Radeon HD 6970 vs GeForce GTX 1070 SLI
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 1070 SLI and Radeon HD 6970, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
1070 SLI outperforms HD 6970 by a whopping 443% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 145 | 590 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 0.88 |
| Power efficiency | 9.33 | 2.06 |
| Architecture | Pascal (2016−2021) | TeraScale 3 (2010−2013) |
| GPU code name | Pascal GP104 SLI | Cayman |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | no data | reference |
| Release date | 16 August 2016 (9 years ago) | 14 December 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $369 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 3840 | 1536 |
| Core clock speed | 1506 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 1683 MHz | 880 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 14400 Million | 2,640 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 16 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 550 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 84.48 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 2.703 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | no data | 32 |
| TMUs | no data | 96 |
| L1 Cache | no data | 384 KB |
| L2 Cache | no data | 512 KB |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | no data | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Interface | no data | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 267 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |
| SLI options | + | - |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2x 8 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 8000 MHz | 1375 MHz |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Connectivity and outputs
This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.
| Display Connectors | no data | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| G-SYNC support | + | - |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| CrossFire | - | + |
| VR Ready | + | no data |
API and SDK support
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12_1 | DirectX® 11 |
| Shader Model | no data | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | no data | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | + | - |
| CUDA | + | - |
Synthetic benchmarks
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 118
+462%
| 21−24
−462%
|
| 4K | 56
+460%
| 10−12
−460%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | no data | 17.57 |
| 4K | no data | 36.90 |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low
| Counter-Strike 2 | 200−210
+506%
|
30−35
−506%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 85−90
+514%
|
14−16
−514%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 85−90
+562%
|
12−14
−562%
|
Full HD
Medium
| Battlefield 5 | 120−130
+330%
|
30−33
−330%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 200−210
+506%
|
30−35
−506%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 85−90
+514%
|
14−16
−514%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 110−120
+441%
|
21−24
−441%
|
| Fortnite | 280
+567%
|
40−45
−567%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 140−150
+361%
|
30−35
−361%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 110−120
+485%
|
20−22
−485%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 85−90
+562%
|
12−14
−562%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 140−150
+488%
|
24−27
−488%
|
| Valorant | 210−220
+196%
|
70−75
−196%
|
Full HD
High
| Battlefield 5 | 120−130
+330%
|
30−33
−330%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 200−210
+506%
|
30−35
−506%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 270−280
+150%
|
110−120
−150%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 85−90
+514%
|
14−16
−514%
|
| Dota 2 | 140−150
+165%
|
50−55
−165%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 110−120
+441%
|
21−24
−441%
|
| Fortnite | 176
+319%
|
40−45
−319%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 140−150
+361%
|
30−35
−361%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 110−120
+485%
|
20−22
−485%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 87
+248%
|
24−27
−248%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 85−90
+562%
|
12−14
−562%
|
| Metro Exodus | 85−90
+577%
|
12−14
−577%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 140−150
+488%
|
24−27
−488%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 111
+517%
|
18−20
−517%
|
| Valorant | 210−220
+196%
|
70−75
−196%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 120−130
+330%
|
30−33
−330%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 85−90
+514%
|
14−16
−514%
|
| Dota 2 | 140−150
+165%
|
50−55
−165%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 110−120
+441%
|
21−24
−441%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 140−150
+361%
|
30−35
−361%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 85−90
+562%
|
12−14
−562%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 140−150
+488%
|
24−27
−488%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 73
+306%
|
18−20
−306%
|
| Valorant | 210−220
+196%
|
70−75
−196%
|
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 123
+193%
|
40−45
−193%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 90−95
+608%
|
12−14
−608%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 250−260
+389%
|
50−55
−389%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 75−80
+733%
|
9−10
−733%
|
| Metro Exodus | 50−55
+671%
|
7−8
−671%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 170−180
+349%
|
35−40
−349%
|
| Valorant | 250−260
+227%
|
75−80
−227%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 95−100
+638%
|
12−14
−638%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 40−45
+760%
|
5−6
−760%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 85−90
+536%
|
14−16
−536%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 100−110
+556%
|
16−18
−556%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 40−45
+514%
|
7−8
−514%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 65−70
+667%
|
9−10
−667%
|
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 95−100
+593%
|
14−16
−593%
|
4K
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 40−45 | 0−1 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 81
+350%
|
18−20
−350%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 24−27
+1100%
|
2−3
−1100%
|
| Metro Exodus | 30−35
+1600%
|
2−3
−1600%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 54
+980%
|
5−6
−980%
|
| Valorant | 220−230
+546%
|
35−40
−546%
|
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 55−60
+883%
|
6−7
−883%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 40−45 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 18−20
+850%
|
2−3
−850%
|
| Dota 2 | 100−110
+332%
|
24−27
−332%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 45−50
+700%
|
6−7
−700%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 65−70
+527%
|
10−12
−527%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 24−27
+1100%
|
2−3
−1100%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45−50
+600%
|
7−8
−600%
|
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 38
+443%
|
7−8
−443%
|
This is how GTX 1070 SLI and HD 6970 compete in popular games:
- GTX 1070 SLI is 462% faster in 1080p
- GTX 1070 SLI is 460% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 1070 SLI is 1600% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, GTX 1070 SLI surpassed HD 6970 in all 64 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 34.76 | 6.40 |
| Recency | 16 August 2016 | 14 December 2010 |
| Chip lithography | 16 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 550 Watt |
GTX 1070 SLI has a 443.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 150% more advanced lithography process, and 83.3% lower power consumption.
The GeForce GTX 1070 SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
