Radeon RX 6850 XT vs GeForce GTX 970
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 202 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | 65 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 13.54 | no data |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2018) | RDNA 2.0 (2020−2023) |
| GPU code name | GM204 | Navi 21 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 19 September 2014 (9 years ago) | 2022 (2 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $329 | $649 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
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 | 4608 |
| CUDA cores | 1664 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 1050 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 1178 MHz | 2250 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 5,200 million | 26,800 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 145 Watt | 325 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | 98 °C | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 122.5 | 648.0 |
| Floating-point performance | 3,920 gflops | no data |
| Floating-point performance | 3.92 gflops | 20.74 gflops |
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 | PCI Express 3.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Length | 267 mm | 267 mm |
| Height | 4.376" (11.1 cm) | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Recommended system power (PSU) | 500 Watt | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | 2x 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 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 7.0 GB/s | 18 GB/s |
| Memory bandwidth | 224 GB/s | 576.0 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 | 1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C |
| Multi monitor support | 4 displays | no data |
| HDMI | + | + |
| HDCP | + | - |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | no data |
| G-SYNC support | + | - |
| 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 | + | - |
| GeForce ShadowPlay | + | - |
| GPU Boost | 2.0 | no data |
| GameWorks | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | 1.3 |
| CUDA | + | - |
Pros & cons summary
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 16 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 145 Watt | 325 Watt |
GTX 970 has 124.1% lower power consumption.
RX 6850 XT, on the other hand, has a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 300% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 970 and Radeon RX 6850 XT. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
