AMD Radeon HD 7970M vs NVIDIA Quadro K6000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results show a decisive advantage for the NVIDIA Quadro K6000. The Quadro K6000 scores 23,749 points, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17,019 points. This works out to a 39.5% lead for the NVIDIA card. That is a substantial gap, not a marginal one. The K6000 does not merely edge out the mobile AMD part; it outclasses it by a wide margin in raw compute throughput.

Looking at the broader database context, the Quadro K6000's average benchmark score is 19,030, which places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs tracked. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 19,036 (a 0% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19,049 (a -0.1% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla K20m at 19,089 (a -0.3% delta). The K6000 is effectively tied with these cards, sitting within a few points of each. The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation trails slightly at 18,954, a 0.4% delta. This placement indicates that the K6000, despite its age, remains competitive with much newer hardware in aggregate compute workloads.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M posts an average benchmark score of 17,019, landing in the 60th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 at 17,037 (a -0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT at 17,083 (a -0.4% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla M4 at 16,932 (a 0.5% delta). The HD 7970M holds its own against these parts, with deltas of less than one percent in either direction. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 sits slightly above at 17,208, a -1.1% delta. The mobile AMD card is therefore clustered with a set of mid-range and older high-end parts, whereas the K6000 is clustered with a different, generally faster tier of hardware.

The head-to-head benchmark count favors the Quadro K6000 with one win and zero for the Radeon HD 7970M. The OpenCL result is the only test where both cards have recorded scores, and the K6000 wins it outright. There is no Geekbench Metal or Vulkan score recorded for the HD 7970M, so no comparison is possible in those APIs. The K6000 does have scores in both: 7,932 in Geekbench Metal and 25,409 in Geekbench Vulkan. Those numbers cannot be compared directly to the AMD card, but they do show the K6000's compute capability extends across multiple modern APIs.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 wins in every category where both cards have data. In OpenCL compute, it is 39.5% ahead. That single result drives its higher average benchmark score and higher percentile ranking. The K6000 is a workstation-class card designed for sustained professional workloads, and the data reflects that positioning. Its 12 GB of GDDR5 memory and 384-bit bus give it a memory bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s, which is nearly double the HD 7970M's 153.6 GB/s. For large datasets, such as those in scientific computing or rendering, this bandwidth advantage is significant.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M does not win any recorded benchmark. Its sole OpenCL score of 17,019 is respectable for a mobile part, but it trails the K6000 by a wide margin. The HD 7970M's strength lies in its form factor and power envelope rather than raw performance. It is an MXM module with a 100 W TDP and no external power connectors, making it suitable for high-performance laptops and portable workstations. The K6000, by contrast, is a dual-slot desktop card with a 225 W TDP and two 6-pin power connectors, requiring a 550 W power supply. The use-case split is therefore clear: the K6000 is for fixed workstations where compute density matters most, while the HD 7970M is for mobile or compact systems where power and space constraints dominate.

In terms of percentile placement, the K6000's 63rd percentile versus the HD 7970M's 60th percentile is a modest gap, but the average score difference of 2,011 points (19,030 vs 17,019) is more telling. The K6000 belongs to a performance tier that includes the Radeon RX 6600 and RTX 4050 Mobile, while the HD 7970M sits with the GTX 690 and RX 7600 XT. For users who need maximum compute per frame or per watt-hour in a desktop chassis, the K6000 is the clear choice. For users who need any compute at all in a laptop, the HD 7970M is the only option of the two, as the K6000 has no mobile variant.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages. The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 uses the GK110B chip, built on the Kepler architecture, and belongs to the Quadro Kepler (Kx000) generation. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M uses the Wimbledon chip, built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, and belongs to the London (HD 7900M) generation. Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process, but the similarities end there.

The K6000's GK110B die is massive: 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.6M per mm². The HD 7970M's Wimbledon die is far smaller at 2,800 million transistors on 212 mm², with a slightly higher density of 13.2M per mm². The K6000 packs more than twice the transistors into a die that is more than two and a half times larger. This scale difference explains much of the performance gap. The K6000 also has 2,880 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The HD 7970M has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The K6000 has more than double the shading units and three times the TMUs.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The K6000 uses 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, achieving 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7970M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 153.6 GB/s. The K6000 has six times the memory capacity and roughly 88% more bandwidth. The K6000's memory clock is 1502 MHz, or 6 Gbps effective, while the HD 7970M's memory clock is 1200 MHz, or 4.8 Gbps effective. Both support DirectX 12 (11_1) and OpenGL 4.6. The K6000 supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the HD 7970M supports Vulkan 1.2.170, a minor version difference.

The K6000 has no ray tracing cores or tensor cores, and neither does the HD 7970M. Both are pure raster and compute designs. The K6000's pixel rate is 54.12 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 216.5 GTexel/s. The HD 7970M's pixel rate is 27.20 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 68.00 GTexel/s. The K6000's FP32 throughput is 5.196 TFLOPS, while the HD 7970M manages 2.176 TFLOPS. In every measured throughput metric, the K6000 roughly doubles or more than doubles the HD 7970M.

Specification Differences

The K6000 and HD 7970M differ in nearly every specification field. The K6000 has a base clock of 797 MHz and a boost clock of 902 MHz; the HD 7970M has no recorded base or boost clock in the database. The K6000's memory runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) versus the HD 7970M's 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective). Memory capacity is 12 GB versus 2 GB. Bus width is 384-bit versus 256-bit. Bandwidth is 288.4 GB/s versus 153.6 GB/s.

Shading units are 2,880 versus 1,280. TMUs are 240 versus 80. ROPs are 48 versus 32. Pixel rate is 54.12 GPixel/s versus 27.20 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 216.5 GTexel/s versus 68.00 GTexel/s. FP32 is 5.196 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS. TDP is 225 W versus 100 W. The K6000 is dual-slot, while the HD 7970M is an MXM module. The K6000 requires two 6-pin power connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU; the HD 7970M has no power connectors and no suggested PSU. The K6000 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the HD 7970M uses MXM-B (3.0). Display outputs are 2x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2 for the K6000, versus portable device dependent outputs for the HD 7970M. The K6000 measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height; the HD 7970M has no recorded dimensions. The K6000 was released on 2013-07-22 with a launch MSRP of 5,265 USD. The HD 7970M was released on 2012-04-23 with no launch MSRP recorded. The K6000's predecessor is Quadro Fermi and its successor is Quadro Maxwell. The HD 7970M's predecessor is Vancouver and its successor is Solar System.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 scores 23,749 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 39.5% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970M's 17,019.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals in the database?

A: The K6000's average score of 19,030 is within 0.4% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19,036), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19,049), the NVIDIA Tesla K20m (19,089), and the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18,954). The HD 7970M's average of 17,019 is within 1.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037), the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17,083), the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (16,932), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17,208).

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The K6000 has 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 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 higher transistor count and die size?

A: The K6000 has 7,080 million transistors on a 561 mm² die. The HD 7970M has 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the AMD Radeon HD 7970M wins?

A: No. The only head-to-head benchmark with data for both cards is Geekbench OpenCL, and the K6000 wins that test. The HD 7970M has no recorded wins in the database.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The K6000 has a 225 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with two 6-pin power connectors. The HD 7970M has a 100 W TDP and no power connectors.