AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 and AMD Radeon HD 7970M represent two vastly different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a decisive generational shift. In the only directly comparable test, the Geekbench OpenCL result, the RTX 4060 delivers a score of 95,057, dwarfing the HD 7970M’s 17,019. This represents a 458.5% performance advantage for the newer card, a margin that underscores the architectural and process technology gulf between them. While the HD 7970M holds a respectable 60th percentile ranking among all GPUs, the RTX 4060 sits at the 61st percentile, but its raw compute output is in a different class entirely.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head data point available is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a landslide. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 scores 95,057, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970M manages only 17,019. The delta is a staggering 458.5% in favor of the RTX 4060. This is not a marginal win; it is a complete obliteration of the older part’s compute performance. For context, the RTX 4060’s average benchmark score across multiple tests is 17,639, while the HD 7970M’s average is 17,019, based on its single result. Even the RTX 4060’s weakest scoring tests, such as Passmark DirectX 12 at 76, are not directly comparable, but its OpenCL output alone signals a fundamental leap in processing power.

Looking at the surrounding competitive landscape, the RTX 4060’s nearest rivals in average score include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17,666, a -0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588, a 0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551, a 0.5% delta). This places the RTX 4060 in a performance tier where its average score of 17,639 is nearly identical to these competitors, all of which are far newer than the HD 7970M. Meanwhile, the HD 7970M’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037, a -0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083, a -0.4% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17,208, a -1.1% delta). This indicates the HD 7970M’s raw score is competitive with much more modern mid-range parts, but it is still vastly outpaced by the RTX 4060.

Where Each One Wins

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 wins the only direct comparison, taking the single head-to-head benchmark. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M has zero wins in this matchup. The RTX 4060’s victory in Geekbench OpenCL suggests a clear advantage in general-purpose compute tasks, which often correlates with better performance in physics simulations, video encoding, and other non-graphics workloads. The HD 7970M, despite its age, does not show any competitive strength in this single metric.

For gaming, the RTX 4060’s other benchmark scores provide a broader picture. It scores 19,545 in Passmark G3D, 236 in Passmark DirectX 9, and 175 in Passmark DirectX 11. These are strong results for a modern card, indicating it can handle both legacy and current API loads. The HD 7970M lacks these specific data points, so its gaming performance cannot be directly assessed against the RTX 4060, but its much lower compute score suggests it would be severely limited in modern titles. The RTX 4060 also shows 9,213 in Passmark GPU Compute, reinforcing its compute advantage. In essence, the RTX 4060 wins across the board in measurable performance; the HD 7970M’s only "win" is its lower power draw, but that is a specification, not a benchmark victory.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is profound. The RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD107 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 18,900 million transistors into a 159 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². In contrast, the HD 7970M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture with the Wimbledon chip, built on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains only 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 13.2M per mm². The RTX 4060 is fundamentally a modern, dense design.

The RTX 4060 features 3,072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, along with 24 dedicated ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores. These tensor cores enable AI-accelerated features that the HD 7970M lacks entirely. The HD 7970M has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor core hardware. The RTX 4060 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7970M only reaches DirectX 12 (11_1). Vulkan support also differs, with the RTX 4060 supporting version 1.4 versus the HD 7970M’s 1.2.170. OpenGL support is identical at 4.6.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal stark contrasts beyond raw performance. The RTX 4060 has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, while the HD 7970M has no listed base or boost clocks. Memory configurations are completely different: the RTX 4060 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth and a memory clock of 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). The HD 7970M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, offering 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth and a memory clock of 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective). The RTX 4060 has more memory and higher bandwidth despite a narrower bus.

The RTX 4060’s pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 236.2 GTexel/s, compared to the HD 7970M’s 27.20 GPixel/s and 68.00 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS for the RTX 4060 versus 2.176 TFLOPS for the HD 7970M. The RTX 4060 also lists FP16 performance at 15.11 TFLOPS (1:1), while the HD 7970M has no FP16 data. Power consumption is surprisingly close: the RTX 4060 has a 115 W TDP, while the HD 7970M is rated at 100 W. However, the RTX 4060 is a dual-slot card requiring a 1x 12-pin power connector and a 300 W suggested PSU, while the HD 7970M is an MXM module with no power connectors. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 4.0 x8 for the RTX 4060 versus MXM-B (3.0) for the HD 7970M. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a on the RTX 4060, while the HD 7970M is described as "Portable Device Dependent."

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the only directly comparable benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 95,057, compared to the AMD Radeon HD 7970M’s 17,019, a 458.5% difference.

Q: How does the RTX 4060’s average score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score is 17,639. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17,666), and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588).

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of each card?

A: The RTX 4060 has 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. The HD 7970M has 153.6 GB/s from 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Does the HD 7970M support ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX 4060 has 24 dedicated RT cores, while the HD 7970M has no RT cores listed in its specifications.

Q: What are the process node sizes for these GPUs?

A: The RTX 4060 is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the HD 7970M uses a 28 nm process, also at TSMC.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The RTX 4060 has 18,900 million transistors, whereas the HD 7970M has 2,800 million transistors.