ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 vs HD 6970

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6970 with Mobility Radeon HD 5870, including specs and performance data.

HD 6970
2010
2 GB GDDR5, 550 Watt
7.34
+148%

HD 6970 outperforms ATI Mobility HD 5870 by a whopping 148% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking534778
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.00no data
Power efficiency2.034.09
ArchitectureTeraScale 3 (2010−2013)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameCaymanBroadway
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date14 December 2010 (13 years ago)7 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$369 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 cores1536800
Core clock speedno data700 MHz
Boost clock speed880 MHzno data
Number of transistors2,640 million1,040 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)550 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate84.4828.00
Floating-point processing power2.703 TFLOPS1.12 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs9640

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 sizeno datalarge
Bus supportPCIe 2.0 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length267 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinno 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz1000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data64 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire+-

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 1111.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.05.0
OpenGL4.44.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan-N/A

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:

900p75−80
+142%
31
−142%
Full HD95−100
+144%
39
−144%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.88no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+100%
6−7
−100%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+100%
9−10
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+900%
1−2
−900%
Battlefield 5 21−24
+340%
5−6
−340%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+114%
7−8
−114%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+100%
6−7
−100%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+183%
6−7
−183%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+163%
8−9
−163%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+206%
16−18
−206%
Hitman 3 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+95.5%
21−24
−95.5%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+600%
3−4
−600%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+108%
12−14
−108%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+38.5%
35−40
−38.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+100%
9−10
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+900%
1−2
−900%
Battlefield 5 21−24
+340%
5−6
−340%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+114%
7−8
−114%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+100%
6−7
−100%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+183%
6−7
−183%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+163%
8−9
−163%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+206%
16−18
−206%
Hitman 3 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+95.5%
21−24
−95.5%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+600%
3−4
−600%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+108%
12−14
−108%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+57.1%
14−16
−57.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+38.5%
35−40
−38.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+100%
9−10
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+900%
1−2
−900%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+114%
7−8
−114%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+100%
6−7
−100%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+183%
6−7
−183%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+206%
16−18
−206%
Hitman 3 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+95.5%
21−24
−95.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+108%
12−14
−108%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+57.1%
14−16
−57.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+38.5%
35−40
−38.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+186%
7−8
−186%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+180%
5−6
−180%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
+175%
4−5
−175%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+133%
3−4
−133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+167%
3−4
−167%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+170%
10−11
−170%
Hitman 3 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
+129%
7−8
−129%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+167%
3−4
−167%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+161%
18−20
−161%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+117%
6−7
−117%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Hitman 3 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+167%
9−10
−167%
Metro Exodus 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%

This is how HD 6970 and ATI Mobility HD 5870 compete in popular games:

  • HD 6970 is 142% faster in 900p
  • HD 6970 is 144% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the HD 6970 is 900% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 6970 surpassed ATI Mobility HD 5870 in all 61 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 7.34 2.96
Recency 14 December 2010 7 January 2010
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 550 Watt 50 Watt

HD 6970 has a 148% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 months, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

ATI Mobility HD 5870, on the other hand, has 1000% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 6970 is a desktop card while Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is a notebook one.


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

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon HD 6970
Radeon HD 6970
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Mobility Radeon HD 5870

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.7 155 votes

Rate Radeon HD 6970 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.4 52 votes

Rate Mobility Radeon HD 5870 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.