AMD Radeon HD 8970M vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single direct comparison between the AMD Radeon RX 9070 and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M, and the result is decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 9070 scores 131,539, while the HD 8970M manages 21,237. That is a 519.4% advantage for the newer card, a gap so wide that the HD 8970M essentially operates in a different performance tier entirely. The RX 9070 does not merely beat the older mobile GPU; it multiplies its compute output by more than sixfold.

Looking at the aggregate benchmark averages reinforces this picture. The RX 9070 carries an average benchmark score of 23,877 across all recorded tests, while the HD 8970M sits at 21,237, a smaller relative gap because the HD 8970M has only a single benchmark entry in the database. The RX 9070 lands in the 69th percentile of all GPUs tracked, while the HD 8970M sits in the 66th percentile. Despite its age, the HD 8970M's single OpenCL result keeps it surprisingly close in the overall distribution, though the head-to-head data shows how far apart they truly are in raw compute.

The RX 9070's nearest rivals in the database illustrate its positioning. It sits 0.6% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, 1.1% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile, 0.8% below the AMD Radeon RX 6800S, and 1.2% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER. These are tight margins, all within roughly a point or two of one another. The HD 8970M, by contrast, clusters with a different generation entirely: 0.4% above the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, 1% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, 0.7% below the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile, and 1.8% below the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000. The RX 9070's rivals are desktop and high-end mobile parts from the last few years, while the HD 8970M's rivals are all much more recent entries that nonetheless sit in a lower performance band.

The RX 9070 also has a much broader benchmark footprint. The database records results for 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), Geekbench OpenCL, Geekbench Vulkan, PassMark DirectX 10, 11, 12, and 9, PassMark G2D, PassMark G3D, and PassMark GPU Compute. The HD 8970M has only the Geekbench OpenCL result. This means the RX 9070's average score reflects a wide range of workloads, from legacy DirectX 9 tests to modern ray-tracing-capable 3DMark scenarios, while the HD 8970M's average is based on a single compute test. The RX 9070 wins the sole shared benchmark, and by a margin that leaves no ambiguity about which part is faster.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 than the HD 8970M in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 9070 scores 131,539 against 21,237 for the HD 8970M, a 519.4% lead. This is the only benchmark where both cards have recorded results.

Q: Which GPU has the higher percentile ranking among all GPUs in the database?

A: The RX 9070 sits in the 69th percentile, while the HD 8970M sits in the 66th percentile. Both are above the median, but the RX 9070 is closer to the top of the distribution.

Q: Does the HD 8970M beat the RX 9070 in any benchmark?

A: No. The database records one head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, and the RX 9070 wins it. The HD 8970M has zero wins against the RX 9070 in the recorded data.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the RX 9070 in the database?

A: The RX 9070's nearest rival by average score is the AMD Radeon RX 6800S at 24,063, which is 0.8% ahead. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER is 1.2% ahead, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z is 0.6% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is 1.1% behind.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the HD 8970M in the database?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is 0.7% ahead of the HD 8970M, the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 is 1.8% ahead, the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL is 0.4% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is 1% behind.

Q: Does the HD 8970M support modern APIs comparable to the RX 9070?

A: The RX 9070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 8970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 9070's DirectX and Vulkan support are newer revisions.

The Verdict

The data points in one direction: the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the faster GPU by an enormous margin in the one shared benchmark, and it offers a far more complete modern feature set. Anyone choosing between these two cards for current-generation gaming or compute workloads should select the RX 9070 without hesitation. Its 519.4% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap that separates the two cards by several tiers of performance.

The HD 8970M, however, retains some relevance in the database's overall rankings. Its 66th percentile placement shows that, relative to all GPUs tracked, it sits above a significant portion of the field. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, a much more recent part, which suggests the HD 8970M's single OpenCL score still holds up in that specific workload. For legacy applications, older DX11-era games, or systems where the MXM module form factor is required, the HD 8970M could still serve a purpose. But those scenarios are narrow, and the card is marked as end-of-life in the database.

The RX 9070 is the clear choice for new builds, high-refresh-rate gaming, and any compute workload that leverages OpenCL or Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 23,877, built on ten separate tests, gives a far more reliable picture of real-world performance than the HD 8970M's single entry. The HD 8970M's 21,237 average is respectable for its age, but it lacks the breadth of validation the RX 9070 enjoys. If the task requires modern ray tracing, the RX 9070's 56 RT cores are present in the specification, whereas the HD 8970M has none. The verdict from the recorded data is unambiguous: the RX 9070 wins.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RX 9070 uses 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 8970M uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 153.6 GB/s. The RX 9070's memory clock is 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), while the HD 8970M runs at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective). The RX 9070 has 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. The HD 8970M has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 9070's pixel rate is 322.6 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 564.5 GTexel/s, versus 28.80 GPixel/s and 72.00 GTexel/s for the HD 8970M. Floating-point performance is 36.13 TFLOPS for the RX 9070 and 2.304 TFLOPS for the HD 8970M.

Power draw differs significantly: the RX 9070 has a TDP of 220 W, while the HD 8970M draws 100 W. The RX 9070 uses dual-slot cooling and two 8-pin power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The HD 8970M is an MXM Module with no listed power connectors or PSU requirement. The RX 9070 connects via PCIe 5.0 x16, the HD 8970M via PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs on the RX 9070 include one HDMI 2.1b port and three DisplayPort 2.1a ports; the HD 8970M's outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The RX 9070's production status is active with a release date of March 5, 2025, and a launch MSRP of 549 USD. The HD 8970M is end-of-life, released May 13, 2013, with no launch MSRP recorded.

Architecture Differences

The RX 9070 is built on the Navi 48 chip using RDNA 4.0 architecture, part of the Navi IV (RX 9000) generation. The HD 8970M uses the Neptune chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, from the Solar System (HD 8900M) generation. The process node gap is substantial: the RX 9070 uses a 4 nm process at TSMC, while the HD 8970M uses 28 nm, also at TSMC. Transistor counts reflect this: the RX 9070 packs 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die, yielding a density of 151.0 million transistors per square millimeter. The HD 8970M has 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, for a density of 13.2 million per square millimeter. That is a density difference of more than an order of magnitude.

The RX 9070 includes 56 ray tracing cores, a feature the HD 8970M lacks entirely. It also supports FP16 compute at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, both listed at 36.13 TFLOPS, while the HD 8970M has no recorded FP16 figure. The RX 9070's predecessor is listed as Navi III, with no successor recorded. The HD 8970M's predecessor is London, and its successor is Gem System. The RX 9070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 8970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The architectural differences are not incremental; they represent two entirely different eras of GPU design, with the RX 9070's RDNA 4.0 delivering the compute, ray tracing, and memory bandwidth that the GCN 1.0-based HD 8970M cannot approach.