AMD Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M SLI

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General info

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

Place in performance ranking437444
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money8.336.95
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameN11E-GTX-A1Blackcomb XT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date6 January 2011 (13 years old)6 January 2011 (13 years old)
Current price$149 $170
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 485M SLI has 20% better value for money than HD 6970M Crossfire.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores7681920
Core clock speed575 MHz680 MHz
Number of transistorsno data2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)100 Wattno data

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 485M SLI and Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizelargelarge

Memory

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2x2 GB2x2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz900 MHz
Shared memory--

API support

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

DirectX1111

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 485M SLI
9.21
+2.4%

GeForce GTX 485M SLI outperforms Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire by 2% in our combined benchmark results.


3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 485M SLI 24830
+9.5%
HD 6970M Crossfire 22667

GeForce GTX 485M SLI outperforms Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire by 10% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 485M SLI 5334
HD 6970M Crossfire 5542
+3.9%

Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire outperforms GeForce GTX 485M SLI by 4% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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:

900p89
−5.6%
94
+5.6%
Full HD103
+1%
102
−1%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+4.2%
24−27
−4.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+4.5%
21−24
−4.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+4.3%
21−24
−4.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+3.2%
30−35
−3.2%
Hitman 3 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+5.3%
18−20
−5.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+4.2%
24−27
−4.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+4.5%
21−24
−4.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+4.3%
21−24
−4.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+3.2%
30−35
−3.2%
Hitman 3 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+7.7%
12−14
−7.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+5.3%
18−20
−5.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+4.5%
21−24
−4.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+4.3%
21−24
−4.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+3.2%
30−35
−3.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Hitman 3 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Metro Exodus 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Battlefield 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Hitman 3 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Metro Exodus 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Battlefield 5 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%

This is how GTX 485M SLI and HD 6970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 6970M Crossfire is 5.6% faster than GTX 485M SLI

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 485M SLI is 1% faster than HD 6970M Crossfire

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 485M SLI is 50% faster than the HD 6970M Crossfire.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 485M SLI is ahead in 31 test (46%)
  • there's a draw in 37 tests (54%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 9.21 8.99
Pipelines / CUDA cores 768 1920

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 485M SLI and Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire. The differences in performance seem too small.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Cast your own vote

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


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M SLI
GeForce GTX 485M SLI
AMD Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire

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Questions and comments

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