GeForce GTX 680 vs Radeon HD 5970

In this comparison between GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon HD 5970 you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people GeForce GTX 680 will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 5970 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 680 Radeon HD 5970
Power consumption (TDP) 195 Watt 294 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors Two 6-pin 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2048 MB 1 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 5970 has 50% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 680.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon HD 5970 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 680 has 2047 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 5970.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is build with Kepler architecture, and Radeon HD 5970 - with TeraScale 2.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 680 is 281 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 5970.
  • GeForce GTX 680 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 5970 - by 40 nm process technology.
  • Radeon HD 5970 is 295 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 680.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 680 is 2000 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 5970.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 10−12
ultra / 1080p 21−24 6−7
QHD / 1440p 16−18 1−2
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 24−27
medium / 1080p 40−45 14−16
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 680 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 227% more, than Radeon HD 5970.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 680 Radeon HD 5970
Architecture Kepler TeraScale 2
Code name GK104 Hemlock
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 22 March 2012 18 November 2009
Pipelines 1536 1600
Core clock speed 1006 MHz 725 MHz
Boost Clock 1058 MHz
Transistor count 3,540 million 2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 128.8 billion/sec 58.00
Floating-point performance 3,090.4 gflops 2x 2,320.0 gflops
Length 10.0" (25.4 cm) 305 mm
Memory bus width 256-bit GDDR5 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 6000 MHz 4000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 192.2 GB/s 128.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_0) 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.0
OpenGL 4.2 4.4
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126 N/A
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1536
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
Height 4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support 4 displays
HDMI +
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
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