GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile vs Radeon HD 6970M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 6970M and GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
RTX 3060 Mobile outperforms HD 6970M by a whopping 453% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 591 | 169 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 69 |
| Power efficiency | 5.43 | 28.15 |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) | Ampere (2020−2024) |
| GPU code name | Blackcomb | GA106 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 4 January 2011 (14 years ago) | 12 January 2021 (4 years ago) |
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 | 960 | 3840 |
| Core clock speed | 680 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1425 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,700 million | 13,250 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 80 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 32.64 | 171.0 |
| Floating-point processing power | 1.306 TFLOPS | 10.94 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 48 |
| TMUs | 48 | 120 |
| Tensor Cores | no data | 120 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 30 |
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 | large | large |
| Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | no 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 type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 900 MHz | 1750 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 115.2 GB/s | 336.0 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 | No outputs | No outputs |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 6.5 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | N/A | 1.2 |
| CUDA | - | 8.6 |
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.
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.
3DMark 11 Performance GPU
3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
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:
| 900p | 52
−438%
| 280−290
+438%
|
| Full HD | 50
−98%
| 99
+98%
|
| 1440p | 10−12
−550%
| 65
+550%
|
| 4K | 7−8
−500%
| 42
+500%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−400%
|
65−70
+400%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
−758%
|
103
+758%
|
| Elden Ring | 14−16
−640%
|
110−120
+640%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 18−20
−417%
|
90−95
+417%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−400%
|
65−70
+400%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
−575%
|
81
+575%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
−713%
|
195
+713%
|
| Metro Exodus | 14−16
−527%
|
94
+527%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 16−18
−294%
|
65−70
+294%
|
| Valorant | 16−18
−665%
|
130−140
+665%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 18−20
−417%
|
90−95
+417%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−400%
|
65−70
+400%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
−458%
|
67
+458%
|
| Dota 2 | 20−22
−520%
|
124
+520%
|
| Elden Ring | 14−16
−907%
|
151
+907%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 27−30
−186%
|
80
+186%
|
| Fortnite | 35−40
−331%
|
150−160
+331%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
−558%
|
158
+558%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 20−22
−505%
|
121
+505%
|
| Metro Exodus | 14−16
−420%
|
78
+420%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45−50
−276%
|
180−190
+276%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 16−18
−229%
|
56
+229%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
−484%
|
110−120
+484%
|
| Valorant | 16−18
−494%
|
101
+494%
|
| World of Tanks | 90−95
−195%
|
270−280
+195%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 18−20
−417%
|
90−95
+417%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−369%
|
61
+369%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
−392%
|
59
+392%
|
| Dota 2 | 20−22
−520%
|
124
+520%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 27−30
−218%
|
85−90
+218%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
−483%
|
140
+483%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 45−50
−276%
|
180−190
+276%
|
| Valorant | 16−18
−912%
|
172
+912%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Dota 2 | 5−6
−1400%
|
75
+1400%
|
| Elden Ring | 7−8
−1057%
|
81
+1057%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 6−7
−1150%
|
75
+1150%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 35−40
−386%
|
170−180
+386%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
−700%
|
40
+700%
|
| World of Tanks | 40−45
−388%
|
210−220
+388%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 10−11
−530%
|
60−65
+530%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 9−10
−233%
|
30−33
+233%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
−640%
|
37
+640%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 12−14
−908%
|
121
+908%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 10−11
−910%
|
101
+910%
|
| Metro Exodus | 7−8
−1114%
|
85
+1114%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 7−8
−657%
|
50−55
+657%
|
| Valorant | 16−18
−781%
|
141
+781%
|
4K
High Preset
| Dota 2 | 16−18
−329%
|
73
+329%
|
| Elden Ring | 3−4
−1300%
|
42
+1300%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
−329%
|
73
+329%
|
| Metro Exodus | 1−2
−3000%
|
31
+3000%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 16−18
−506%
|
100−110
+506%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
−450%
|
22
+450%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 16−18
−329%
|
73
+329%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 5−6
−620%
|
35−40
+620%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3
−700%
|
16
+700%
|
| Dota 2 | 16−18
−459%
|
95
+459%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 7−8
−557%
|
45−50
+557%
|
| Fortnite | 5−6
−760%
|
40−45
+760%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 5−6
−1100%
|
60
+1100%
|
| Valorant | 5−6
−1140%
|
62
+1140%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
This is how HD 6970M and RTX 3060 Mobile compete in popular games:
- RTX 3060 Mobile is 438% faster in 900p
- RTX 3060 Mobile is 98% faster in 1080p
- RTX 3060 Mobile is 550% faster in 1440p
- RTX 3060 Mobile is 500% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RTX 3060 Mobile is 3000% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- RTX 3060 Mobile is ahead in 61 test (97%)
- there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.90 | 32.64 |
| Recency | 4 January 2011 | 12 January 2021 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 6 GB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 80 Watt |
HD 6970M has 6.7% lower power consumption.
RTX 3060 Mobile, on the other hand, has a 453.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 400% more advanced lithography process.
The GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970M in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
