Radeon 890M vs HD 6970

Place in the ranking	542	257
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.02	no data
Power efficiency	2.03	100.00
Architecture	TeraScale 3 (2010−2013)	RDNA 3.5 (2024)
GPU code name	Cayman	Strix Point
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	14 December 2010 (14 years ago)	15 July 2024 (less than a year 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 cores	1536	1024
Core clock speed	no data	400 MHz
Boost clock speed	880 MHz	2900 MHz
Number of transistors	2,640 million	34,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	4 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	550 Watt	15 Watt
Texture fill rate	84.48	185.6
Floating-point processing power	2.703 TFLOPS	5.939 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	96	64
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	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
Bus support	PCIe 2.0 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Length	267 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	System Shared
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	System Shared
Memory bus width	256 Bit	System Shared
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	System Shared
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 HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	Portable Device Dependent
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.

DirectX	DirectX® 11	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.0	6.8
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	-	1.3

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.

HD 6970 7.04

Radeon 890M 20.80
+195%

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.

HD 6970 2836

Radeon 890M 8375
+195%

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.

HD 6970 3470

Radeon 890M 9573
+176%

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

14−16

−214%

44
+214%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

26.36

no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −243%	48 +243%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −196%	65−70 +196%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −171%	38 +171%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −153%	76 +153%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 −241%	55−60 +241%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −205%	55−60 +205%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −133%	45−50 +133%
Valorant	24−27 −238%	85−90 +238%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −196%	65−70 +196%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −114%	30 +114%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Dota 2	24−27 −112%	55 +112%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −53.1%	49 +53.1%
Fortnite	40−45 −157%	110−120 +157%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −113%	64 +113%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 −241%	55−60 +241%
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27 −112%	55 +112%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −205%	55−60 +205%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	60−65 −138%	140−150 +138%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −133%	45−50 +133%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −200%	65−70 +200%
Valorant	24−27 −238%	85−90 +238%
World of Tanks	110−120 −114%	240−250 +114%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −196%	65−70 +196%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −85.7%	26 +85.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Dota 2	24−27 −188%	75−80 +188%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −119%	70−75 +119%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −83.3%	55 +83.3%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 −241%	55−60 +241%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	60−65 −138%	140−150 +138%
Valorant	24−27 −238%	85−90 +238%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	8−9 −338%	35−40 +338%
Grand Theft Auto V	9−10 −300%	35−40 +300%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 −182%	110−120 +182%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −233%	20−22 +233%
World of Tanks	50−55 −175%	140−150 +175%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −238%	40−45 +238%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −307%	60−65 +307%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −280%	55−60 +280%
Forza Horizon 5	10−12 −218%	35−40 +218%
Metro Exodus	10−12 −355%	50−55 +355%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 −210%	30−35 +210%
Valorant	18−20 −200%	55−60 +200%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Dota 2	18−20 −106%	35−40 +106%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 −106%	35−40 +106%
Metro Exodus	3−4 −433%	16−18 +433%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	21−24 −214%	65−70 +214%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 −180%	14−16 +180%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −106%	35−40 +106%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 −267%	21−24 +267%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −150%	5−6 +150%
Dota 2	18−20 −178%	50−55 +178%
Far Cry 5	9−10 −211%	27−30 +211%
Fortnite	7−8 −271%	24−27 +271%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 −313%	30−35 +313%
Forza Horizon 5	5−6 −260%	18−20 +260%
Valorant	7−8 −286%	27−30 +286%

This is how HD 6970 and Radeon 890M compete in popular games:

Radeon 890M is 214% faster in 1080p

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

in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the Radeon 890M is 433% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Radeon 890M is ahead in 52 tests (96%)
there's a draw in 2 tests (4%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.04	20.80
Recency	14 December 2010	15 July 2024
Chip lithography	40 nm	4 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	550 Watt	15 Watt

Radeon 890M has a 195.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 13 years, a 900% more advanced lithography process, and 3566.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon 890M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 6970 is a desktop card while Radeon 890M is a notebook one.

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