Radeon HD 6970 vs HD 8970M Crossfire
Aggregate performance score
HD 8970M Crossfire outperforms HD 6970 by a whopping 160% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 273 | 506 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 34.15 | 1.08 |
| Architecture | GCN (2011−2017) | Terascale 2 (2009−2015) |
| GPU code name | Neptune CF | Cayman |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Design | no data | reference |
| Release date | 1 May 2012 (12 years ago) | 14 December 2010 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $369 |
| Current price | $170 | $189 (0.5x MSRP) |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
HD 8970M Crossfire has 3062% better value for money than HD 6970.
Detailed specifications
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 cores | 2560 | 1536 |
| Core clock speed | 850 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 900 MHz | 880 MHz |
| Number of transistors | no data | 2,640 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 550 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 84.48 |
| Floating-point performance | no data | 2,703.4 gflops |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire and Radeon HD 6970 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Laptop size | large | no data |
| Bus support | no data | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Interface | no data | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 267 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 | DDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | no data | 2 GB |
| Memory bus width | 2x 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4800 MHz | 1375 MHz |
| Shared memory | - | no data |
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 data | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort |
| Eyefinity | no data | 1 |
| HDMI | no data | + |
| DisplayPort support | no data | - |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| AppAcceleration | no data | - |
| CrossFire | no data | 1 |
| Enduro | no data | - |
| HD3D | no data | - |
| PowerTune | no data | - |
| TrueAudio | no data | - |
| ZeroCore | no data | - |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.1 | DirectX® 11 |
| Shader Model | no data | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | no data | 1.2 |
| 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 8970M Crossfire outperforms HD 6970 by 160% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
HD 8970M Crossfire outperforms HD 6970 by 198% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.
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:
| Full HD | 70
+192%
| 24−27
−192%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
+150%
|
12−14
−150%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
+153%
|
14−16
−153%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−35
+256%
|
9−10
−256%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 60−65
+186%
|
21−24
−186%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 35−40
+160%
|
14−16
−160%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
+150%
|
12−14
−150%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+159%
|
16−18
−159%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 50−55
+143%
|
21−24
−143%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+142%
|
35−40
−142%
|
| Hitman 3 | 35−40
+171%
|
14−16
−171%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 75−80
+127%
|
30−35
−127%
|
| Metro Exodus | 60−65
+220%
|
20−22
−220%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 50−55
+160%
|
20−22
−160%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 60−65
+170%
|
21−24
−170%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+100%
|
27−30
−100%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
+153%
|
14−16
−153%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−35
+256%
|
9−10
−256%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 60−65
+186%
|
21−24
−186%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 35−40
+160%
|
14−16
−160%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
+150%
|
12−14
−150%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+159%
|
16−18
−159%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 50−55
+143%
|
21−24
−143%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+142%
|
35−40
−142%
|
| Hitman 3 | 35−40
+171%
|
14−16
−171%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 75−80
+127%
|
30−35
−127%
|
| Metro Exodus | 60−65
+220%
|
20−22
−220%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 50−55
+160%
|
20−22
−160%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 60−65
+170%
|
21−24
−170%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 40−45
+173%
|
14−16
−173%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+100%
|
27−30
−100%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
+153%
|
14−16
−153%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−35
+256%
|
9−10
−256%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 35−40
+160%
|
14−16
−160%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30−33
+150%
|
12−14
−150%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 40−45
+159%
|
16−18
−159%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+142%
|
35−40
−142%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 75−80
+127%
|
30−35
−127%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 60−65
+170%
|
21−24
−170%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 40−45
+173%
|
14−16
−173%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+100%
|
27−30
−100%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 50−55
+160%
|
20−22
−160%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+164%
|
14−16
−164%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
+245%
|
10−12
−245%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 18−20
+171%
|
7−8
−171%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 16−18
+750%
|
2−3
−750%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 24−27
+167%
|
9−10
−167%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−12
+267%
|
3−4
−267%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−35
+191%
|
10−12
−191%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 35−40
+185%
|
12−14
−185%
|
| Hitman 3 | 21−24
+100%
|
10−12
−100%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 35−40
+144%
|
16−18
−144%
|
| Metro Exodus | 35−40
+338%
|
8−9
−338%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 35−40
+533%
|
6−7
−533%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 21−24
+267%
|
6−7
−267%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 12−14
+333%
|
3−4
−333%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 30−35
+138%
|
12−14
−138%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 18−20
+217%
|
6−7
−217%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 14−16
+180%
|
5−6
−180%
|
| Hitman 3 | 14−16
+367%
|
3−4
−367%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 21−24
+200%
|
7−8
−200%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 12−14
+300%
|
3−4
−300%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 18−20
+375%
|
4−5
−375%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 10−12
+175%
|
4−5
−175%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 10−11
+233%
|
3−4
−233%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 10−11
+233%
|
3−4
−233%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4−5
+300%
|
1−2
−300%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 10−11
+150%
|
4−5
−150%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
+225%
|
8−9
−225%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 21−24
+200%
|
7−8
−200%
|
| Metro Exodus | 18−20
+125%
|
8−9
−125%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 8−9
+300%
|
2−3
−300%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 16−18
+143%
|
7−8
−143%
|
This is how HD 8970M Crossfire and HD 6970 compete in popular games:
- HD 8970M Crossfire is 192% faster in 1080p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 8970M Crossfire is 750% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Without exception, HD 8970M Crossfire surpassed HD 6970 in all 72 of our tests.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 19.08 | 7.34 |
| Recency | 1 May 2012 | 14 December 2010 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 200 Watt | 550 Watt |
The Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970 in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire is a notebook card while Radeon HD 6970 is a desktop one.
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.
