Radeon HD 6970 vs Radeon HD 7970M

When choosing between Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon HD 7970M, 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 6970 and Radeon HD 7970M.

Radeon HD 7970M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon HD 7970M 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 7970M here:

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6970 Radeon HD 7970M
Power consumption (TDP) 550 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin None
Memory type DDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 6970 has 450% more power consumption, than Radeon HD 7970M.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon HD 7970M uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon HD 7970M have maximum RAM of 2 GB.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is used in Desktops, and Radeon HD 7970M - in Laptops.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon HD 7970M - with GCN.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7970M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 7970M is 3425 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6970.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 14−16 18−20
ultra / 1080p 9−10 10−12
QHD / 1440p 3−4 5−6
4K / 2160p 4−5
low / 720p 30−35 35−40
medium / 1080p 18−20 21−24
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 26% more, than Radeon HD 6970.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6970 Radeon HD 7970M
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN
Code name Cayman Wimbledon XT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 14 December 2010 1 May 2012
Pipelines 1536 1280
Core clock speed 850 MHz
Boost Clock 880 MHz
Transistor count 2,640 million 2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology 40 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 84.48 68.00
Floating-point performance 2,703.4 gflops 2,176 gflops
Length 267 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1375 MHz 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 153.6 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 5.0 5.1
OpenGL 4.4 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131
Bus support PCIe 2.0 x16
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s 254 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
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