AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 occupy opposite ends of the GPU timeline, and the data reflects a complete generational divide. The RTX 5090 D V2 is a 5 nm Blackwell 2.0 monster with 92,200 million transistors and a 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, while the HD 7970M is a 28 nm GCN 1.0 part from 2012 with 2.176 TFLOPS. Benchmark results place them in the same percentile bracket (60th vs 59th), but that is where the similarity ends—these are not competing products; they are representatives of entirely different eras, and the verdict is dictated by which workload you are addressing.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M wins in legacy compute contexts, specifically in the Geekbench OpenCL test where it scores 17,019 points. This puts it within a hair of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037, a -0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083, a -0.4% delta), and it actually edges out the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (16,932, a +0.5% delta). For a 2012 mobile GPU, this is a remarkable showing, suggesting that its 1280 shading units and GCN 1.0 architecture still handle OpenCL workloads with surprising efficiency relative to much newer hardware. Its 60th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that, in that specific test, it outperforms over half of the database, making it a viable option for older compute tasks or compatibility testing.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 wins in every modern metric. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 16,504 places it just behind the NVIDIA T400 (16,508, a 0% delta) and slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (16,415, a +0.5% delta) and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16,408, a +0.6% delta). While those deltas are tiny, the RTX 5090 D V2’s 59th percentile ranking shows it is competitive with professional workstation cards in DX12. More importantly, its raw specifications—24 GB of GDDR7, 1.34 TB/s bandwidth, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores—make it the clear choice for ray tracing, AI inference, and high-resolution gaming, none of which the HD 7970M can even attempt due to its lack of dedicated RT or tensor hardware.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is immense and starts at the manufacturing level. The HD 7970M uses a 28 nm process from TSMC with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.2 million per mm². The RTX 5090 D V2 uses a 5 nm process, also from TSMC, but packs 92,200 million transistors onto a 750 mm² die, achieving a density of 122.9 million per mm². That is a nine-fold increase in density, which directly enables the RTX 5090 D V2’s massive compute resources: 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, compared to the HD 7970M’s 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs.

The memory subsystem is equally divergent. The HD 7970M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth at 4.8 Gbps effective. The RTX 5090 D V2 uses 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.34 TB/s at 28 Gbps effective—an order of magnitude more capacity and bandwidth. The RTX 5090 D V2 also introduces 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, features completely absent from the HD 7970M, which relies solely on its GCN 1.0 compute units. The API support tells a similar story: the RTX 5090 D V2 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7970M maxes out at DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but that is the only common ground.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct head-to-head benchmark data is not available, so the comparison relies on the individual benchmark scores and nearest rival deltas. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the HD 7970M scores 17,019, which is 0.1% behind the GTX 690 and 0.4% behind the RX 7600 XT. This means that in raw OpenCL compute, the HD 7970M is effectively tied with those two much newer cards, and it beats the Tesla M4 by 0.5%. That is a strong result for a GPU from 2012, indicating that its GCN architecture was ahead of its time for compute tasks that do not require modern features.

In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 5090 D V2 scores 16,504. This is 0% different from the T400 (16,508), meaning they are performance twins in this workload. It is 0.5% ahead of the Radeon PRO W7500 (16,415) and 0.6% ahead of the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16,408). While these deltas are small, the fact that a consumer GeForce card matches or exceeds professional workstation cards in a DX12 benchmark is notable. The HD 7970M has no comparable DX12 result, and given its much lower pixel rate (27.20 GPixel/s vs 423.6 GPixel/s) and texture rate (68.00 GTexel/s vs 1,636.8 GTexel/s), it would be severely outpaced in any modern gaming or rendering workload.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet shows a total divergence in nearly every field. The process node differs: 28 nm for the HD 7970M versus 5 nm for the RTX 5090 D V2. Transistor count is 2,800 million versus 92,200 million, and die size is 212 mm² versus 750 mm². The RTX 5090 D V2 has a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, while the HD 7970M lists no base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective). The RTX 5090 D V2’s memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

Memory capacity is 2 GB versus 24 GB, type is GDDR5 versus GDDR7, bus width is 256-bit versus 384-bit, and bandwidth is 153.6 GB/s versus 1.34 TB/s. Shading units are 1,280 versus 21,760; TMUs are 80 versus 680; ROPs are 32 versus 176. The RTX 5090 D V2 has 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores; the HD 7970M has none. Pixel rate is 27.20 GPixel/s versus 423.6 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 68.00 GTexel/s versus 1,636.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 2.176 TFLOPS versus 104.8 TFLOPS, and the RTX 5090 D V2 also offers FP16 at 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1), which the HD 7970M lacks entirely. TDP is 100 W versus 575 W. The HD 7970M uses an MXM module with no power connectors, while the RTX 5090 D V2 is a dual-slot card requiring a 16-pin connector and a 950 W PSU. The bus interface is MXM-B (3.0) versus PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs are portable-device dependent versus 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. Finally, the release dates are 2012-04-23 versus 2025-08-14, and the production status is end-of-life versus active.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 offers 104.8 TFLOPS, which is over 48 times the AMD Radeon HD 7970M’s 2.176 TFLOPS.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare between the two?

A: The RTX 5090 D V2 provides 1.34 TB/s of bandwidth with 24 GB of GDDR7, while the HD 7970M offers 153.6 GB/s with 2 GB of GDDR5.

Q: Are these GPUs in the same performance percentile?

A: Yes, the HD 7970M sits at the 60th percentile and the RTX 5090 D V2 at the 59th, but their benchmark scores are from entirely different tests (OpenCL vs 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12).

Q: Does the HD 7970M support ray tracing?

A: No, it has 0 RT cores, whereas the RTX 5090 D V2 has 170 RT cores.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The HD 7970M is rated at 100 W, while the RTX 5090 D V2 is rated at 575 W and requires a 950 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which GPU is still in production?

A: The RTX 5090 D V2 is marked as active, while the HD 7970M is end-of-life, having been released in 2012.

The Verdict

From the data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 is the only viable choice for any modern workload. Its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance, 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, and 1.34 TB/s bandwidth are necessary for contemporary gaming, ray tracing, and AI tasks. The HD 7970M cannot compete in these areas—its 2.176 TFLOPS and 2 GB of GDDR5 are severely insufficient, and it lacks RT and tensor cores entirely. The RTX 5090 D V2’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 16,504, matching the NVIDIA T400 and beating the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, confirms it is a top-tier DX12 performer.

However, the HD 7970M should not be dismissed outright. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 17,019 reflects its compute efficiency, rivaling the GTX 690 and RX 7600 XT. For legacy applications, OpenCL compute tasks, or compatibility testing with older software that does not leverage modern APIs, the HD 7970M remains a functional option. Its 100 W TDP and MXM form factor make it suitable for portable or low-power systems, where the RTX 5090 D V2’s 575 W TDP and dual-slot size would be impractical.

The verdict is clear: for anyone building a new system or upgrading for modern games or professional workloads, the RTX 5090 D V2 is the only rational choice, despite its 59th percentile ranking. For those maintaining a legacy system or requiring a low-power compute card, the HD 7970M’s 60th percentile OpenCL performance is still relevant. There is no head-to-head competition here—the data shows two products from different decades, each serving a distinct and non-overlapping purpose.