HD 7870 vs HD 6970

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Combined performance score

HD 6970
7.32

HD 7870 outperforms HD 6970 by 63% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking501371
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money1.042.70
ArchitectureTerascale 2 (2009−2015)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameCaymanPitcairn XT
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date14 December 2010 (13 years old)5 March 2012 (12 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$369 $412.83
Current price$189 (0.5x MSRP)$200 (0.5x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7870 has 160% better value for money than HD 6970.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores15361280
Core clock speedno data1000 MHz
Boost clock speed880 MHzno data
Number of transistors2,640 million2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)550 Watt175 Watt
Texture fill rate84.4880.00
Floating-point performance2,703.4 gflopsno data

Size and 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 supportPCIe 2.0 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length267 mm241 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin2x 6-pin

Memory

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 typeDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz4800 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data153.6 GB/s
Shared memoryno data-

Video outputs and ports

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-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinity1+
HDMI++
DisplayPort support-no data

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

AppAcceleration-no data
CrossFire1no data
Enduro-no data
HD3D-no data
PowerTune-no data
TrueAudio-no data
ZeroCore-no data

API support

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectXDirectX® 1112 (11_1)
Shader Model5.05.1
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkanno data1.2.131
Mantle-no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 7.32
HD 7870 11.96
+63.4%

HD 7870 outperforms HD 6970 by 63% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

HD 6970 2836
HD 7870 4634
+63.4%

HD 7870 outperforms HD 6970 by 63% in Passmark.

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:

900p50−55
−68%
84
+68%
Full HD40−45
−65%
66
+65%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−66.7%
24−27
+66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
−90%
18−20
+90%
Battlefield 5 24−27
−70.8%
40−45
+70.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
−47.6%
30−35
+47.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−82.4%
30−35
+82.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
−77.8%
30−35
+77.8%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
−68%
40−45
+68%
Hitman 3 18−20
−77.8%
30−35
+77.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−66.7%
24−27
+66.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−53.8%
20−22
+53.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16−18
−56.3%
24−27
+56.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 12−14
−83.3%
21−24
+83.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−66.7%
24−27
+66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
−90%
18−20
+90%
Battlefield 5 24−27
−70.8%
40−45
+70.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
−47.6%
30−35
+47.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−82.4%
30−35
+82.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
−77.8%
30−35
+77.8%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
−68%
40−45
+68%
Hitman 3 18−20
−77.8%
30−35
+77.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−66.7%
24−27
+66.7%
Metro Exodus 10−12
−63.6%
18−20
+63.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−53.8%
20−22
+53.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16−18
−56.3%
24−27
+56.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
−140%
36
+140%
Watch Dogs: Legion 12−14
−83.3%
21−24
+83.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−66.7%
24−27
+66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
−90%
18−20
+90%
Battlefield 5 24−27
−70.8%
40−45
+70.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−82.4%
30−35
+82.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
−77.8%
30−35
+77.8%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
−68%
40−45
+68%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
−33.3%
20
+33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 12−14
−83.3%
21−24
+83.3%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
−54.5%
16−18
+54.5%
Hitman 3 12−14
−58.3%
18−20
+58.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
−38.5%
18−20
+38.5%
Metro Exodus 5−6
−100%
10−11
+100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
−80%
9−10
+80%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
−50%
14−16
+50%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
−100%
12−14
+100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
−300%
8−9
+300%
Battlefield 5 8−9
−188%
21−24
+188%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
−100%
6−7
+100%
Far Cry 5 10−12
−72.7%
18−20
+72.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
−110%
21−24
+110%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
−91.7%
21−24
+91.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
−71.4%
12−14
+71.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−200%
6−7
+200%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6
−60%
8−9
+60%
Hitman 3 7−8
−57.1%
10−12
+57.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Metro Exodus 1−2
−400%
5−6
+400%
Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 3−4
−133%
7−8
+133%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5
−150%
10−11
+150%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
−75%
7−8
+75%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
−66.7%
5−6
+66.7%
Battlefield 5 4−5
−175%
10−12
+175%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Far Cry 5 6−7
−66.7%
10−11
+66.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
−33.3%
12−14
+33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
−100%
16−18
+100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−100%
4−5
+100%

This is how HD 6970 and HD 7870 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 7870 is 68% faster than HD 6970

1080p resolution:

  • HD 7870 is 65% faster than HD 6970

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

  • in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7870 is 400% faster than the HD 6970.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7870 surpassed HD 6970 in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 7.32 11.96
Recency 14 December 2010 5 March 2012
Cost $369 $412.83
Chip lithography 40 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 550 Watt 175 Watt

The Radeon HD 7870 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.

User ratings

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AMD Radeon HD 6970
Radeon HD 6970
AMD Radeon HD 7870
Radeon HD 7870

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