Iris Graphics 540 vs Radeon HD 6970M

In this comparison between Iris Graphics 540 and Radeon HD 6970M 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 Iris Graphics 540 will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 6970M will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Iris Graphics 540 and Radeon HD 6970M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Iris Graphics 540 and Radeon HD 6970M 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 Iris Graphics 540 or Radeon HD 6970M here:

Main Specs

  Iris Graphics 540 Radeon HD 6970M
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 75 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x1 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type eDRAM GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 64 MB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 6970M has 400% more power consumption, than Iris Graphics 540.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x1, and Radeon HD 6970M uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • Iris Graphics 540 has 62 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6970M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is build with Gen. 9 Skylake architecture, and Radeon HD 6970M - with Terascale 2.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 6970M is 380 MHz higher, than Iris Graphics 540.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 6970M - by 40 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 8−9 10−12
ultra / 1080p 5−6 6−7
QHD / 1440p 0−1 1−2
low / 720p 20−22 24−27
medium / 1080p 10−12 14−16
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 6970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 27% more, than Iris Graphics 540.

Full Specs

  Iris Graphics 540 Radeon HD 6970M
Architecture Gen. 9 Skylake Terascale 2
Code name Skylake GT3e Blackcomb XT
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 1 September 2015 6 January 2011
Pipelines 48 960
Core clock speed 300 MHz 680 MHz
Boost Clock 1050 MHz
Transistor count 189 million 1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 50.40 32.64
Floating-point performance 1,305.6 gflops
Memory bus width 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 900 MHz
Memory bandwidth 115.2 GB/s
Shared memory + -
DirectX 12 (12_1) 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 6.4 5.0
OpenGL 4.6 4.4
OpenCL 2.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.97 N/A
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 118 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Quick Sync +
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