HD 6970 vs RX 460

#ad
Buy
VS

Combined performance score

RX 460
10.59
+44.7%

RX 460 outperforms HD 6970 by 45% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking393501
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money1.361.04
ArchitecturePolaris (2016−2019)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code namePolaris 11 / Baffin XTCayman
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date8 August 2016 (7 years old)14 December 2010 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$86 $369
Current price$397 (4.6x MSRP)$189 (0.5x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 460 has 31% better value for money than HD 6970.

Technical specs

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 cores8961536
Core clock speed1090 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1200 MHz880 MHz
Number of transistors3,000 million2,640 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Watt550 Watt
Texture fill rate67.2084.48
Floating-point performance2,150 gflops2,703.4 gflops

Size and 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).

Bus supportno dataPCIe 2.0 x16
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x8PCIe 2.0 x16
Length170 mm267 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsNone1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin

Memory

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 typeGDDR5DDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed7000 MHz1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth112.0 GB/sno data
Shared memory-no data

Video outputs and ports

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, 1x DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
Eyefinityno data1
HDMI++
DisplayPort supportno data-

Technologies

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

AppAccelerationno data-
CrossFireno data1
Endurono data-
FreeSync+no data
HD3Dno data-
PowerTuneno data-
TrueAudiono data-
ZeroCoreno data-

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_0)DirectX® 11
Shader Model6.45.0
OpenGL4.64.4
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan1.2.131no data
Mantleno 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.

RX 460 10.59
+44.7%
HD 6970 7.32

RX 460 outperforms HD 6970 by 45% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

RX 460 4104
+44.7%
HD 6970 2836

RX 460 outperforms HD 6970 by 45% in Passmark.

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%

RX 460 5701
+64.3%
HD 6970 3470

RX 460 outperforms HD 6970 by 64% 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 HD41
+51.9%
27−30
−51.9%
1440p55
+57.1%
35−40
−57.1%
4K20
+66.7%
12−14
−66.7%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 34
+127%
14−16
−127%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+50%
24−27
−50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
+33.3%
21−24
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 40
+135%
16−18
−135%
Far Cry New Dawn 41
+128%
18−20
−128%
Forza Horizon 4 57
+128%
24−27
−128%
Hitman 3 27−30
+50%
18−20
−50%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 34
+162%
12−14
−162%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 34
+113%
16−18
−113%
Watch Dogs: Legion 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 28
+86.7%
14−16
−86.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+50%
24−27
−50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16
−31.3%
21−24
+31.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 37
+118%
16−18
−118%
Far Cry New Dawn 38
+111%
18−20
−111%
Forza Horizon 4 54
+116%
24−27
−116%
Hitman 3 27−30
+50%
18−20
−50%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%
Metro Exodus 21
+90.9%
10−12
−90.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2 17
+30.8%
12−14
−30.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 28
+75%
16−18
−75%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 37
+147%
14−16
−147%
Watch Dogs: Legion 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 17
+13.3%
14−16
−13.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+50%
24−27
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 34
+100%
16−18
−100%
Far Cry New Dawn 35
+94.4%
18−20
−94.4%
Forza Horizon 4 41
+64%
24−27
−64%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 23
+53.3%
14−16
−53.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%
Hitman 3 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
+23.1%
12−14
−23.1%
Metro Exodus 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+40%
10−11
−40%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+250%
2−3
−250%
Battlefield 5 18−20
+138%
8−9
−138%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+54.5%
10−12
−54.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
+80%
10−11
−80%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
+58.3%
12−14
−58.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Hitman 3 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Metro Exodus 4−5
+300%
1−2
−300%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12
+200%
4−5
−200%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+125%
4−5
−125%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 11
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 12
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%

This is how RX 460 and HD 6970 compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • RX 460 is 51.9% faster than HD 6970

1440p resolution:

  • RX 460 is 57.1% faster than HD 6970

4K resolution:

  • RX 460 is 66.7% faster than HD 6970

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

  • in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 460 is 300% faster than the HD 6970.
  • in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 6970 is 31.3% faster than the RX 460.

All in all, in popular games:

  • RX 460 is ahead in 66 tests (97%)
  • HD 6970 is ahead in 1 test (1%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 10.59 7.32
Recency 8 August 2016 14 December 2010
Cost $86 $369
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 14 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 550 Watt

The Radeon RX 460 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970 in performance tests.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


AMD Radeon RX 460
Radeon RX 460
AMD Radeon HD 6970
Radeon HD 6970

Similar GPU comparisons

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

User ratings: view and submit

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


3.9 879 votes

Rate AMD Radeon RX 460 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.7 148 votes

Rate AMD Radeon HD 6970 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.