Radeon HD 6970M vs GeForce GTX 970

Place in performance ranking	200	558
Place by popularity	57	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	23.70	2.02
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	GM204	Blackcomb XT
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	19 September 2014 (9 years ago)	6 January 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$329	no data
Current price	$105 (0.3x MSRP)	$257

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970 has 1073% better value for money than HD 6970M.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	1664	960
CUDA cores	1664	no data
Core clock speed	1050 MHz	680 MHz
Boost clock speed	1178 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,200 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	145 Watt	75-100 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	98 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	109 billion/sec	32.64
Floating-point performance	3,920 gflops	1,305.6 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon HD 6970M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). 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 size	no data	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	MXM-B (3.0)
Length	10.5" (26.7 cm)	no data
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Recommended system power (PSU)	500 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pins	None
SLI options	+	no data

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	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224 GB/s	115.2 GB/s
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	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	No outputs
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	no data
HDCP	+	no data
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	+	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	+	no data
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	no data
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.0
OpenGL	4.4	4.4
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	N/A
CUDA	+	no data

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 970 24.97
+325%

HD 6970M 5.88

GeForce GTX 970 outperforms Radeon HD 6970M by 325% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 970 9643
+325%

HD 6970M 2270

GeForce GTX 970 outperforms Radeon HD 6970M by 325% in Passmark.

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 970 16033
+469%

HD 6970M 2819

GeForce GTX 970 outperforms Radeon HD 6970M by 469% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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 970 42263
+255%

HD 6970M 11898

GeForce GTX 970 outperforms Radeon HD 6970M by 255% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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	220−230 +323%	52 −323%
Full HD	83 +59.6%	52 −59.6%
1440p	59 +392%	12−14 −392%
4K	40 +344%	9−10 −344%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

40−45

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45	no data
Battlefield 5	80−85	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45	no data
Far Cry 5	55−60	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	65−70	no data
Forza Horizon 4	100−110	no data
Hitman 3	50−55	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100	no data
Metro Exodus	80−85	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	65−70	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45	no data
Battlefield 5	80−85	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	52	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45	no data
Far Cry 5	55−60	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	29	no data
Forza Horizon 4	100−110	no data
Hitman 3	50−55	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100	no data
Metro Exodus	35	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	65−70	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	81	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	36	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45	no data
Far Cry 5	55−60	no data
Forza Horizon 4	100−110	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	43	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

65−70

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	46	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18	no data
Far Cry 5	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	50−55	no data
Hitman 3	30−33	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55	no data
Metro Exodus	45−50	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55−60	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	20	no data
Hitman 3	20−22	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7	no data
Far Cry 5	14−16	no data
Forza Horizon 4	30−35	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	27−30	no data
Metro Exodus	24−27	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−12	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

no data

This is how GTX 970 and HD 6970M compete in popular games:

GTX 970 is 323% faster in 900p
GTX 970 is 60% faster in 1080p
GTX 970 is 392% faster in 1440p
GTX 970 is 344% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	24.97	5.88
Recency	19 September 2014	6 January 2011
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	145 Watt	75 Watt