10 Aug 2021 - Graphics card reviewed

The Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition is a very low performing piece of gaming hardware and can probably only run indie system requirements.

Capable of running games with up to a DirectX 11 requirement.

Here we take a closer look at the various performances across 1080p, 1440p and 4K screen resolutions for the Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition. In particular this is looking at the Ultra graphics settings to see what sort of FPS this graphics card can get across some of the more popular games played in 2022. Of the 1000 most demanding recommended specs found in game requirements today, this gpu is more powerful than the graphics requirement of 230 games in todays list.

Looking at some of the modern popular games people are playing today the Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition is running FIFA 22 and delivering good performances on 1080p Ultra, getting 66 frames per second. Comparing this to Days Gone which is getting playable results, where it averages 29 FPS. Another popular game we looked at is Forza Horizon 5, which is running at 19 frames per second.

Moving screen sizes up to 1440p we ran FIFA 22 on the Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition to see that it got a reasonable set of frame rates. Here are the low to ultra results at 1440p - L: 133FPS, M: 105FPS, H: 70FPS, U: 50FPS. Another popular game to test at 1440p with this card was Days Gone which seemed weak in performance netting an Ultra FPS of 22 FPS. Finally we then took a look at Forza Horizon 5 where its Ultra 1440p Frame rates were weak at 14 FPS. Running games at 1440p with a Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition is ok at playing most games but might need to have the graphics settings lowered to medium preset in some cases.

How many years will the Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition graphics card play newly released games and how long until you should consider upgrading the Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition in your PC? This Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition card has 12 to 18 months of latest AAA game play left in it before upgrading should be considered

Whats a good PC graphics upgrade for the Radeon HD 7970 GigaByte SOC Edition? If you are thinking of upgrading this graphics card then we would currently suggest the RX 5000 Series Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB. This PC hardware upgrade performs 54% better and can run 726 of today’s 1000 most demanding PC games. Alternatively upgrading this graphics card would have us consider the RX 5000 Series Radeon RX 5300 which is 24% more powerful. This upgrade choice can also run 305 games from the most demanding games today.