Radeon HD 6550M vs HD 6970

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6970 with Radeon HD 6550M, including specs and performance data.

HD 6970
2010
2 GB GDDR5, 550 Watt
6.83
+429%

HD 6970 outperforms HD 6550M by a whopping 429% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking5551025
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.99no data
Power efficiency2.003.64
ArchitectureTeraScale 3 (2010−2013)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameCaymanLexington
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date14 December 2010 (14 years ago)26 November 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$369 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

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 cores1536400
Core clock speedno data600 MHz
Boost clock speed880 MHzno data
Number of transistors2,640 million2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)550 Watt26 Watt
Texture fill rate84.4812.00
Floating-point processing power2.703 TFLOPS0.48 TFLOPS
ROPs328
TMUs9620

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 datamedium sized
Bus supportPCIe 2.0 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16MXM-II
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 typeGDDR5DDR3
Maximum RAM amount2 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data28.8 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 and SDK 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:

900p70−75
+400%
14
−400%
Full HD100−110
+426%
19
−426%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.69no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 30−35
+467%
6−7
−467%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Hogwarts Legacy 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 30−33
+1400%
2−3
−1400%
Counter-Strike 2 30−35
+467%
6−7
−467%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Fortnite 40−45
+950%
4−5
−950%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+343%
7−8
−343%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22
+567%
3−4
−567%
Hogwarts Legacy 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+178%
9−10
−178%
Valorant 70−75
+118%
30−35
−118%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 30−33
+1400%
2−3
−1400%
Counter-Strike 2 30−35
+467%
6−7
−467%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 110−120
+286%
27−30
−286%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Dota 2 50−55
+218%
16−18
−218%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Fortnite 40−45
+950%
4−5
−950%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+343%
7−8
−343%
Forza Horizon 5 20−22
+567%
3−4
−567%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+2400%
1−2
−2400%
Hogwarts Legacy 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+550%
2−3
−550%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+178%
9−10
−178%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%
Valorant 70−75
+118%
30−35
−118%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 30−33
+1400%
2−3
−1400%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Dota 2 50−55
+218%
16−18
−218%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+343%
7−8
−343%
Hogwarts Legacy 12−14
+160%
5−6
−160%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+178%
9−10
−178%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+157%
7−8
−157%
Valorant 70−75
+118%
30−35
−118%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 40−45
+950%
4−5
−950%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 10−12 0−1
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 50−55
+563%
8−9
−563%
Grand Theft Auto V 9−10
+800%
1−2
−800%
Metro Exodus 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 40−45
+208%
12−14
−208%
Valorant 75−80
+1460%
5−6
−1460%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
+550%
2−3
−550%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+433%
3−4
−433%
Hogwarts Legacy 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14−16
+600%
2−3
−600%

4K
High Preset

Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+20%
14−16
−20%
Hogwarts Legacy 2−3 0−1
Metro Exodus 2−3 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 5−6 0−1
Valorant 35−40
+400%
7−8
−400%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3 0−1
Dota 2 24−27
+2400%
1−2
−2400%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+450%
2−3
−450%
Hogwarts Legacy 2−3 0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%

This is how HD 6970 and HD 6550M compete in popular games:

  • HD 6970 is 400% faster in 900p
  • HD 6970 is 426% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Grand Theft Auto V, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 6970 is 2400% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 6970 surpassed HD 6550M in all 48 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 6.83 1.29
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 1 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 550 Watt 26 Watt

HD 6970 has a 429.5% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

HD 6550M, on the other hand, has 2015.4% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6550M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 6970 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6550M is a notebook one.

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
AMD Radeon HD 6550M
Radeon HD 6550M

Other comparisons

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.


3.7 158 votes

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

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.5 30 votes

Rate Radeon HD 6550M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Comments

Here you can give us your opinion about Radeon HD 6970 or Radeon HD 6550M, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.