Radeon HD 6970M vs HD 5870
Aggregated performance score
HD 6970M outperforms HD 5870 by 2% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 562 | 556 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.96 | 1.93 |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) | Terascale 2 (2009−2015) |
| GPU code name | Cypress | Blackcomb XT |
| Market segment | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 23 September 2009 (14 years ago) | 6 January 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | no data |
| Current price | $125 (0.3x MSRP) | $257 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
HD 6970M has 101% better value for money than ATI HD 5870.
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 | 1600 | 960 |
| Core clock speed | 850 MHz | 680 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,154 million | 1,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 188 Watt | 75-100 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 68.00 | 32.64 |
| Floating-point performance | 2,720.0 gflops | 1,305.6 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on Radeon HD 5870 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 |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |
| Length | 282 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | None |
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4800 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 153.6 GB/s | 115.2 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
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 | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort | No outputs |
| HDMI | + | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 11.2 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
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.
HD 6970M outperforms HD 5870 by 2% based on our aggregated 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%
HD 6970M outperforms HD 5870 by 2% in Passmark.
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 | 50−55
−4%
| 52
+4%
|
| Full HD | 45−50
−13.3%
| 51
+13.3%
|
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.73 | 5.86 |
| Recency | 23 September 2009 | 6 January 2011 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 2 GB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 188 Watt | 75 Watt |
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 6970M.
Be aware that Radeon HD 5870 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6970M is a notebook one.
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.
