GeForce GTX 580M vs Radeon HD 6950

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing GeForce GTX 580M and Radeon HD 6950. Here you can take a closer look at graphics cards specs, such as core clock speed, memory type and size, display connectors, etc. The price, overall benchmark and gaming performances are usually defining factors when it comes to choosing between GeForce GTX 580M and Radeon HD 6950. Make sure that the graphics card has compatible dimensions and will properly fit in your new or current computer case. Also these graphics cards may have different system power recommendations, so take that into consideration and upgrade your PSU if necessary.

GeForce GTX 580M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 580M is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with GeForce GTX 580M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 580M Radeon HD 6950
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 500 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 MB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 6950 has 400% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 580M.
  • GeForce GTX 580M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 6950 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 580M and Radeon HD 6950 have maximum RAM of 2 GB.
  • GeForce GTX 580M is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 6950 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 580M is build with Fermi architecture, and Radeon HD 6950 - with TeraScale 3.
  • GeForce GTX 580M and Radeon HD 6950 are manufactured by 40 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 580M is 250 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6950.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 14−16
ultra / 1080p 6−7 8−9
QHD / 1440p 1−2 3−4
low / 720p 24−27 27−30
medium / 1080p 14−16 16−18
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6950 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 27% more, than GeForce GTX 580M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 580M Radeon HD 6950
Architecture Fermi TeraScale 3
Code name N12E-GTX2 Cayman
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 28 June 2011 14 December 2010
Pipelines 384 1408
Core clock speed 620 MHz
Boost Clock 800 MHz
Transistor count 1,950 million 2,640 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 39.7 billion/sec 70.40
Floating-point performance 952.3 gflops 2,252.8 gflops
Length 267 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1500 MHz 1250 MHz
Memory bandwidth 96.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 API
Shader Model 5.1 5.0
OpenGL 4.5 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan N/A
CUDA +
CUDA cores 384
Bus support PCI-E 2.0 PCIe 2.0 x16
SLI options +
HDMI +
3D Blu-Ray +
3D Gaming +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 40 Mh/s 244 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Optimus +
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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