GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB vs Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire

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Radeon HD 7950M Radeon HD 7970M Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire Radeon HD 7970M X2
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GTX 1050 Mobile GTX 1050 3 GB Max-Q GTX 1050 Max-Q GTX 1050 Mobile 3 GB GTX 1050 Ti Mobile GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q GTX 1060 Mobile GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB GTX 1070 Mobile GTX 1070 Max-Q GTX 1070 SLI Mobile GTX 1080 Mobile GTX 1080 Max-Q GTX 1080 SLI Mobile

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7970M Crossfire
2012
200 Watt
15.84
+4.6%

HD 7970M Crossfire outperforms GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by a small 5% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

HD 7970M Crossfire HD 7970M Crossfire
GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking347357
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency5.5013.14
ArchitectureGCN (2012−2015)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameWimbledon XTGP106
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date1 May 2012 (12 years ago)27 June 2017 (7 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 cores25601280
Core clock speed850 MHz1063 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1480 MHz
Number of transistorsno data4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Watt80 Watt
Texture fill rateno data118.4
Floating-point processing powerno data3.789 TFLOPS
ROPsno data48
TMUsno data80

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 sizelargelarge
Interfaceno dataPCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone

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 amountno data6 GB
Memory bus width2x 256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed4800 MHz2002 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data192.2 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 Connectorsno dataNo outputs
G-SYNC support-+

Supported technologies

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

VR Readyno data+

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.112 (12_1)
Shader Modelno data6.4
OpenGLno data4.6
OpenCLno data1.2
Vulkan-1.2.131
CUDA-6.1

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.

HD 7970M Crossfire 15.84
+4.6%
GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 15.14

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 7970M Crossfire 11119
GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 13334
+19.9%

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:

900p132
+10%
120−130
−10%
Full HD102
+25.9%
81
−25.9%
4K27−30
−3.7%
28
+3.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+2.7%
35−40
−2.7%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+3.8%
24−27
−3.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+2.7%
35−40
−2.7%
Battlefield 5 60−65
+3.2%
60−65
−3.2%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+3.8%
24−27
−3.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Far Cry 5 50−55
−37.3%
70
+37.3%
Fortnite 80−85
−58.3%
133
+58.3%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+5%
60−65
−5%
Forza Horizon 5 40−45
+5.1%
35−40
−5.1%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
−69.1%
93
+69.1%
Valorant 120−130
+2.5%
110−120
−2.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+2.7%
35−40
−2.7%
Battlefield 5 60−65
+3.2%
60−65
−3.2%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+3.8%
24−27
−3.8%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 200−210
+3.1%
190−200
−3.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Dota 2 90−95
+3.3%
90−95
−3.3%
Far Cry 5 50−55
−27.5%
65
+27.5%
Fortnite 80−85
−38.1%
116
+38.1%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+5%
60−65
−5%
Forza Horizon 5 40−45
+5.1%
35−40
−5.1%
Grand Theft Auto V 55−60
−47.4%
84
+47.4%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
−56.4%
86
+56.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
−61%
66
+61%
Valorant 120−130
+2.5%
110−120
−2.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 60−65
+3.2%
60−65
−3.2%
Counter-Strike 2 27−30
+3.8%
24−27
−3.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+3.3%
30−33
−3.3%
Dota 2 90−95
+3.3%
90−95
−3.3%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+6.3%
48
−6.3%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+5%
60−65
−5%
Forza Horizon 5 40−45
+5.1%
35−40
−5.1%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 55−60
−14.5%
63
+14.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 40−45
+17.1%
35
−17.1%
Valorant 120−130
+2.5%
110−120
−2.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 80−85
+15.1%
73
−15.1%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+6.3%
16−18
−6.3%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 110−120
+3.7%
100−110
−3.7%
Grand Theft Auto V 24−27
+4.3%
21−24
−4.3%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 140−150
+7.2%
130−140
−7.2%
Valorant 150−160
+3.4%
140−150
−3.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 40−45
+5%
40−45
−5%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+6.5%
30−35
−6.5%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+5.7%
35−40
−5.7%
Forza Horizon 5 27−30
+3.8%
24−27
−3.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+4.3%
21−24
−4.3%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 30−35
+3.1%
30−35
−3.1%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Counter-Strike 2 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Grand Theft Auto V 27−30
−92.9%
54
+92.9%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
−14.3%
24
+14.3%
Valorant 80−85
+5.1%
75−80
−5.1%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 21−24
+4.8%
21−24
−4.8%
Counter-Strike 2 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Dota 2 50−55
+3.9%
50−55
−3.9%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−25%
20
+25%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+4%
24−27
−4%
Forza Horizon 5 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 14−16
+7.7%
13
−7.7%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%

This is how HD 7970M Crossfire and GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB compete in popular games:

  • HD 7970M Crossfire is 10% faster in 900p
  • HD 7970M Crossfire is 26% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is 4% faster in 4K

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

  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7970M Crossfire is 20% faster.
  • in Grand Theft Auto V, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is 93% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 7970M Crossfire is ahead in 53 tests (79%)
  • GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is ahead in 12 tests (18%)
  • there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 15.84 15.14
Recency 1 May 2012 27 June 2017
Chip lithography 28 nm 16 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 200 Watt 80 Watt

HD 7970M Crossfire has a 4.6% higher aggregate performance score.

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 5 years, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 150% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB.

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB
GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB
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Other comparisons

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

HD 7970M Crossfire Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
vs
MX570 A GeForce MX570 A
GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB
vs
GTX 1050 Ti Mobile GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
HD 7970M Crossfire Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
vs
GTX 1650 Max-Q GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
GRID K120Q GRID K120Q
vs
Radeon 780M Radeon 780M
RTX 4090 RTX 4090
vs
GTX 570M 570M
R9 380 Radeon R9 380
vs
GTX 860M GTX 860M
Quadro K620 Quadro K620
vs
ATI 7500 Radeon 7500
HD 8490 OEM Radeon HD 8490 OEM
vs
GT 610 PCIe x1 GT 610 PCIe x1
Iris Graphics 550 Iris Graphics 550
vs
HD 7850M HD 7850M
Radeon 780M Radeon 780M
vs
Iris Xe Graphics G4 48EU Mobile Xe Graphics G4 48EU Mobile
P2000 Mobile Quadro P2000 Mobile
vs
HD Graphics 4400 HD Graphics 4400
R7 Graphics Radeon R7 Graphics
vs
GT 420 OEM GT 420 OEM
RTX 3080 12 GB RTX 3080 12 GB
vs
RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB GA102 3070 Ti 8 GB GA102

Community ratings

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

2.1 19 votes

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4.1 202 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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