GeForce GTX 970M vs Radeon HD 6850M

When comparing GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon HD 6850M, we look primarily at benchmarks and game tests. But it is not only about the numbers. Often you can find third-party models with higher clock speeds, better cooling, or a customizable RGB lighting. Not all of them will have all the features you need. Another thing to consider is the port selection. Most graphics cards have at least one DisplayPort and HDMI interface, but some monitors require DVI. Before you buy, check the TDP of the graphics card - this characteristic will help you estimate the consumption of the graphics card. You may even have to upgrade your PSU to meet its requirements. An important factor when choosing between GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon HD 6850M is the price. Does the additional cost justify the performance hit? Our comparison should help you make the right decision.

GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon HD 6850M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: GeForce GTX 970M and Radeon HD 6850M are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 970M or Radeon HD 6850M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 970M Radeon HD 6850M
Power consumption (TDP) 50 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 DDR3, GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 1 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 970M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 6850M uses PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 970M has 5 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6850M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 970M is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 6850M - with Terascale 2.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 970M is 349 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6850M.
  • GeForce GTX 970M is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 6850M - by 40 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 970M is 1700 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6850M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 2−3
ultra / 1080p 21−24 0−1
QHD / 1440p 16−18 0−1
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 12−14
medium / 1080p 40−45 3−4
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 683% more, than Radeon HD 6850M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 970M Radeon HD 6850M
Architecture Maxwell Terascale 2
Code name GM204 Granville Pro/LP
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 7 October 2014 6 January 2011
Pipelines 1280 800
Core clock speed 924 MHz 575 / 675 MHz
Boost Clock 1038 MHz
Transistor count 5,200 million 1,040 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 83.04 27.00
Floating-point performance 2,657 gflops 1,080.0 gflops
Memory bus width 192 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 2500 MHz 800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 120 GB/s 25.6 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
DirectX 12 (12_1) 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 6.4 5.0
OpenGL 4.5 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126 N/A
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1280
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 314 Mh/s
Laptop size large large
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
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