Radeon HD 6950M vs HD 7970

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7970 with Radeon HD 6950M, including specs and performance data.

HD 7970
2011
6 GB GDDR5, 300 Watt
13.61
+283%

HD 7970 outperforms HD 6950M by a whopping 283% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking379720
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.39no data
ArchitectureGCN (2011−2017)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameTahiti XTBlackcomb Pro
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date22 December 2011 (12 years ago)6 January 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$549 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 cores2048960
Core clock speedno data580 MHz
Boost clock speed925 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 million1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)300 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rate118.427.84
Floating-point processing power3.789 gflops1.114 gflops
ROPs3232
TMUs12848

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 sizeno datalarge
Bus supportPCIe 2.1 x16no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length274 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinno 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount6 GB2 GB
Memory bus width384 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth264 GB/s115.2 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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortNo outputs
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 graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectXDirectX® 1111.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.0
OpenGL4.64.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan-N/A

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 7970 13.61
+283%
HD 6950M 3.55

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.

HD 7970 24757
+145%
HD 6950M 10122

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.

HD 7970 7770
+217%
HD 6950M 2452

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:

900p105
+289%
27−30
−289%
Full HD99
+313%
24−27
−313%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+250%
6−7
−250%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+1000%
2−3
−1000%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+529%
7−8
−529%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+238%
8−9
−238%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+250%
6−7
−250%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+357%
7−8
−357%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
+270%
10−11
−270%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
+345%
20−22
−345%
Hitman 3 24−27
+189%
9−10
−189%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Metro Exodus 45−50
+667%
6−7
−667%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
+322%
9−10
−322%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
+80.5%
40−45
−80.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+1000%
2−3
−1000%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+529%
7−8
−529%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+238%
8−9
−238%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+250%
6−7
−250%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+357%
7−8
−357%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
+270%
10−11
−270%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
+345%
20−22
−345%
Hitman 3 24−27
+189%
9−10
−189%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Metro Exodus 45−50
+667%
6−7
−667%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
+322%
9−10
−322%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+120%
14−16
−120%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
+80.5%
40−45
−80.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+210%
10−11
−210%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
+1000%
2−3
−1000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+238%
8−9
−238%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+250%
6−7
−250%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+357%
7−8
−357%
Forza Horizon 4 85−90
+345%
20−22
−345%
Hitman 3 24−27
+189%
9−10
−189%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
+180%
24−27
−180%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+120%
14−16
−120%
Watch Dogs: Legion 70−75
+80.5%
40−45
−80.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
+322%
9−10
−322%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+333%
6−7
−333%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+320%
5−6
−320%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
+400%
2−3
−400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+300%
4−5
−300%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+6800%
1−2
−6800%
Hitman 3 16−18
+100%
8−9
−100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+211%
9−10
−211%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+360%
5−6
−360%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 21−24
+360%
5−6
−360%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+367%
3−4
−367%
Watch Dogs: Legion 80−85
+282%
21−24
−282%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+214%
7−8
−214%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
+550%
2−3
−550%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
+400%
2−3
−400%
Hitman 3 9−10
+350%
2−3
−350%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
+313%
16−18
−313%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+300%
3−4
−300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
+300%
2−3
−300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+500%
1−2
−500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3 0−1
Far Cry 5 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+1700%
1−2
−1700%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+300%
3−4
−300%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
+400%
1−2
−400%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+200%
4−5
−200%

This is how HD 7970 and HD 6950M compete in popular games:

  • HD 7970 is 289% faster in 900p
  • HD 7970 is 313% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970 is 6800% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, HD 7970 surpassed HD 6950M in all 63 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 13.61 3.55
Recency 22 December 2011 6 January 2011
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt 50 Watt

HD 7970 has a 283.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 months, a 200% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

HD 6950M, on the other hand, has 500% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 7970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6950M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 7970 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6950M is a notebook one.


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

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AMD Radeon HD 7970
Radeon HD 7970
AMD Radeon HD 6950M
Radeon HD 6950M

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 296 votes

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5 1 vote

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Questions & comments

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