Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire vs RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)

Place in the ranking	481	478
Place by popularity	34	not in top-100
Power efficiency	41.34	no data
Architecture	Vega (2017−2020)	Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Vega	Blackcomb XT
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	7 January 2020 (4 years ago)	6 January 2011 (13 years ago)

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	512	1920
Core clock speed	no data	680 MHz
Boost clock speed	2100 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	no data	2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	no data

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

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	no data	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	no data	2x2 GB
Memory bus width	no data	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	900 MHz
Shared memory	-	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX

12_1

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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 9.05

HD 6970M Crossfire 9.14
+1%

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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 5891
+6.3%

HD 6970M Crossfire 5542

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.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 22428

HD 6970M Crossfire 22667
+1.1%

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:

900p	90−95 −4.4%	94 +4.4%
Full HD	22 −359%	101 +359%
1440p	16 +0%	16−18 +0%
4K	9 +0%	9−10 +0%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

19
+35.7%

14−16

−35.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20 +53.8%	12−14 −53.8%
Battlefield 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +4%	24−27 −4%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Hitman 3	15 −13.3%	16−18 +13.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Metro Exodus	35 +25%	27−30 −25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	33 +32%	24−27 −32%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	36 +20%	30−33 −20%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16 +23.1%	12−14 −23.1%
Battlefield 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10 −40%	14−16 +40%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +4%	24−27 −4%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Hitman 3	15 −13.3%	16−18 +13.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Metro Exodus	25 −12%	27−30 +12%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27 −11.1%	30−33 +11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	14 +7.7%	12−14 −7.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	9 −55.6%	14−16 +55.6%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Hitman 3	14 −21.4%	16−18 +21.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24 −113%	50−55 +113%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	23 −30.4%	30−33 +30.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14 −78.6%	24−27 +78.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12 −400%	60−65 +400%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−19%

24−27
+19%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	11 +120%	5−6 −120%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	5 +25%	4−5 −25%
Far Cry 5	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Hitman 3	10 −20%	12−14 +20%
Horizon Zero Dawn	20 +5.3%	18−20 −5.3%
Metro Exodus	17 +30.8%	12−14 −30.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	16 +60%	10−11 −60%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	59 +1.7%	55−60 −1.7%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−15.4%

14−16
+15.4%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Hitman 3	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Metro Exodus	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	9 +80%	5−6 −80%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10

+0%

9−10

+0%

This is how RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and HD 6970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

HD 6970M Crossfire is 4% faster in 900p
HD 6970M Crossfire is 359% faster in 1080p
A tie in 1440p
A tie in 4K

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

in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is 120% faster.
in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 6970M Crossfire is 400% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) is ahead in 16 tests (22%)
HD 6970M Crossfire is ahead in 14 tests (19%)
there's a draw in 42 tests (58%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.05	9.14
Recency	7 January 2020	6 January 2011
Chip lithography	7 nm	40 nm

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) has an age advantage of 9 years, and a 471.4% more advanced lithography process.

HD 6970M Crossfire, on the other hand, has a 1% higher aggregate performance score.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire.

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