Radeon HD 6970M vs GeForce GTX 280

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260 260 Core 216 260 Core 216 Rev. 2 260 OEM 260 Rev. 2 275 275 PhysX Edition 280 285 285 Mac Edition 285 X2 295 295 Single PCB
VS
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6950M 6970M 6970M Crossfire 6970M Mac Edition 6970M Rebrand 6970M X2 6990M 6990M Crossfire 6990M Rebrand

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 280 with Radeon HD 6970M, including specs and performance data.

GTX 280
2008, $649
1 GB GDDR3, 236 Watt
3.07

HD 6970M outperforms GTX 280 by an impressive 77% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

Share:
GTX 280 GTX 280
HD 6970M HD 6970M

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking806657
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.11no data
Power efficiency1.005.56
ArchitectureTesla 2.0 (2007−2013)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameGT200Blackcomb
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date16 June 2008 (17 years ago)4 January 2011 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$649 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

no data

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 cores240960
Core clock speed602 MHz680 MHz
Number of transistors1,400 million1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology65 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)236 Watt75 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature105 °Cno data
Texture fill rate48.1632.64
Floating-point processing power0.6221 TFLOPS1.306 TFLOPS
ROPs3232
TMUs8048
L1 Cacheno data192 KB
L2 Cache256 KB512 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).

Laptop sizeno datalarge
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length267 mmno data
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinNone
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 typeGDDR3GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB1 GB
Memory bus width512 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1107 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth141.7 GB/s115.2 GB/s
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 ConnectorsHDTVDual Link DVINo outputs
Multi monitor support+no data
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIS/PDIFno data

API and SDK support

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.1 (10_0)11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model4.05.0
OpenGL2.14.4
OpenCL1.11.2
VulkanN/AN/A
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.

GTX 280 3.07
HD 6970M 5.43
+76.9%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 280 1285
Samples: 456
HD 6970M 2270
+76.7%
Samples: 3

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:

900p27−30
−92.6%
52
+92.6%
Full HD27−30
−88.9%
51
+88.9%

Cost per frame, $

1080p24.04no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

Full HD
Medium

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Fortnite 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Valorant 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

Full HD
High

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Dota 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Fortnite 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Metro Exodus 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Valorant 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Dota 2 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Valorant 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Metro Exodus 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Valorant 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry 5 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

4K
High

Grand Theft Auto V 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Valorant 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Dota 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Hogwarts Legacy 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

This is how GTX 280 and HD 6970M compete in popular games:

  • HD 6970M is 93% faster in 900p
  • HD 6970M is 89% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 3.07 5.43
Recency 16 June 2008 4 January 2011
Chip lithography 65 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 236 Watt 75 Watt

HD 6970M has a 76.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 62.5% more advanced lithography process, and 214.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6970M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 280 is a desktop graphics card while Radeon HD 6970M is a notebook one.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 280
AMD Radeon HD 6970M
Radeon HD 6970M
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Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

GTX 280 GeForce GTX 280
vs
HD 6770 Radeon HD 6770
HD 6970M Radeon HD 6970M
vs
GeForce MX150 GeForce MX150
GTX 280 GeForce GTX 280
vs
ATI HD 4870 X2 Radeon HD 4870 X2
9800 GT GeForce 9800 GT
vs
HD 7650M HD 7650M
9800 GT GeForce 9800 GT
vs
GTX 460 768MB GTX 460 768MB
9800 GT Rebrand GeForce 9800 GT Rebrand
vs
RX 5800 RX 5800
RTX 2080 Super RTX 2080 Super
vs
GTX 260 260
RTX 5090 DD RTX 5090 DD
vs
GTX 260 260
GTX 280 GeForce GTX 280
vs
ATI HD 2900 XTX HD 2900 XTX
9300 GE GeForce 9300 GE
vs
RX 9060 XT 16 GB RX 9060 XT 16 GB
9800 GTX GeForce 9800 GTX
vs
7600 GT GeForce 7600 GT
9800 GTX GeForce 9800 GTX
vs
Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU Max 40-Core GPU
9800 GX2 GeForce 9800 GX2
vs
GT 555M GT 555M

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.

3.5 113 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 280 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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2.8 95 votes

Rate Radeon HD 6970M on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Comments

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