AMD Radeon HD 8970M vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data provides exactly one head-to-head comparison between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell records a score of 106,087, while the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21,237. The NVIDIA card wins this comparison by 399.5%, a dominant margin that defines the entire performance relationship between these two products.

Looking at the broader database results for each GPU, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell has an average benchmark score of 25,269, placing it in the 70th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (average score 25,633, delta of -1.4%), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 (25,726, -1.8%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (25,740, -1.8%), and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24,763, +2%). This places the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell in a tight cluster of modern mid-range to upper-mid-range GPUs, where it trades leads within roughly 2% of its nearest competitors. The RTX A5000 Mobile is the only one of these rivals that the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell trails, and even then by just 2%.

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 21,237 and sits in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21,153, +0.4%), the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21,379, -0.7%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 (21,035, +1%), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 (21,629, -1.8%). This places the HD 8970M in a lower performance tier, competing with older and lower-end mobile and desktop parts rather than the modern mid-range segment the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell occupies.

The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark by a factor of roughly five, and its overall database ranking is four percentile points higher than the HD 8970M. The HD 8970M has no benchmark wins against the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell in the recorded data. The use-case split is therefore clear: the NVIDIA GPU dominates in raw compute throughput, while the AMD GPU offers no recorded performance advantage in any tested workload.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different architectural eras. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell uses the GB206 chip, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 21,900 million transistors into a die size of 181 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.0 million transistors per mm². The AMD Radeon HD 8970M uses the Neptune chip, built on GCN 1.0 architecture and fabricated on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 2,800 million transistors across a 212 mm² die, for a density of just 13.2 million transistors per mm².

The transistor density gap is enormous: the NVIDIA chip crams more than nine times as many transistors per square millimeter. This is a direct consequence of the 5 nm versus 28 nm process difference. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is also physically smaller despite holding nearly eight times more transistors, proof of the density improvement.

The NVIDIA GPU features 4,352 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, 48 render output units, 34 ray tracing cores, and 136 tensor cores. The AMD GPU has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed. The NVIDIA GPU therefore has 3.4 times as many shading units, 1.7 times as many TMUs, and 1.5 times as many ROPs.

Memory architecture differs substantially as well. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell ships with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 8970M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 153.6 GB/s. Despite having half the bus width, the NVIDIA card achieves nearly double the memory bandwidth thanks to the much faster GDDR7 memory running at 18 Gbps effective versus 4.8 Gbps effective on the AMD card.

Clock speeds tell a similar story of generational progress. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell runs at a base clock of 982 MHz and a boost clock of 1957 MHz. The HD 8970M runs at 850 MHz base and 900 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card boosts to more than double the AMD card's boost clock.

Feature support also differs. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell 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 NVIDIA GPU also adds ray tracing and tensor core hardware, which the AMD GPU lacks entirely.

Power and physical design differ as well. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell has a 70 W TDP, is a dual-slot card with no power connectors, and requires a 250 W suggested power supply. It uses a PCIe 5.0 x8 bus interface and offers 4x mini-DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. The HD 8970M has a 100 W TDP, comes as an MXM module, uses PCIe 3.0 x16, and its display outputs are portable device dependent. The NVIDIA card is an active production product released in August 2025, while the AMD card is end-of-life and was released in May 2013.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the recorded Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell scores 106,087 versus 21,237 for the AMD Radeon HD 8970M, a 399.5% advantage for the NVIDIA card.

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

A: The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell delivers 288.0 GB/s over a 128-bit bus with GDDR7 memory, while the HD 8970M delivers 153.6 GB/s over a 256-bit bus with GDDR5 memory. The NVIDIA card has nearly double the bandwidth despite half the bus width.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 8970M support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The HD 8970M has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed in its specifications. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell includes 34 ray tracing cores and 136 tensor cores.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between these two GPUs?

A: The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell has a transistor density of 121.0 million transistors per mm², while the HD 8970M has 13.2 million transistors per mm². This is roughly a ninefold difference.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell has an average benchmark score of 25,269, compared to 21,237 for the HD 8970M. The NVIDIA card also ranks in the 70th percentile versus the 66th percentile for the AMD card.

Q: How does the power consumption compare?

A: The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell has a 70 W TDP and requires a 250 W suggested power supply. The HD 8970M has a 100 W TDP, and no suggested power supply figure is recorded for it.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell | AMD Radeon HD 8970M |

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

| Chip | GB206 | Neptune |

| Architecture | Blackwell 2.0 | GCN 1.0 |

| Process node | 5 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 21,900 million | 2,800 million |

| Die size | 181 mm² | 212 mm² |

| Transistor density | 121.0M / mm² | 13.2M / mm² |

| Base clock | 982 MHz | 850 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1957 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1125 MHz, 18 Gbps effective | 1200 MHz, 4.8 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 16 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR7 | GDDR5 |

| Memory bus width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 288.0 GB/s | 153.6 GB/s |

| Shading units | 4352 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 136 | 80 |

| ROPs | 48 | 32 |

| RT cores | 34 | None |

| Tensor cores | 136 | None |

| Pixel rate | 93.94 GPixel/s | 28.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 266.2 GTexel/s | 72.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 performance | 17.03 TFLOPS | 2.304 TFLOPS |

| FP16 performance | 17.03 TFLOPS (1:1) | Not recorded |

| TDP | 70 W | 100 W |

| Slot width | Dual-slot | MXM Module |

| Power connectors | None | Not recorded |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | Not recorded |

| Bus interface | PCIe 5.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 4x mini-DisplayPort 2.1b | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Vulkan support | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Production status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release date | 2025-08-10 | 2013-05-13 |

| Predecessor | Workstation Ada | London |

| Successor | Not recorded | Gem System |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded between these two GPUs is Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell scores 106,087, and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21,237. The delta is 399.5% in favor of the NVIDIA card.

To put that margin in perspective, consider the nearest rival data for each GPU. The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell's closest competitor, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, scores 25,633, just 1.4% above the NVIDIA card. The RTX A5000 Mobile scores 24,763, which is 2% below the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell. These are all much closer contests. The HD 8970M's nearest rivals are similarly close to its own score, with the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL just 0.4% above, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile 0.7% below, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 1% above, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 1.8% below.

The 399.5% gap between the two GPUs in this test is not a close contest by any measure. The NVIDIA card delivers a compute score roughly five times higher than the AMD card. In terms of raw FP32 throughput, the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is rated at 17.03 TFLOPS versus 2.304 TFLOPS for the HD 8970M, a 7.4x difference in theoretical compute. The pixel rate difference is 93.94 GPixel/s versus 28.80 GPixel/s, and the texture rate difference is 266.2 GTexel/s versus 72.00 GTexel/s.

The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell also wins on memory bandwidth, offering 288.0 GB/s compared to 153.6 GB/s for the HD 8970M. Even accounting for the AMD card's wider 256-bit bus, the GDDR7 memory on the NVIDIA card at 18 Gbps effective simply overwhelms the GDDR5 memory at 4.8 Gbps effective. The NVIDIA card's 16 GB memory capacity is four times the AMD card's 4 GB.

There are no benchmark categories in the recorded data where the AMD Radeon HD 8970M wins. The wins tally stands at 1 for the NVIDIA card and 0 for the AMD card. The HD 8970M's only recorded benchmark result is the Geekbench OpenCL score of 21,237, which is the same score used for its average and for the head-to-head comparison.

The Verdict

The data presents an unambiguous picture. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 8970M in every measurable category recorded in the database. The Geekbench OpenCL head-to-head shows a 399.5% advantage for the NVIDIA card, and the specification comparison shows superiority in shading units, TMUs, ROPs, memory bandwidth, memory capacity, clock speeds, and feature support.

The RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell belongs to a modern performance tier where it trades results within 2% of rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile, and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile. Its 70th percentile ranking places it solidly in the upper half of all GPUs. The HD 8970M sits at the 66th percentile, competing with the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000.

The architectural gap is generational. The 5 nm Blackwell 2.0 chip with 21,900 million transistors and a density of 121.0M per mm² stands against the 28 nm GCN 1.0 chip with 2,800 million transistors and a density of 13.2M per mm². The NVIDIA card adds ray tracing cores and tensor cores, supports newer API versions, uses faster GDDR7 memory, and does all of this at a lower TDP of 70 W versus 100 W for the AMD card.

For a workstation or professional user seeking current-generation performance, active production status, modern API support, and the ability to handle compute-heavy workloads, the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is the clear choice. The HD 8970M is an end-of-life product from 2013 with no recorded performance advantage in any test. The only scenario in which the AMD card might be relevant is in legacy systems that require an MXM module form factor, as the HD 8970M is built as an MXM Module while the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is a dual-slot card. Beyond that niche compatibility consideration, the benchmark data shows no reason to select the AMD Radeon HD 8970M over the NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell.