AMD Radeon HD 6970M vs AMD Radeon HD 6870

VS
Performance
Radeon HD 6970M
2,818.53% of 104,598
Radeon HD 687050% better
4,2184% of 104,598

The Radeon HD 6870 has 50% better performance than the Radeon HD 6970M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 6970M
No data available
Radeon HD 6870
17.6511% of 161.45

The Radeon HD 6870 has 11% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

Shop Radeon HD 6970M
Shop Radeon HD 6870
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Summary

#

About the AMD Radeon HD 6970M GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 6970M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q1 2011. It is built on the TeraScale 2 GPU microarchitecture (codename Blackcomb) and is manufactured on a 40 nm process.

Memory

The HD 6970M has 1,024 MB of GDDR5 memory, with a 900 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 115.2 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The HD 6970M includes 960 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 680 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 48 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 75 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The HD 6970M has the 310th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 2.69% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon HD 6870 GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 6870 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q4 2010 with a MSRP of $239. It is built on the TeraScale 2 GPU microarchitecture (codename Barts) and is manufactured on a 40 nm process.

Memory

The HD 6870 has 1,024 MB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,050 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 134.4 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The HD 6870 includes 1,120 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 900 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 56 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The HD 6870 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.3a, mini-DisplayPort 1.1 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 151 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The HD 6870 has the 269th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 4.03% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 4,218 score and $239 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 17.65. This is the 91st best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureTeraScale 2TeraScale 2
Market SegmentMobileDesktop
Release DateQ1 2011Q4 2010
Launch Price (MSRP)--$239
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

#

Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS: GO

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS: GO
Radeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
Low - 768p
--
--
Medium - 768p
--
--
High - 768p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
--
189 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD
--
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6970M orRadeon HD 6870
GPUFrames Per Second
Radeon R9 FURY268+42%
GeForce GTX 1050250+32%
GeForce GTX 680224+19%
Radeon HD 7970212.2+12%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti191.6+1%
Radeon HD 6870189
Radeon HD 7770 (GHz Edition)128.2-32%
Radeon HD 645029.4-84%

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6970M orRadeon HD 6870

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon HD 6970M
2,818.53% of 104,598
Radeon HD 687050% better
4,2184% of 104,598

The Radeon HD 6870 has 50% better performance than the Radeon HD 6970M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon HD 6970M is ranked 310th with a score of 2,818.5, and the Radeon HD 6870 is ranked 269th with a score of 4,218.

Performance per dollar
Radeon HD 6970M
No data available
Radeon HD 6870
17.6511% of 161.45

The Radeon HD 6870 has 27% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon HD 6870's 17.65 performance per dollar ranks it 0th among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6970M or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GT 10304,727.5+68%
GeForce GTX 4704,342+54%
Radeon HD 68704,218+50%
Radeon HD 7770 (GHz Edition)3,098+10%
GeForce MX1302,875+2%
Radeon 610M2,863+2%
Radeon HD 6970M2,818.5
GeForce GT 755M2,800.5-1%
GeForce GTX 485M2,709-4%
Radeon HD 6450623-78%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon HD 6970M orRadeon HD 6870

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
--
26,437
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
--
3,141
3DMark 11 Performance Score
3,054
4,547.5
(+48.9%)
PassMark G3D Mark
2,270
(+2.44%)
2,216
PassMark G2D Mark
651
(+58.01%)
412
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

#

Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
CodenameBlackcombBarts
ArchitectureTeraScale 2TeraScale 2
Process Size40 nm40 nm
Transistors1,700 million1,700 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
Memory Size1,024 MB1,024 MB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth115.2 Gb/s134.4 Gb/s
Memory Clock900 MHz1,050 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit256 bit
L1 Cache8 KB8 KB
L2 Cache512 KB512 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
Slots--2 slots
Bus InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 2.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)75 W151 W
Suggested PSU--450 W
Power Connectors--2x 6-pin
OutputsDevice DependentDVI, HDMI 1.3a, mini-DisplayPort 1.1

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
Stream Processors (SP)9601,120
Compute Units (CU)1214
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)4856
Render Output Units (ROP)3232
Core Clock Speed680 MHz900 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
Pixel Fill Rate21.76 GPixel/s28.8 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate32.64 GTexel/s50.4 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance1,306 GFLOPS2.02 TFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon HD 6970MRadeon HD 6870
DirectX11.2 (11_0)11.2 (11_0)
OpenCL1.21.2
OpenGL4.44.4
Shader Model5.05.0

Check out these comparisons for similar GPUs:

Looking for alternatives? Check out these similar GPUs:

* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.