Radeon HD 6950M vs RX 470

Place in the ranking	267	726
Place by popularity	42	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	17.17	no data
Power efficiency	12.08	4.93
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Ellesmere	Blackcomb
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	4 August 2016 (8 years ago)	4 January 2011 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$179	no data

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	2048	960
Core clock speed	926 MHz	580 MHz
Boost clock speed	1206 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,700 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	50 Watt
Texture fill rate	154.4	27.84
Floating-point processing power	4.94 TFLOPS	1.114 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	128	48

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	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	MXM-B (3.0)
Length	241 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	no data

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1650 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	211.2 GB/s	115.2 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 Connectors	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	No outputs
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.0
OpenGL	4.6	4.4
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/A

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.

RX 470 20.10
+488%

HD 6950M 3.42

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.

RX 470 17625
+619%

HD 6950M 2452

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	71 +492%	12−14 −492%
1440p	39 +550%	6−7 −550%
4K	38 +533%	6−7 −533%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.52	no data
1440p	4.59	no data
4K	4.71	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	35−40 +322%	9−10 −322%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	65−70 +560%	10−11 −560%
Counter-Strike 2	35−40 +322%	9−10 −322%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%
Forza Horizon 4	105 +556%	16−18 −556%
Forza Horizon 5	55−60 +1020%	5−6 −1020%
Metro Exodus	74 +957%	7−8 −957%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
Valorant	85−90 +1114%	7−8 −1114%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	65−70 +560%	10−11 −560%
Counter-Strike 2	35−40 +322%	9−10 −322%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%
Dota 2	48 +336%	10−12 −336%
Far Cry 5	52 +174%	18−20 −174%
Fortnite	110−120 +450%	20−22 −450%
Forza Horizon 4	88 +450%	16−18 −450%
Forza Horizon 5	55−60 +1020%	5−6 −1020%
Grand Theft Auto V	73 +564%	10−12 −564%
Metro Exodus	34 +386%	7−8 −386%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	71 +122%	30−35 −122%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 +300%	12−14 −300%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	65−70 +415%	12−14 −415%
Valorant	85−90 +1114%	7−8 −1114%
World of Tanks	230−240 +284%	60−65 −284%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	65−70 +560%	10−11 −560%
Counter-Strike 2	35−40 +322%	9−10 −322%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%
Dota 2	70−75 +573%	10−12 −573%
Far Cry 5	65−70 +263%	18−20 −263%
Forza Horizon 4	67 +319%	16−18 −319%
Forza Horizon 5	55−60 +1020%	5−6 −1020%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	59 +84.4%	30−35 −84.4%
Valorant	85−90 +1114%	7−8 −1114%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	33 +1550%	2−3 −1550%
Grand Theft Auto V	33 +1000%	3−4 −1000%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	110−120 +376%	24−27 −376%
Red Dead Redemption 2	18−20 +850%	2−3 −850%
World of Tanks	140−150 +468%	24−27 −468%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 +975%	4−5 −975%
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18 +325%	4−5 −325%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +625%	8−9 −625%
Forza Horizon 4	51 +1175%	4−5 −1175%
Forza Horizon 5	30−35 +725%	4−5 −725%
Metro Exodus	46 +557%	7−8 −557%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 +400%	6−7 −400%
Valorant	55−60 +400%	10−12 −400%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Dota 2	33 +106%	16−18 −106%
Grand Theft Auto V	33 +106%	16−18 −106%
Metro Exodus	16−18 +700%	2−3 −700%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	62 +520%	10−11 −520%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	33 +106%	16−18 −106%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +600%	3−4 −600%
Counter-Strike 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +250%	2−3 −250%
Dota 2	86 +438%	16−18 −438%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +575%	4−5 −575%
Fortnite	25 +1150%	2−3 −1150%
Forza Horizon 4	25 +1150%	2−3 −1150%
Forza Horizon 5	16−18 +1600%	1−2 −1600%
Valorant	24−27 +767%	3−4 −767%

This is how RX 470 and HD 6950M compete in popular games:

RX 470 is 492% faster in 1080p
RX 470 is 550% faster in 1440p
RX 470 is 533% faster in 4K

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

in Forza Horizon 5, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 470 is 1600% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 470 is ahead in 59 tests (97%)
there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	20.10	3.42
Recency	4 August 2016	4 January 2011
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	50 Watt

RX 470 has a 487.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 185.7% more advanced lithography process.

HD 6950M, on the other hand, has 140% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 470 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6950M in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon RX 470 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6950M is a notebook one.

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