GeForce GTX 870M vs Radeon HD 6970

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing GeForce GTX 870M and Radeon HD 6970. 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 870M and Radeon HD 6970. 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 870M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 870M 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 870M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 870M Radeon HD 6970
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 550 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 DDR5
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 6970 has 450% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 870M.
  • GeForce GTX 870M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 6970 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 870M has 4 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6970.
  • GeForce GTX 870M is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 6970 - in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 870M is build with Kepler architecture, and Radeon HD 6970 - with Terascale 2.
  • GeForce GTX 870M is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 6970 - by 40 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 16−18 14−16
ultra / 1080p 10−11 9−10
QHD / 1440p 4−5 3−4
low / 720p 35−40 30−35
medium / 1080p 21−24 18−20
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 870M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 20% more, than Radeon HD 6970.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 870M Radeon HD 6970
Architecture Kepler Terascale 2
Code name N15P-GT Cayman
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 12 March 2014 14 December 2010
Pipelines 1344 1536
Core clock speed 941 MHz
Boost Clock 967 MHz 880 MHz
Transistor count 3,540 million 2,640 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 108.3 84.48
Floating-point performance 2,599 gflops 2,703.4 gflops
Length 267 mm
Memory bus width 192 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1375 MHz
Memory bandwidth 120.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.0
OpenGL 4.5 4.4
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1344
Bus support PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0 PCIe 2.0 x16
SLI options +
HDMI + +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 82 Mh/s 273 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Standard memory configuration GDDR5
eDP 1.2 signal support Up to 3840x2160
LVDS signal support Up to 1920x1200
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support Up to 3840x2160
HDCP content protection +
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI +
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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