AMD Radeon HD 8970M vs Intel Arc A750 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher overall benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A750 records the higher average benchmark score at 20,582, while the AMD Radeon HD 8970M averages 21,237. However, the Arc A750’s score is pulled down by several legacy DirectX tests; its Geekbench OpenCL score is 98,554 versus 21,237 for the HD 8970M.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in their nearest rival groups?

A: Both sit at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. The HD 8970M’s closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which scores 21,153 (0.4% lower), while the Arc A750’s closest rival is the Intel Arc B570 at 20,556 (0.1% lower). The HD 8970M edges out the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile by 0.7%, while the Arc A750 trails the AMD Radeon R9 M390X by 0.4%.

Q: What is the biggest single benchmark gap between them?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the Arc A750 scores 98,554 versus 21,237 for the HD 8970M, a delta of -78.5% (meaning the HD 8970M is 78.5% slower). This is the only head-to-head benchmark listed, and it decisively favors the Intel card.

Q: Do both GPUs support modern graphics APIs?

A: The Arc A750 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 — so the Intel card has a higher DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version.

Q: What are the memory configurations of each card?

A: The HD 8970M comes with 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 153.6 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A750 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s bandwidth — over three times the bandwidth.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No. Both are marked as end-of-life. The HD 8970M was released on 2013-05-13, and the Arc A750 on 2022-10-11.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture on a 28 nm process, built by TSMC with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die. The Intel Arc A750 uses the Xe-HPG architecture on a 6 nm process, also TSMC, with 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 13.2M per mm² for the AMD chip versus 53.4M per mm² for Intel’s.

The HD 8970M’s chip is codenamed Neptune, part of the Solar System generation (HD 8900M). The Arc A750 uses the DG2-512 chip in the Alchemist generation (Arc 7). The AMD card is built for mobile MXM modules, while the Arc A750 is a dual-slot desktop card.

Compute resources differ dramatically. The HD 8970M has 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Arc A750 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The Intel card also includes 28 ray tracing cores; the AMD card has none. Neither GPU lists tensor cores.

Clock speeds reflect the process node difference. The HD 8970M runs at 850 MHz base and 900 MHz boost. The Arc A750 runs at 2050 MHz base and 2400 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: the AMD card’s GDDR5 runs at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective), while the Intel card’s GDDR6 runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

The Arc A750 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The HD 8970M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), Vulkan 1.2.170, and OpenGL 4.6. The Intel card has a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface; the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the Arc A750 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0, while the HD 8970M’s outputs are portable device dependent.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A750 wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL) by a massive margin. That single result indicates the Arc A750 is the clear compute winner in modern OpenCL workloads. The card’s higher shading unit count, faster clocks, and much larger memory bandwidth all contribute to this dominance.

The Arc A750 also wins on API support. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) feature level and Vulkan 1.4 support make it better suited for modern games and applications that leverage the latest graphics features. The card’s 28 ray tracing cores add hardware-accelerated ray tracing capability, which the HD 8970M lacks entirely.

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M has a narrower set of strengths. Its average benchmark score (21,237) is actually higher than the Arc A750’s (20,582), driven by the Intel card’s low scores in legacy PassMark tests (for example, 65 in DirectX 10, 72 in DirectX 11, and 70 in DirectX 12). The HD 8970M’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 21,237 is higher than its nearest rival group average, suggesting it performs well for its era.

For legacy workloads, the HD 8970M may be the more consistent performer. The Arc A750’s PassMark DirectX 9 score is 181, but its DirectX 10, 11, and 12 scores are all below 75 — a pattern that could indicate driver or architecture issues with older APIs. The HD 8970M’s single benchmark, while lower in absolute terms, does not show this volatility.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 8970M | Intel Arc A750 |

|---|---|---|

| Process node | 28 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 2,800 million | 21,700 million |

| Die size | 212 mm² | 406 mm² |

| Base clock | 850 MHz | 2050 MHz |

| Boost clock | 900 MHz | 2400 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective) | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory bandwidth | 153.6 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1280 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 80 | 224 |

| ROPs | 32 | 112 |

| RT cores | None | 28 |

| Pixel rate | 28.80 GPixel/s | 268.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 72.00 GTexel/s | 537.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.304 TFLOPS | 17.20 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not listed | 34.41 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 100 W | 225 W |

| Slot width | MXM Module | Dual-slot |

| Power connectors | Not listed | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not listed | 550 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL. The Intel Arc A750 scores 98,554, while the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21,237. The delta is -78.5%, meaning the HD 8970M is 78.5% slower than the Arc A750 in this test. This is a decisive victory for the Intel card.

To put that score in context, the Arc A750’s Geekbench OpenCL result is roughly 4.6 times higher than the HD 8970M’s. The Arc A750 also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 85,631, which the HD 8970M cannot match because its older Vulkan 1.2.170 support is not measured in the head-to-head data.

The Arc A750’s PassMark G3D score is 12,534, and its GPU compute score is 5,368. The HD 8970M has no equivalent PassMark results in the data, so those numbers cannot be compared directly. However, the Arc A750’s PassMark DirectX scores (65 in DX10, 72 in DX11, 70 in DX12, 181 in DX9) show a clear regression in newer API tests, which is unusual and may reflect driver overhead or architectural quirks.

The HD 8970M’s nearest rivals bracket it closely: the RX Vega M GL is 0.4% lower (21,153), the RTX A4000 Mobile is 0.7% higher (21,379), the RTX 5050 is 1% lower (21,035), and the Quadro RTX 5000 is 1.8% higher (21,629). The Arc A750’s rivals are similarly tight: the Arc B570 is 0.1% lower, the RTX 3070 Mobile is 0.2% lower, the R9 M390X is 0.4% higher, and the Quadro M4000M is 0.5% higher. Both GPUs sit at the 66th percentile, meaning they outperform roughly two-thirds of all GPUs in the database.

The Verdict

The Intel Arc A750 is the clear performance winner in the only head-to-head benchmark available. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 98,554 versus 21,237 for the HD 8970M is a 78.5% margin. The Arc A750 also offers 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, 28 ray tracing cores, and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. For any modern compute or gaming workload, the data points overwhelmingly to the Intel card.

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M is a legacy mobile GPU from 2013. Its strengths are its higher average benchmark score (21,237 versus 20,582) and its proximity to modern mid-range GPUs like the RX Vega M GL (0.4% higher) and RTX 5050 (1% higher). However, that average is inflated by the Arc A750’s poor legacy PassMark scores, not by any real advantage in compute performance.

Choose the Intel Arc A750 if you need modern API support, high memory bandwidth, or ray tracing capability. The data shows it is the only option for current graphics standards. Choose the AMD Radeon HD 8970M only if you are constrained to a mobile MXM form factor or need a GPU with a lower 100 W TDP for a specific legacy system. For all other purposes, the Arc A750’s benchmark results make it the superior choice. The launch MSRP of the Arc A750 was 289 USD, which the HD 8970M does not have listed.