Radeon HD 6970M vs Radeon HD 7870 XT

When choosing between Radeon HD 6970M and Radeon HD 7870 XT, it is worth examining the specifications of the models in detail. Do they meet the recommended requirements of modern games and software? Storage capacity, form factor, TDP, available ports, warranty and manufacturer support are all important. For example, the size of a PC case can limit the maximum thickness and length of the card. Often, instead of the factory overclocked card and RGB backlight, it is better to choose a reference model with a more efficient GPU. And make sure that your current power supply unit has the correct connection pins (using adapters is not recommended). This GPUs compare tool is meant to help you to choose the best graphics card for your build. Let's find out the difference between Radeon HD 6970M and Radeon HD 7870 XT.

Radeon HD 6970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 6970M 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 Radeon HD 6970M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6970M Radeon HD 7870 XT
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 185 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None 2x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 7870 XT has 146% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 6970M.
  • Radeon HD 6970M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 7870 XT uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon HD 6970M and Radeon HD 7870 XT have maximum RAM of 2 GB.
  • Radeon HD 6970M is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 6970M is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - with GCN 1.0.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 245 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6970M.
  • Radeon HD 6970M is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7870 XT - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 XT is 5100 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6970M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 10−12 35−40
ultra / 1080p 6−7 21−24
QHD / 1440p 1−2 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 24−27 60−65
medium / 1080p 14−16 40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 XT in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 227% more, than Radeon HD 6970M.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6970M Radeon HD 7870 XT
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN 1.0
Code name Blackcomb XT Tahiti
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 6 January 2011 19 November 2012
Pipelines 960 1536
Core clock speed 680 MHz 925 MHz
Boost Clock 975 MHz
Transistor count 1,700 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 32.64 93.60
Floating-point performance 1,305.6 gflops 2,995 gflops
Length 267 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 900 MHz 6000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 115.2 GB/s 192.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 11.2 (11_0) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan N/A 1.2.131
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 118 Mh/s 346 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 14.5 Mh/s
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