GeForce GTX 780M vs Radeon HD 8970M

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 780M vs Radeon HD 8970M FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

GeForce GTX 780M vs Radeon HD 8970M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 780M

2013

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 8970M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌2013 hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌22% higher power demand at 122W vs 100W.

Radeon HD 8970M

2013

Why buy it

✅7.1% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Draws 100W instead of 122W, a 22W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌2013 hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon HD 8970M is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 7.1% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 0.8% in PassMark G3D (3,876 vs 3,845), so the answer here is pretty clean.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

GeForce GTX 780M is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Radeon HD 8970M makes the most sense today based on the pricing and value data we have for this matchup. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon HD 8970M is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, GeForce GTX 780M has the stronger long-term case.

GeForce GTX 780M vs Radeon HD 8970M Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

GeForce GTX 780M

The GeForce GTX 780M is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 11 2013. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock ranges from 823 MHz to 797 MHz. It has 1536 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 122W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,845 points.

Radeon HD 8970M

The Radeon HD 8970M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in May 14 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 850 MHz to 900 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 3,876 points.

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Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 780M scores 3,845 and the Radeon HD 8970M reaches 3,876 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.8% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 780M is built on Kepler while the Radeon HD 8970M uses GCN 1.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 1,536 (GeForce GTX 780M) vs 1,280 (Radeon HD 8970M). Raw compute: 2.448 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 780M) vs 2.304 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 8970M). Boost clocks: 797 MHz vs 900 MHz.

Feature	GeForce GTX 780M	Radeon HD 8970M
G3D Mark Score	3,845	3,876
Architecture	Kepler	GCN 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	1536+20%	1280
Compute (TFLOPS)	2.448 TFLOPS+6%	2.304 TFLOPS
Boost Clock	797 MHz	900 MHz+13%
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	128+60%	80
L1 Cache	128 KB	320 KB+150%
L2 Cache	512 KB	512 KB

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 780M gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 8970M leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

Feature	GeForce GTX 780M	Radeon HD 8970M
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	NVIDIA Reflex	AMD Anti-Lag

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Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 4 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce GTX 780M and System on the Radeon HD 8970M.

Feature	GeForce GTX 780M	Radeon HD 8970M
VRAM Capacity	4 GB	4 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	Shared
Memory Bandwidth	160 GB/s	System
Bus Width	256-bit	System
L2 Cache	512 KB	512 KB

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Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 780M draws 122W versus the Radeon HD 8970M's 100W — a 19.8% difference. The Radeon HD 8970M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GTX 780M) vs 350W (Radeon HD 8970M). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs 1x 6-pin.