 2.1x faster in pixel fill and 1.9x faster in texture fill. These ratios are smaller than the compute gap, suggesting the older card's 256-bit memory bus helps it stay relatively competitive in bandwidth-bound operations.

The RTX 3050 OEM also shows a balanced feature set in its benchmark suite. Beyond OpenCL, it scores 57,103 in Vulkan, 11,857 in Passmark G3D, and 5,779 in GPU compute. Its DirectX 9 score of 137 and DirectX 11 score of 86 indicate strong legacy API performance, while DirectX 10 at 61 and DirectX 12 at 58 show where its strengths lie in older versus newer workloads.

Specification Differences

The recorded specifications show clear generational gaps across nearly every category.

The process node differs: 28 nm for AMD versus 8 nm for NVIDIA. Transistor count is 2,800 million versus 12,000 million. Die size is 212 mm² versus 276 mm². Transistor density is 13.2M per mm² versus 43.5M per mm².

The memory configuration differs in capacity, type, and bandwidth: 2 GB GDDR5 versus 8 GB GDDR6. Bus width actually favors AMD at 256-bit versus NVIDIA's 128-bit, but effective bandwidth favors NVIDIA at 224.0 GB/s versus 153.6 GB/s. Memory clock is 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective) for AMD versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.

Compute units differ: 1,280 shading units versus 2,304. TMUs are 80 versus 72. ROPs are identical at 32. The RTX 3050 OEM adds 18 RT cores and 72 tensor cores; the HD 7970M has none.

Clock speeds are only recorded for the NVIDIA card: 1515 MHz base and 1755 MHz boost. The AMD card's base and boost clocks are not in the database. Memory clocks are recorded for both.

Power and physical specifications differ. The HD 7970M draws 100 W and uses an MXM module form factor with no power connectors. The RTX 3050 OEM draws 130 W, uses a dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector, and suggests a 300 W power supply. The NVIDIA card measures 242 mm in length and 112 mm in height.

Bus interfaces differ: MXM-B (3.0) for AMD versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for NVIDIA. Display outputs are portable-device dependent for the AMD card, while the NVIDIA card offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

API support differs significantly. The HD 7970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 3050 OEM supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Release dates are nearly a decade apart: April 2012 for AMD, January 2022 for NVIDIA. Both are now end-of-life products.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion for most workloads: the RTX 3050 OEM is the substantially faster GPU. Its 8.087 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is 3.7x the HD 7970M's 2.176 TFLOPS. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 60,740 is 72% ahead. Its 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth exceeds the AMD card's 153.6 GB/s. Its 56.16 GPixel/s pixel rate is more than double the 27.20 GPixel/s of the older card.

The HD 7970M's advantages are narrower. It has a lower 100 W TDP versus 130 W. It uses a 256-bit memory bus versus 128-bit. It ranks in the 60th percentile of all GPUs in the database, three points higher than the RTX 3050 OEM's 57th percentile. Its MXM form factor makes it suitable for laptop or proprietary systems, whereas the RTX 3050 OEM is a standard dual-slot PCIe card.

For anyone choosing between these two today, the RTX 3050 OEM is the practical pick for gaming, content creation, or compute workloads. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is four times the capacity of the HD 7970M, which matters for modern game textures and larger datasets. Its RT cores and tensor cores open up ray tracing and AI acceleration that the AMD card cannot attempt. The 72% lead in OpenCL performance means the NVIDIA card will complete compute tasks in roughly a quarter of the time.

The HD 7970M remains relevant only in specific contexts. Its MXM form factor fits systems that cannot accept a standard PCIe card. Its lower power draw suits constrained thermal envelopes. Its higher database percentile suggests its performance profile is more consistent relative to its peers. But the raw numbers do not favor it outside those narrow use cases.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 OEM wins in compute-heavy tasks. The FP32 throughput difference of 8.087 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS translates directly to faster rendering, physics simulation, and general-purpose GPU compute. OpenCL workloads will run 72% faster on the NVIDIA card based on the recorded benchmark scores.

The RTX 3050 OEM wins in memory-capacity-bound scenarios. Its 8 GB frame buffer handles modern game assets, high-resolution textures, and larger compute datasets. The HD 7970M's 2 GB will hit capacity limits in contemporary titles.

The RTX 3050 OEM wins in ray tracing and AI workloads. Its 18 RT cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and its 72 tensor cores accelerate deep learning inference and DLSS-style operations. The HD 7970M has no equivalent hardware.

The RTX 3050 OEM wins in API compatibility. DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and the 12_2 feature level support modern rendering techniques that the HD 7970M's DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170 cannot match.

The HD 7970M wins in power draw. Its 100 W TDP is 23% lower than the RTX 3050 OEM's 130 W, making it easier to cool in compact or thermally limited systems.

The HD 7970M wins in form factor flexibility for MXM systems. Its MXM-B 3.0 interface targets portable devices and proprietary chassis where the RTX 3050 OEM's dual-slot, 242 mm PCIe card will not fit.

The HD 7970M wins on memory bus width. Its 256-bit interface is double the RTX 3050 OEM's 128-bit bus, which helps in bandwidth-sensitive operations that cannot benefit from the newer card's higher effective memory clock.

The HD 7970M also holds a database percentile edge at 60 versus 57, indicating its performance sits slightly higher relative to all GPUs tracked. This does not change the head-to-head result, but it contextualizes the older card's position in the broader market.