Radeon RX 6850M XT vs HD 6970M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 6970M and Radeon RX 6850M XT, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
RX 6850M XT outperforms HD 6970M by a whopping 665% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 597 | 79 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 5.39 | 18.74 |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) | RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024) |
| GPU code name | Blackcomb | Navi 22 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 4 January 2011 (14 years ago) | 4 January 2022 (3 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 | 2560 |
| Core clock speed | 680 MHz | 2321 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 2581 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 1,700 million | 17,200 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 165 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 32.64 | 413.0 |
| Floating-point processing power | 1.306 TFLOPS | 13.21 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 64 |
| TMUs | 48 | 160 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 40 |
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 | 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 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 900 MHz | 2000 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 115.2 GB/s | 384.0 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 and SDK 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 | 2.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | 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.
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.
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
−573%
| 350−400
+573%
|
| Full HD | 51
−165%
| 135
+165%
|
| 1440p | 10−12
−750%
| 85
+750%
|
| 4K | 7−8
−714%
| 57
+714%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Atomic Heart | 12−14
−877%
|
120−130
+877%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−717%
|
95−100
+717%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
−1355%
|
160
+1355%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Atomic Heart | 12−14
−877%
|
120−130
+877%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
−500%
|
130−140
+500%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−717%
|
95−100
+717%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
−1136%
|
136
+1136%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 16−18
−581%
|
109
+581%
|
| Fortnite | 30−35
−442%
|
170−180
+442%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
−544%
|
160−170
+544%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 12−14
−933%
|
120−130
+933%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 21−24
−667%
|
160−170
+667%
|
| Valorant | 65−70
−266%
|
230−240
+266%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 12−14
−877%
|
120−130
+877%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
−500%
|
130−140
+500%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−717%
|
95−100
+717%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 90−95
−199%
|
270−280
+199%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
−864%
|
106
+864%
|
| Dota 2 | 45−50
−146%
|
113
+146%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 16−18
−556%
|
105
+556%
|
| Fortnite | 30−35
−442%
|
170−180
+442%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
−544%
|
160−170
+544%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 12−14
−933%
|
120−130
+933%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 18−20
−563%
|
126
+563%
|
| Metro Exodus | 10−11
−1060%
|
116
+1060%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 21−24
−667%
|
160−170
+667%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
−1220%
|
198
+1220%
|
| Valorant | 65−70
−266%
|
230−240
+266%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
−500%
|
130−140
+500%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
−717%
|
95−100
+717%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
−691%
|
87
+691%
|
| Dota 2 | 45−50
−107%
|
95
+107%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 16−18
−538%
|
102
+538%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
−544%
|
160−170
+544%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 12−14
−650%
|
90−95
+650%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 21−24
−667%
|
160−170
+667%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
−713%
|
122
+713%
|
| Valorant | 65−70
−266%
|
230−240
+266%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 30−35
−442%
|
170−180
+442%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 8−9
−650%
|
60−65
+650%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 40−45
−586%
|
280−290
+586%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 6−7
−1383%
|
89
+1383%
|
| Metro Exodus | 5−6
−1260%
|
68
+1260%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 35−40
−386%
|
170−180
+386%
|
| Valorant | 60−65
−332%
|
260−270
+332%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 7−8
−1400%
|
100−110
+1400%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
−1275%
|
55
+1275%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 10−12
−800%
|
99
+800%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 12−14
−838%
|
120−130
+838%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 9−10
−622%
|
65−70
+622%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 9−10
−800%
|
80−85
+800%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 10−12
−918%
|
110−120
+918%
|
4K
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 5−6
−580%
|
30−35
+580%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 0−1 | 21−24 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
−482%
|
99
+482%
|
| Metro Exodus | 0−1 | 35−40 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 2−3
−3500%
|
72
+3500%
|
| Valorant | 27−30
−804%
|
250−260
+804%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 3−4
−2133%
|
65−70
+2133%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 0−1 | 21−24 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3
−1200%
|
26
+1200%
|
| Dota 2 | 18−20
−311%
|
78
+311%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 6−7
−1033%
|
68
+1033%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 8−9
−925%
|
80−85
+925%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 3−4
−600%
|
21−24
+600%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 6−7
−900%
|
60−65
+900%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 6−7
−833%
|
55−60
+833%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 30−35
+0%
|
30−35
+0%
|
This is how HD 6970M and RX 6850M XT compete in popular games:
- RX 6850M XT is 573% faster in 900p
- RX 6850M XT is 165% faster in 1080p
- RX 6850M XT is 750% faster in 1440p
- RX 6850M XT is 714% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 6850M XT is 3500% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- RX 6850M XT is ahead in 60 tests (98%)
- there's a draw in 1 test (2%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.89 | 45.08 |
| Recency | 4 January 2011 | 4 January 2022 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 12 GB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 165 Watt |
HD 6970M has 120% lower power consumption.
RX 6850M XT, on the other hand, has a 665.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, a 1100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 471.4% more advanced lithography process.
The Radeon RX 6850M XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970M in performance tests.
Other comparisons
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