Radeon HD 6870 vs HD 7970
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon HD 6870, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
HD 7970 outperforms HD 6870 by a whopping 137% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 378 | 595 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.38 | 0.93 |
| Power efficiency | 3.78 | 2.65 |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2011−2020) | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) |
| GPU code name | Tahiti | Barts |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Design | reference | reference |
| Release date | 22 December 2011 (12 years ago) | 21 October 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $549 | $239 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
HD 7970 has 156% better value for money than HD 6870.
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 | 2048 | 1120 |
| Boost clock speed | 925 MHz | 900 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 4,313 million | 1,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 151 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 118.4 | 50.40 |
| Floating-point processing power | 3.789 TFLOPS | 2.016 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 |
| TMUs | 128 | 56 |
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 2.1 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 274 mm | 220 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 6-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 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | 384 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1375 MHz | 1050 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 264 GB/s | 134.4 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 | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | + | + |
| HDMI | + | + |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| CrossFire | + | + |
| FreeSync | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | DirectX® 11 | DirectX® 11 |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.2 |
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.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
3DMark Cloud Gate GPU
Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.
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 | 105
+72.1%
| 61
−72.1%
|
| Full HD | 92
+48.4%
| 62
−48.4%
|
| 1200p | 90−95
+131%
| 39
−131%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 5.97 | 3.85 |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+133%
|
9−10
−133%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+107%
|
14−16
−107%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+214%
|
7−8
−214%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 40−45
+175%
|
16−18
−175%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
+125%
|
12−14
−125%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+133%
|
9−10
−133%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+146%
|
12−14
−146%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
+131%
|
16−18
−131%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+141%
|
35−40
−141%
|
| Hitman 3 | 24−27
+117%
|
12−14
−117%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 70−75
+94.4%
|
35−40
−94.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+207%
|
14−16
−207%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+138%
|
16−18
−138%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 40−45
+120%
|
20−22
−120%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 70−75
+51%
|
45−50
−51%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+107%
|
14−16
−107%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+214%
|
7−8
−214%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 40−45
+175%
|
16−18
−175%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
+125%
|
12−14
−125%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+133%
|
9−10
−133%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+146%
|
12−14
−146%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
+131%
|
16−18
−131%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+141%
|
35−40
−141%
|
| Hitman 3 | 24−27
+117%
|
12−14
−117%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 70−75
+94.4%
|
35−40
−94.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+207%
|
14−16
−207%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+138%
|
16−18
−138%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 40−45
+120%
|
20−22
−120%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
+73.7%
|
18−20
−73.7%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 70−75
+51%
|
45−50
−51%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 30−35
+107%
|
14−16
−107%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+214%
|
7−8
−214%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 27−30
+125%
|
12−14
−125%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 21−24
+133%
|
9−10
−133%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+146%
|
12−14
−146%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+141%
|
35−40
−141%
|
| Hitman 3 | 24−27
+117%
|
12−14
−117%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 70−75
+94.4%
|
35−40
−94.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 40−45
+120%
|
20−22
−120%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30−35
+73.7%
|
18−20
−73.7%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 70−75
+51%
|
45−50
−51%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+138%
|
16−18
−138%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 24−27
+136%
|
10−12
−136%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 21−24
+133%
|
9−10
−133%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 14−16
+180%
|
5−6
−180%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−11
+900%
|
1−2
−900%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 14−16
+180%
|
5−6
−180%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+133%
|
3−4
−133%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 16−18
+129%
|
7−8
−129%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 65−70
+331%
|
16−18
−331%
|
| Hitman 3 | 16−18
+60%
|
10−11
−60%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 27−30
+115%
|
12−14
−115%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
+475%
|
4−5
−475%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 21−24
+2200%
|
1−2
−2200%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 14−16
+180%
|
5−6
−180%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 80−85
+133%
|
35−40
−133%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 21−24
+120%
|
10−11
−120%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
+225%
|
4−5
−225%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 10−11
+150%
|
4−5
−150%
|
| Hitman 3 | 9−10
+350%
|
2−3
−350%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 65−70
+408%
|
12−14
−408%
|
| Metro Exodus | 12−14
+333%
|
3−4
−333%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 12−14
+500%
|
2−3
−500%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8−9
+167%
|
3−4
−167%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 6−7
+200%
|
2−3
−200%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 7−8
+250%
|
2−3
−250%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 7−8
+133%
|
3−4
−133%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18−20
+260%
|
5−6
−260%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 12−14
+140%
|
5−6
−140%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 5−6
+150%
|
2−3
−150%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 12−14
+100%
|
6−7
−100%
|
This is how HD 7970 and HD 6870 compete in popular games:
- HD 7970 is 72% faster in 900p
- HD 7970 is 48% faster in 1080p
- HD 7970 is 131% faster in 1200p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970 is 2200% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, HD 7970 surpassed HD 6870 in all 70 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 13.60 | 5.75 |
| Recency | 22 December 2011 | 21 October 2010 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 6 GB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 151 Watt |
HD 7970 has a 136.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.
HD 6870, on the other hand, has 98.7% lower power consumption.
The Radeon HD 7970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6870 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
