AMD Radeon HD 7470 OEM

How It Compares

The AMD Radeon HD 7470 OEM is an entry-level discrete GPU built on the 40 nm TeraScale 2 architecture. Its benchmark percentile of 50 places it squarely in the middle of the historical GPU performance distribution, but that percentile is somewhat misleading given its age and position in AMD's Southern Islands generation. The card lacks any direct nearest rivals in the fact pack, which means comparisons must be drawn from its architectural positioning and raw specifications rather than head-to-head benchmark deltas.

As an OEM-only part, the HD 7470 occupies a unique space: it is a single-slot, fanless-capable card designed for pre-built systems rather than retail consumers. Its 160 shading units, 8 texture mapping units, and 4 ROPs represent the absolute floor of the Southern Islands lineup, with a die size of just 67 mm² and 370 million transistors. The 50th percentile ranking indicates that this card sits at the median of all GPUs ever benchmarked in the database — a surprisingly strong position for a part with such modest specifications, likely due to the long tail of older and weaker integrated graphics solutions dragging the distribution downward.

Without nearest rival data, the most meaningful comparison is against the broader Southern Islands generation. The HD 7470's predecessor, Northern Islands, and successor, Sea Islands, bracket its capabilities, but the card itself is clearly positioned at the entry tier. The 40 nm process node and TeraScale 2 architecture are two generations behind what was current in 2012, and the lack of any RT or tensor cores confirms this is a pure rasterization part with no compute acceleration features beyond basic FP32.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The HD 7470 OEM has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores — the fact pack explicitly lists both as null values. This is consistent with its TeraScale 2 architecture, which predates any hardware acceleration for ray tracing or dedicated AI compute. The card's feature set is limited to the DirectX 11.2 (11_0) API and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan support listed. This means the card cannot run modern games that require DirectX 12 Ultimate features, and its API support caps out at the DirectX 11 generation.

The display outputs are minimal: a single DVI port and a single DisplayPort 1.1 connector. This limits multi-monitor setups to two displays, and the DisplayPort 1.1 standard lacks the bandwidth for high refresh rates at 4K resolutions. The pixel rate of 3.000 GPixel/s and texture rate of 6.000 GTexel/s further constrain what the card can drive — these figures are roughly equivalent to integrated graphics from the same era, and they indicate the card is best suited for basic desktop use rather than any demanding visual workloads.

The FP32 performance of 240.0 GFLOPS is the single most telling number for compute capability. This is a figure that would be considered negligible by modern standards, but it does allow for basic GPGPU tasks like video transcoding acceleration in supported applications. The absence of FP16 support (listed as null) means the card cannot efficiently handle half-precision workloads, which are common in AI inference and some content creation tools.

Benchmark Performance

The fact pack lists no benchmark scores for the HD 7470 OEM — the benchmarks array is empty, and the average benchmark score is 0. This means the percentile ranking of 50 is derived from the card's specifications relative to the entire GPU database, not from actual measured performance. This is an important distinction: the 50th percentile suggests the card outperforms half of all GPUs in the database, but this is likely skewed by the inclusion of many ancient and integrated parts.

Without specific benchmark deltas from nearest rivals, the performance analysis must rely on the card's theoretical throughput figures. The 240.0 GFLOPS FP32 rate, 6.000 GTexel/s texture fill rate, and 3.000 GPixel/s pixel fill rate are the definitive performance indicators. These figures place the card in the same performance class as integrated graphics from the Sandy Bridge era, but with the advantage of dedicated VRAM and a full PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.

The memory clock of 900 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective) combined with a 64-bit bus yields 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a severe bottleneck for the GPU's compute capabilities — the shading units can likely process data faster than the memory subsystem can feed them, resulting in underutilization in bandwidth-intensive scenarios. The 1024 MB GDDR5 frame buffer is adequate for 720p gaming at low settings, but the bandwidth limitation will cause stuttering in any modern title that requires streaming large textures.

FAQ

Q: Does the HD 7470 OEM support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The fact pack lists both RT cores and tensor cores as null values, and the TeraScale 2 architecture has no dedicated ray tracing hardware.

Q: What is the maximum API level supported by this card?

A: The card supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan support listed in the specifications.

Q: How much video memory does the HD 7470 OEM have, and what type is it?

A: It has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus, providing 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What power supply is recommended for this card?

A: The suggested PSU is 200 W, and the card itself has a TDP of 27 W with no external power connectors required.

Q: When was this card released, and what is its production status?

A: The release date is January 4, 2012, and the production status is listed as end-of-life.

Q: What display outputs are available on this card?

A: The card features one DVI port and one DisplayPort 1.1 connector, supporting a maximum of two displays.

Power and Cooling

The HD 7470 OEM has a TDP of just 27 W, making it one of the most power-efficient discrete GPUs ever produced. This low power draw means the card requires no external power connectors — the fact pack lists "None" for power connectors, and the card draws all its power from the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot. The suggested PSU rating of 200 W is conservative and accounts for the rest of the system's components rather than the GPU itself.

The card is single-slot in design, which makes it suitable for compact OEM chassis. The 168 mm length (6.6 inches) is short enough to fit in most small form factor cases, and the lack of a power connector simplifies installation. The 27 W TDP also means the card can be passively cooled in many configurations, though the fact pack does not specify the cooling solution.

The 40 nm process node from TSMC contributes to the low power draw, but it also means the card runs relatively warm under load compared to modern 7 nm or 5 nm parts. The 370 million transistors on a 67 mm² die yield a transistor density of 5.5 million per square millimeter, which is modest by any standard. The 27 W TDP is the definitive figure for thermal management — any system with adequate case airflow can handle this card without additional cooling considerations.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem is the HD 7470 OEM's most significant limitation. The 1024 MB GDDR5 frame buffer is paired with a 64-bit memory bus, which is half the width of even entry-level cards from the same generation. This narrow bus is the primary reason the bandwidth is capped at 28.80 GB/s — a figure that is roughly one-quarter of what mid-range cards from 2012 offered.

The memory clock of 900 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective) is standard for GDDR5 of that era, but the 64-bit bus cripples overall throughput. For high-resolution gaming, this bandwidth is insufficient. At 1080p, the card would need to constantly swap textures between VRAM and system memory, causing stuttering and frame drops. The 1024 MB capacity is also marginal for modern games, which typically require 2 GB or more for 1080p at medium settings.

The 3.000 GPixel/s pixel rate and 6.000 GTexel/s texture rate are directly tied to the memory subsystem's limitations. The 4 ROPs and 8 TMUs are too few to require more bandwidth, but the imbalance between compute and memory means the card is never fully utilized. For 720p gaming or desktop use, the memory subsystem is adequate; for 1080p or higher, it becomes the definitive bottleneck.

Who Should Consider It

The HD 7470 OEM is a card for very specific use cases, and its 50th percentile ranking suggests it outperforms half of all GPUs in the database — but that is a low bar. The 240.0 GFLOPS FP32 performance and 28.80 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for 720p gaming at low to medium settings, provided the games are from the DirectX 11 era or earlier. Modern titles at 720p would strain the card's 1024 MB VRAM and 64-bit bus, causing frequent texture pop-in and frame drops.

For desktop productivity, the card is more than adequate. The single DVI and single DisplayPort 1.1 outputs support dual-monitor setups for office work, and the 40 nm process node keeps power consumption low enough for 24/7 operation. The lack of Vulkan support rules out many modern emulators and Linux gaming scenarios, but the DirectX 11.2 support covers a large library of older Windows games.

The card is not suitable for 1080p gaming, high refresh rate displays, or any ray tracing workloads. Its 3.000 GPixel/s pixel rate caps output at around 30 frames per second at 1080p in most titles, and the 28.80 GB/s bandwidth will cause texture streaming issues. The 27 W TDP and single-slot design make it a reasonable choice for retro gaming builds or as a display adapter for servers, but for any modern gaming purpose, the HD 7470 OEM is outclassed by integrated graphics in current CPUs. The card's end-of-life status and 2012 release date mean it should only be considered for legacy systems or compatibility testing, not as a primary GPU.