Radeon RX 6700 vs HD 6970

Place in the ranking	538	62
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.05	no data
Power efficiency	2.04	19.75
Architecture	TeraScale 3 (2010−2013)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Cayman	Navi 22
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	14 December 2010 (14 years ago)	9 June 2021 (3 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 cores	1536	2304
Core clock speed	no data	1941 MHz
Boost clock speed	880 MHz	2450 MHz
Number of transistors	2,640 million	17,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	550 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	84.48	352.8
Floating-point processing power	2.703 TFLOPS	11.29 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	64
TMUs	96	144
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	36

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).

Bus support	PCIe 2.0 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	267 mm	267 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin

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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	10 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	160 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	320.0 GB/s

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	1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C
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	6.5
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 7.38

RX 6700 50.10
+579%

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

RX 6700 19262
+579%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −567%	100−105 +567%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −579%	95−100 +579%
Elden Ring	20−22 −550%	130−140 +550%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −552%	150−160 +552%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −567%	100−105 +567%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −579%	95−100 +579%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −567%	200−210 +567%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −532%	120−130 +532%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −567%	140−150 +567%
Valorant	24−27 −567%	160−170 +567%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −552%	150−160 +552%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −567%	100−105 +567%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −579%	95−100 +579%
Dota 2	24−27 −554%	170−180 +554%
Elden Ring	20−22 −550%	130−140 +550%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −567%	220−230 +567%
Fortnite	40−45 −559%	290−300 +559%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −567%	200−210 +567%
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27 −554%	170−180 +554%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −532%	120−130 +532%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	55−60 −578%	400−450 +578%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −567%	140−150 +567%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −552%	150−160 +552%
Valorant	24−27 −567%	160−170 +567%
World of Tanks	110−120 −564%	750−800 +564%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −552%	150−160 +552%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 −567%	100−105 +567%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 −579%	95−100 +579%
Dota 2	24−27 −554%	170−180 +554%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −567%	220−230 +567%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −567%	200−210 +567%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	55−60 −578%	400−450 +578%
Valorant	24−27 −567%	160−170 +567%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	8−9 −525%	50−55 +525%
Elden Ring	9−10 −567%	60−65 +567%
Grand Theft Auto V	8−9 −525%	50−55 +525%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 −567%	260−270 +567%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −567%	40−45 +567%
World of Tanks	50−55 −560%	350−400 +560%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −554%	85−90 +554%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 −550%	65−70 +550%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −500%	30−33 +500%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −567%	100−105 +567%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 −579%	95−100 +579%
Metro Exodus	10−12 −536%	70−75 +536%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 −567%	60−65 +567%
Valorant	18−20 −532%	120−130 +532%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	1−2 −500%	6−7 +500%
Dota 2	18−20 −567%	120−130 +567%
Elden Ring	4−5 −575%	27−30 +575%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 −567%	120−130 +567%
Metro Exodus	3−4 −500%	18−20 +500%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	21−24 −567%	140−150 +567%
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 −500%	30−33 +500%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 −567%	120−130 +567%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 −567%	40−45 +567%
Counter-Strike 2	1−2 −500%	6−7 +500%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −500%	12−14 +500%
Dota 2	18−20 −567%	120−130 +567%
Far Cry 5	9−10 −567%	60−65 +567%
Fortnite	7−8 −543%	45−50 +543%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 −525%	50−55 +525%
Valorant	7−8 −543%	45−50 +543%

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.38	50.10
Recency	14 December 2010	9 June 2021
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	10 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	550 Watt	175 Watt

RX 6700 has a 578.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 400% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 471.4% more advanced lithography process, and 214.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6700 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970 in performance tests.

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