Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire vs GeForce GTX 860M

Place in the ranking	518	475
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	7.33	no data
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2017)	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	GM107	Blackcomb XT
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	13 January 2014 (10 years ago)	6 January 2011 (13 years ago)

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	1152 or 640	1920
Core clock speed	797 MHz	680 MHz
Boost clock speed	1085 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	1,870 million	2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	no data
Texture fill rate	43.40	no data
Floating-point processing power	1.389 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	16	no data
TMUs	40	no data

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 size	medium sized	large
Bus support	PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	no data
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data
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	4 GB	2x2 GB
Standard memory configuration	GDDR5	no data
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	Up to 2500 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	80.0 GB/s	no data
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	No outputs	no data
eDP 1.2 signal support	Up to 3840x2160	no data
LVDS signal support	Up to 1920x1200	no data
VGA аnalog display support	Up to 2048x1536	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	Up to 3840x2160	no data
HDMI	+	-
HDCP content protection	+	-
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI	+	-
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	-
Optimus	+	-
Ansel	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	11
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.5	no data
OpenCL	1.1	no data
Vulkan	1.1.126	-
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

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. 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 860M 7.91

HD 6970M Crossfire 9.12
+15.3%

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.

GTX 860M 4902

HD 6970M Crossfire 5542
+13%

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.

GTX 860M 19216

HD 6970M Crossfire 22667
+18%

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:

900p	91 −3.3%	94 +3.3%
Full HD	36 −181%	101 +181%
4K	13 −7.7%	14−16 +7.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

12−14

−16.7%

14−16
+16.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −21.7%	27−30 +21.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −17.3%	60−65 +17.3%
Hitman 3	14−16 −13.3%	16−18 +13.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −13.3%	50−55 +13.3%
Metro Exodus	21−24 −21.7%	27−30 +21.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −15.4%	30−33 +15.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −7.1%	60−65 +7.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −21.7%	27−30 +21.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −17.3%	60−65 +17.3%
Hitman 3	14−16 −13.3%	16−18 +13.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −13.3%	50−55 +13.3%
Metro Exodus	21−24 −21.7%	27−30 +21.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −15.4%	30−33 +15.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	60 +140%	24−27 −140%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −7.1%	60−65 +7.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −15.8%	21−24 +15.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%
Far Cry 5	18−20 −16.7%	21−24 +16.7%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −17.3%	60−65 +17.3%
Hitman 3	14−16 −13.3%	16−18 +13.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −13.3%	50−55 +13.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −15.4%	30−33 +15.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12 −108%	24−27 +108%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −7.1%	60−65 +7.1%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

−13.6%

24−27
+13.6%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 −20%	18−20 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 −16.7%	14−16 +16.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −66.7%	5−6 +66.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9 −12.5%	9−10 +12.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −30%	35−40 +30%
Hitman 3	10−12 −9.1%	12−14 +9.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 −11.8%	18−20 +11.8%
Metro Exodus	10−11 −30%	12−14 +30%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −42.9%	10−11 +42.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 −16%	55−60 +16%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14

−15.4%

14−16
+15.4%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8 −14.3%	8−9 +14.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%
Hitman 3	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30 −32.1%	35−40 +32.1%
Metro Exodus	5−6 −40%	7−8 +40%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 −20%	6−7 +20%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −22.2%	10−12 +22.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	3−4 −66.7%	5−6 +66.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9

−12.5%

9−10
+12.5%

This is how GTX 860M and HD 6970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

HD 6970M Crossfire is 3% faster in 900p
HD 6970M Crossfire is 181% faster in 1080p
HD 6970M Crossfire is 8% faster in 4K

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

in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 860M is 140% faster.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 6970M Crossfire is 108% faster.

All in all, in popular games: