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AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire

AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire

The AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire (also known as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 8970 X2 or CrossFireX) is a combination of two high-end graphics card for big and heavy laptops. Usually, each single card renders a single frame in an alternating manner. Therefore, it may suffer from micro stuttering in low frame rates below 30 FPS due to staggering timespans between two frames (e.g., irregular delays between sequential frames).

The HD 8970M is based on the desktop HD 7870 Pitcairn chip with 1280 1D shaders and 80 texture units. The GCN (graphics core next) architecture supports DirectX11 and OpenGL 4.2. More information on the features of the single 8970M can be found on the GPU page. Compared to the 7970M, the 8970M is based on the same chip but offers an increased core clock rate by 50 MHz when in Turbo.

The Performance of two HD 8970M GPUs in Crossfire mode is similar to the GeForce GTX 680M SLI an just slightly below the GTX 780M SLI. As of 2013, however, the Crossfire solution currently suffers more from micro stuttering than Nvidia SLI solutions. Regardless, modern and demanding games like Battlefield 3 or Metro Last Light are still playable in high resolution and max. settings with anti-aliasing.

The power consumption of the CF combination is very high (2x 100 Watt) and is thus only suited for very large desktop replacement laptops.

Radeon HD 8900M Series

Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire 2560 @ 0.85 - 0.9 GHz2x 256 Bit @ 4800 MHz
Radeon HD 8970M compare 1280 @ 0.85 - 0.9 GHz256 Bit @ 4800 MHz
CodenameNeptune CF
ArchitectureGCN
Pipelines2560 - unified
Core Speed850 - 900 (Boost) MHz
Memory Speed4800 MHz
Memory Bus Width2x 256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 11.1, Shader 5.0, OpenGL 4.2
Power Consumption200 Watt
technology28 nm
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement01.05.2012

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
4.7 pt (14%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 10816     avg: 11230     median: 10997 (15%)     max: 11877 Points
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 12361     avg: 13160     median: 12424 (11%)     max: 14696 Points
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
3DMark 06
min: 25388     avg: 26430     median: 26430 (35%)     max: 27472 Points
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +
specvp11 tcvis-02 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 tcvis-02
min: 8.25     avg: 8.4     median: 8.4 (5%)     max: 8.59 fps
specvp11 sw-02 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 sw-02
min: 32.78     avg: 33.6     median: 33.6 (26%)     max: 34.47 fps
specvp11 proe-05 +
specvp11 maya-03 +
specvp11 lightwave-01 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 lightwave-01
min: 33.55     avg: 34.2     median: 34.2 (37%)     max: 34.77 fps
specvp11 ensight-04 +
specvp11 catia-03 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 catia-03
min: 11.4     avg: 11.4     median: 11.4 (6%)     max: 11.44 fps
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

low 1280x720
81.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
72.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
58.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
37.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
144  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
142  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
63  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
55  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
189  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
152  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
126  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
56  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
77.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
78.6  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
75.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
66.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Mafia 3

Mafia 3

2016
low 1280x720
42.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
33.4  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
18.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
60  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
47.2  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
27.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
19.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Additional Benchmarks
Medium Preset 2xAF 1920x1080
32.2
low 1280x720
60.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
46.2  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
31.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
15.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Overwatch

Overwatch

2016
low 1280x720
154.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
100.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
113.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
68.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Additional Benchmarks
Medium (Render Scale 100 %) 2xAF FXAA 1920x1080
102.6
Doom

Doom

2016
low 1280x720
83.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
75.4  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
44.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
41.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Additional Benchmarks
Medium Preset 1920x1080
50
low 1280x720
100.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
83.5  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
31.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
24.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Additional Benchmarks
Medium Preset 4xAF 1920x1080
69.7
Low Preset 1xAF 1920x1080
91.7
low 1280x720
63  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
59  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
53  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
51  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
XCOM 2

XCOM 2

2016
low 1280x720
95.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
72.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
48.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
47.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Additional Benchmarks
Low Preset TrilinearAF 1920x1080
86.9
low 1024x768
152.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
104.4  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
55.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
42.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
208.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
138.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
92.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
64.9  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
55.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
53.2  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
48.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
28.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Dota 2

Dota 2

2013
med. 1366x768
102.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
97.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
57.4 57.6 ~ 58 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
48.9 49.3 ~ 49 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
23.2 23.2 ~ 23 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
GRID 2

GRID 2

2013
med. 1366x768
140.8 159.4 ~ 150 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
128.4 134.8 ~ 132 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
110.3 112.7 ~ 112 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
97.9 100 ~ 99 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
79.3 84.9 ~ 82 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
53 53.2 ~ 53 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
161.4 172.2 ~ 167 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
146.6 166.2 ~ 156 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
86.1 87.7 ~ 87 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
160.1  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
140.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
60.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
SimCity

SimCity

2013
med. 1366x768
118.3  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
90.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
47.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
369.5 388 ~ 379 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
275.1 284.4 ~ 280 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
126 126.5 ~ 126 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Crysis 3

Crysis 3

2013
med. 1366x768
114.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
91.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
37.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
168.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
168.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
166.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3

2012
med. 1366x768
96.8  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
78.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
51  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
44.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
43.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
32.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
med. 1366x768
76.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
68.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
65.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
243.1 249.6 ~ 246 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
207.3 219.8 ~ 214 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
152 158.2 ~ 155 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
60  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
59.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
59.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
128.8 129 ~ 129 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
128.2 129 ~ 129 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
128 128.2 ~ 128 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Fifa 13

Fifa 13

2012
med. 1366x768
362.3  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
266.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
213  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
F1 2012

F1 2012

2012
high 1366x768
101  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
69  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
137  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
131  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
119  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
high 1366x768
39 39.8 ~ 39 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
36.6 40 ~ 38 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
186.1  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
159.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
127.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
271  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
116  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
124.8 129.7 ~ 127 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
109.5 114.5 ~ 112 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
62.5 62.6 ~ 63 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
82  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
78.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
77.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
92.2  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
88  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
87  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
113.3  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
89.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
71.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Alan Wake

Alan Wake

2012
med. 1366x768
123  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
84.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Anno 2070

Anno 2070

2011
med. 1366x768
160.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
129.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
104.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
med. 1366x768
120.6 151 ~ 136 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
112.9 142.2 ~ 128 fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
86.2 102.2 ~ 94 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
lowmed.highultraQHD4K
Watch Dogs 281.472.958.237.4
Titanfall 21441426355
Farming Simulator 1718915212656
Battlefield 177.678.675.166.3
Mafia 342.133.418.2
Deus Ex Mankind Divided6047.227.919.6
No Man's Sky60.646.231.515.6
Overwatch154.8100.8113.468.8
Doom83.975.444.941.2
The Division100.583.531.824.6
Far Cry Primal63595351
XCOM 295.172.148.847.4
Rise of the Tomb Raider152.2104.455.342.8
Rainbow Six Siege208.8138.892.264.9
Assassin's Creed Syndicate55.253.248.428.6
Dota 2102.397.8
Company of Heroes 2584923
GRID 2150132112
Metro: Last Light998253
BioShock Infinite16715687
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm160.1140.160.6
SimCity118.390.447.8
Tomb Raider379280126
Crysis 3114.991.237.8
Dead Space 3168.5168.2166.7
Far Cry 396.878.851
Assassin´s Creed III44.643.132.5
Hitman: Absolution76.468.165.4
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2246214155
Need for Speed: Most Wanted6059.859.8
Dishonored129129128
Fifa 13362.3266.2213
F1 201210169
Borderlands 2137131119
Guild Wars 23938
Counter-Strike: GO186.1159.7127.8
Darksiders II271116
Sleeping Dogs12711263
Max Payne 38278.577.3
Dirt Showdown92.28887
Risen 2: Dark Waters113.389.871.8
Alan Wake12384.1
Anno 2070160.4129.1104.1
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim7971.6
Battlefield 313612894
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» Comparison of GPUs
Detailed list of all laptop GPUs sorted by class and performance.

» Benchmark List
Sort and restrict laptop GPUs based on performance in synthetic benchmarks.

» Notebook Gaming List
Playable games for each graphics card and their average FPS results.

Class 1

Class 2

Radeon PRO W6600M *

Class 3

UHD Graphics 32EUs
UHD Graphics 750

Class 4

Class 5

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter