GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB vs Radeon HD 8970M

Place in the ranking	454	206
Place by popularity	not in top-100	20
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	74.97
Power efficiency	6.95	27.34
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Neptune	GA107
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	14 May 2013 (11 years ago)	2 February 2024 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$179

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 cores	1280	2304
Core clock speed	850 MHz	1042 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	1470 MHz
Number of transistors	2,800 million	8,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	70 Watt
Texture fill rate	72.00	105.8
Floating-point processing power	2.304 TFLOPS	6.774 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	80	72
Tensor Cores	no data	72
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	18

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 size	large	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Length	no data	242 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	None

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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	96 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	168.0 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	No outputs	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.1	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.3
CUDA	-	8.6

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 8970M 9.62

RTX 3050 6 GB 26.52
+176%

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.

HD 8970M 3876

RTX 3050 6 GB 10682
+176%

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

−175%

140−150
+175%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

no data

1.28

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 −173%	90−95 +173%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −175%	110−120 +175%
Forza Horizon 5	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −159%	70−75 +159%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 −159%	70−75 +159%
Valorant	35−40 −156%	100−105 +156%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 −173%	90−95 +173%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Dota 2	26 −169%	70−75 +169%
Far Cry 5	40−45 −168%	110−120 +168%
Fortnite	55−60 −171%	160−170 +171%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −175%	110−120 +175%
Forza Horizon 5	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
Grand Theft Auto V	39 −156%	100−105 +156%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −159%	70−75 +159%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	75−80 −169%	210−220 +169%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 −159%	70−75 +159%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 −167%	80−85 +167%
Valorant	35−40 −156%	100−105 +156%
World of Tanks	148 −170%	400−450 +170%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 −173%	90−95 +173%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 −165%	45−50 +165%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Dota 2	35−40 −164%	95−100 +164%
Far Cry 5	40−45 −168%	110−120 +168%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −175%	110−120 +175%
Forza Horizon 5	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	75−80 −169%	210−220 +169%
Valorant	35−40 −156%	100−105 +156%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	12−14 −169%	35−40 +169%
Grand Theft Auto V	14−16 −150%	35−40 +150%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 −162%	170−180 +162%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
World of Tanks	70−75 −164%	190−200 +164%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 −163%	50−55 +163%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −163%	21−24 +163%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −173%	60−65 +173%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −161%	60−65 +161%
Forza Horizon 5	14−16 −167%	40−45 +167%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −163%	50−55 +163%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −169%	35−40 +169%
Valorant	24−27 −160%	65−70 +160%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%
Dota 2	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Grand Theft Auto V	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Metro Exodus	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	27−30 −159%	75−80 +159%
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7 −167%	16−18 +167%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −167%	24−27 +167%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −167%	8−9 +167%
Dota 2	20−22 −175%	55−60 +175%
Far Cry 5	12−14 −150%	30−33 +150%
Fortnite	10−12 −173%	30−33 +173%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −169%	35−40 +169%
Forza Horizon 5	7−8 −157%	18−20 +157%
Valorant	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%

This is how HD 8970M and RTX 3050 6 GB compete in popular games:

RTX 3050 6 GB is 175% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.62	26.52
Recency	14 May 2013	2 February 2024
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	70 Watt

RTX 3050 6 GB has a 175.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 42.9% lower power consumption.

The GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 8970M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon HD 8970M is a notebook card while GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB is a desktop one.

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