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.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE

2014

Why buy it

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

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 4 GB vs 8 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.

Radeon Pro 5500M

2019

Why buy it

✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (8 GB vs 4 GB).
✅More future proof: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅More future proof: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE

2014

Radeon Pro 5500M

2019

Why buy it

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

Why buy it

✅100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (8 GB vs 4 GB).
✅More future proof: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.
✅More future proof: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 4 GB vs 8 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.

Trade-offs

❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon Pro 5500M better than GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE?

Yes. Radeon Pro 5500M is clearly the better overall GPU here. You are also looking at 6,730 vs 6,707 in G3D Mark. On top of that, Radeon Pro 5500M is a 2019 card with FSR upscaling, while GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE is a 2014 model from an older generation with no meaningful modern upscaling stack. So this is not really a tight same-tier comparison. It is more a modern card against an older, weaker alternative.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Radeon Pro 5500M is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2019 generation instead of 2014, more VRAM at 8 GB instead of 4 GB, better upscaling support with FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack, and a 7nm process instead of 28nm. That extra memory headroom makes it the safer pick for newer games, heavier textures, and higher settings over time.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Radeon Pro 5500M can still make sense if you find it at the right price, especially around Unknown MSRP. Radeon Pro 5500M is still the smarter buy for most people, though, because the raw performance is close while the overall package is cleaner. Radeon Pro 5500M is priced in an unclear MSRP range at an unclear MSRP versus an unclear MSRP, and you are getting 0.3% higher G3D Mark. Moving to an unclear MSRP gets you newer hardware, and FSR upscaling.

Is GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE still worth buying for gaming in 2026?

Yes. GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE is still a strong gaming card in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. Price is really the swing factor here. If you find it at or below an unclear MSRP, it remains a very sensible buy. Radeon Pro 5500M is still the safer recommendation for most fresh builds because it offers a cleaner overall package with newer hardware and FSR upscaling.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE Benchmark Check

Radeon Pro 5500M Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
1080p
low	100 FPS	101 FPS
medium	85 FPS	87 FPS
high	68 FPS	71 FPS
ultra	41 FPS	47 FPS
1440p
low	87 FPS	90 FPS
medium	75 FPS	76 FPS
high	54 FPS	55 FPS
ultra	31 FPS	36 FPS
4K
low	28 FPS	37 FPS
medium	26 FPS	34 FPS
high	17 FPS	21 FPS
ultra	15 FPS	17 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE Open Radeon Pro 5500M

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
1080p
low	156 FPS	119 FPS
medium	127 FPS	87 FPS
high	102 FPS	59 FPS
ultra	70 FPS	40 FPS
1440p
low	108 FPS	81 FPS
medium	82 FPS	51 FPS
high	65 FPS	37 FPS
ultra	44 FPS	27 FPS
4K
low	47 FPS	39 FPS
medium	38 FPS	28 FPS
high	35 FPS	22 FPS
ultra	25 FPS	16 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE Open Radeon Pro 5500M

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
1080p
low	302 FPS	303 FPS
medium	241 FPS	242 FPS
high	201 FPS	202 FPS
ultra	151 FPS	151 FPS
1440p
low	226 FPS	227 FPS
medium	181 FPS	182 FPS
high	151 FPS	151 FPS
ultra	113 FPS	114 FPS
4K
low	151 FPS	151 FPS
medium	121 FPS	121 FPS
high	89 FPS	101 FPS
ultra	58 FPS	76 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE Open Radeon Pro 5500M

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
1080p
low	135 FPS	216 FPS
medium	110 FPS	187 FPS
high	95 FPS	154 FPS
ultra	79 FPS	128 FPS
1440p
low	98 FPS	167 FPS
medium	81 FPS	147 FPS
high	70 FPS	116 FPS
ultra	57 FPS	94 FPS
4K
low	59 FPS	91 FPS
medium	45 FPS	74 FPS
high	35 FPS	60 FPS
ultra	26 FPS	47 FPS

Open GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE Open Radeon Pro 5500M

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE and Radeon Pro 5500M

GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE

The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in October 7 2014. It features the Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 924 MHz to 1038 MHz. It has 1280 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 81W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 6,707 points. Launch price was $2,560.89.

Radeon Pro 5500M

The Radeon Pro 5500M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in November 13 2019. It features the RDNA 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1000 MHz to 1450 MHz. It has 1536 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 85W. Manufactured using 7 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 6,730 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE scores 6,707 and the Radeon Pro 5500M reaches 6,730 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.3% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE is built on Maxwell 2.0 while the Radeon Pro 5500M uses RDNA 1.0, both on 28 nm vs 7 nm. Shader units: 1,280 (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs 1,536 (Radeon Pro 5500M). Raw compute: 2.657 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs 4.454 TFLOPS (Radeon Pro 5500M). Boost clocks: 1038 MHz vs 1450 MHz.

Feature	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
G3D Mark Score	6,707	6,730
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0	RDNA 1.0
Process Node	28 nm	7 nm
Shading Units	1280	1536+20%
Compute (TFLOPS)	2.657 TFLOPS	4.454 TFLOPS+68%
Boost Clock	1038 MHz	1450 MHz+40%
ROPs	48+50%	32
TMUs	80	96+20%
L2 Cache	1.5 MB	2 MB+33%

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE gives access to NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), widely regarding as the superior upscaling method for image quality. The Radeon Pro 5500M relies on FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which is capable but generally slightly noisier than DLSS in motion.

Feature	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
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

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE comes with 4 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon Pro 5500M has 8 GB. The Radeon Pro 5500M offers 100% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Bus width: 192-bit vs 128-bit. L2 Cache: 1.5 MB (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs 2 MB (Radeon Pro 5500M) — the Radeon Pro 5500M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
VRAM Capacity	4 GB	8 GB+100%
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Bus Width	192-bit+50%	128-bit
L2 Cache	1.5 MB	2 MB+33%

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (12_1) (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs 12 (12_1) (Radeon Pro 5500M). Vulkan: 1.4 vs 1.3. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.

Feature	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (12_1)
Vulkan	1.4+8%	1.3
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
Max Displays	4	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: 5th Gen NVENC (Maxwell) (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs VCN 2.0 (Radeon Pro 5500M). Decoder: 1st Gen NVDEC vs VCN 2.0. Supported codecs: H.264,HEVC,VC-1,MPEG-2 (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs H.264,H.265,VP9 (Radeon Pro 5500M).

Feature	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
Encoder	5th Gen NVENC (Maxwell)	VCN 2.0
Decoder	1st Gen NVDEC	VCN 2.0
Codecs	H.264,HEVC,VC-1,MPEG-2	H.264,H.265,VP9

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE draws 81W versus the Radeon Pro 5500M's 85W — a 4.8% difference. The GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE) vs 350W (Radeon Pro 5500M). Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 267mm vs 0mm, occupying 2 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 75°C vs 85.

Feature	GeForce GTX 970XM FORCE	Radeon Pro 5500M
TDP	81W-5%	85W
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	1x 6-pin	PCIe-powered
Length	267mm	0mm
Height	111mm	0mm
Slots	2	0-100%
Temp (Load)	75°C-12%	85
Perf/Watt	82.8+5%	79.2