GeForce MX230 vs ATI Radeon HD 5970

Place in the ranking	583	638
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.34	no data
Power efficiency	1.39	32.89
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code name	Hemlock	GP108
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	18 November 2009 (14 years ago)	21 February 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$699	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	1600	256
Core clock speed	725 MHz	1519 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1582 MHz
Number of transistors	2,154 million	1,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	294 Watt	10 Watt
Texture fill rate	58.00	25.31
Floating-point processing power	2.32 TFLOPS	0.81 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	16
TMUs	80	16

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	no data	medium sized
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	305 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	None

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	1 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1000 MHz	1502 MHz
Memory bandwidth	128.0 GB/s	48.06 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

2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort

No outputs

Supported technologies

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

Optimus

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.2 (11_0)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.0	6.4
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	N/A	1.2.131
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.

ATI HD 5970 5.91
+24.4%

GeForce MX230 4.75

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

ATI HD 5970 2282
+24.4%

GeForce MX230 1834

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

ATI HD 5970 3690
+49.5%

GeForce MX230 2468

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:

Full HD

24−27
+20%

−20%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

29.13

no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

8−9

+0%

8−9

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	13 +0%	13 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Battlefield 5	19 +0%	19 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14 +0%	14 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry 5	14 +0%	14 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	17 +0%	17 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	59 +0%	59 +0%
Hitman 3	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Metro Exodus	18 +0%	18 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	23 +0%	23 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16 +0%	16 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Battlefield 5	13 +0%	13 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	13 +0%	13 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry 5	12 +0%	12 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	12 +0%	12 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	53 +0%	53 +0%
Hitman 3	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Metro Exodus	13 +0%	13 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6 +0%	6 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9 +0%	9 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry 5	7 +0%	7 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	12 +0%	12 +0%
Hitman 3	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9 +0%	9 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14

+0%

12−14

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Hitman 3	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Metro Exodus	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10

+0%

9−10

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Metro Exodus	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6

+0%

5−6

+0%

This is how ATI HD 5970 and GeForce MX230 compete in popular games:

ATI HD 5970 is 20% faster in 1080p

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 68 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	5.91	4.75
Recency	18 November 2009	21 February 2019
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	294 Watt	10 Watt

ATI HD 5970 has a 24.4% higher aggregate performance score.

GeForce MX230, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 9 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 2840% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 5970 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce MX230 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 5970 is a desktop card while GeForce MX230 is a notebook one.

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