Radeon RX 6800 XT vs HD 8970M

Place in the ranking	449	28
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	50.57
Power efficiency	6.90	14.86
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Neptune	Navi 21
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	14 May 2013 (11 years ago)	28 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$649

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	4608
Core clock speed	850 MHz	1825 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	2250 MHz
Number of transistors	2,800 million	26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	72.00	648.0
Floating-point processing power	2.304 TFLOPS	20.74 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	128
TMUs	80	288
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	72

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 x16
Length	no data	267 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	2x 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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	153.6 GB/s	512.0 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, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
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	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	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.

HD 8970M 10.06

RX 6800 XT 64.96
+546%

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

RX 6800 XT 25020
+546%

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 8970M 6818

RX 6800 XT 52046
+663%

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 8970M 18667

RX 6800 XT 96516
+417%

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.

HD 8970M 5039

RX 6800 XT 49735
+887%

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.

HD 8970M 31027

RX 6800 XT 193053
+522%

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	51 −306%	207 +306%
1440p	21−24 −581%	143 +581%
4K	14−16 −564%	93 +564%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	3.14
1440p	no data	4.54
4K	no data	6.98

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

16−18

−681%

120−130
+681%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −458%	130−140 +458%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 −953%	158 +953%
Battlefield 5	30−35 −565%	200−210 +565%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 −480%	110−120 +480%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 −681%	120−130 +681%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −400%	110−120 +400%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −461%	150−160 +461%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −248%	230−240 +248%
Hitman 3	18−20 −595%	132 +595%
Horizon Zero Dawn	55−60 −336%	240−250 +336%
Metro Exodus	30−35 −350%	144 +350%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 −336%	122 +336%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 −712%	260−270 +712%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −390%	309 +390%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −458%	130−140 +458%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 −800%	135 +800%
Battlefield 5	30−35 −565%	200−210 +565%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 −480%	110−120 +480%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 −681%	120−130 +681%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −400%	110−120 +400%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −461%	150−160 +461%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −248%	230−240 +248%
Hitman 3	18−20 −616%	136 +616%
Horizon Zero Dawn	55−60 −336%	240−250 +336%
Metro Exodus	30−35 −350%	144 +350%
Red Dead Redemption 2	27−30 −325%	110−120 +325%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 −976%	355 +976%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	82 −67.1%	130−140 +67.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −390%	309 +390%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −458%	130−140 +458%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14−16 −687%	118 +687%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	20−22 −480%	110−120 +480%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 −681%	120−130 +681%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −400%	110−120 +400%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −248%	230−240 +248%
Hitman 3	18−20 −542%	122 +542%
Horizon Zero Dawn	55−60 −407%	279 +407%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	30−35 −815%	302 +815%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18 −789%	160 +789%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −77.8%	112 +77.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

27−30

−329%

120
+329%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	20−22 −645%	140−150 +645%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 −580%	100−110 +580%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −650%	75−80 +650%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7 −1533%	98 +1533%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−11 −660%	75−80 +660%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −1220%	65−70 +1220%
Far Cry 5	12−14 −533%	75−80 +533%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 −502%	270−280 +502%
Hitman 3	12−14 −777%	114 +777%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −924%	215 +924%
Metro Exodus	14−16 −647%	112 +647%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −1608%	222 +1608%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11 −1040%	110−120 +1040%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 −391%	314 +391%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

−582%

116
+582%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	9−10 −767%	75−80 +767%
Far Cry New Dawn	7−8 −814%	60−65 +814%
Hitman 3	6−7 −833%	55−60 +833%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −421%	220−230 +421%
Metro Exodus	8−9 −1475%	126 +1475%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 −1275%	110 +1275%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 −767%	50−55 +767%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 −1525%	65 +1525%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	5−6 −840%	45−50 +840%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −3000%	30−35 +3000%
Far Cry 5	5−6 −800%	45−50 +800%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 −715%	100−110 +715%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 −1800%	133 +1800%
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5 −1125%	49 +1125%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−11

−660%

76
+660%

This is how HD 8970M and RX 6800 XT compete in popular games:

RX 6800 XT is 306% faster in 1080p
RX 6800 XT is 581% faster in 1440p
RX 6800 XT is 564% 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 RX 6800 XT is 3000% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 6800 XT surpassed HD 8970M in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	10.06	64.96
Recency	14 May 2013	28 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	300 Watt

HD 8970M has 200% lower power consumption.

RX 6800 XT, on the other hand, has a 545.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 300% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6800 XT 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 Radeon RX 6800 XT is a desktop one.

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