Radeon HD 6970 vs Radeon Sky 500

When comparing Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon Sky 500, 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 Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon Sky 500 is the price. Does the additional cost justify the performance hit? Our comparison should help you make the right decision.

Main Specs

  Radeon HD 6970 Radeon Sky 500
Power consumption (TDP) 550 Watt 150 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin 1x 6-pin
Memory type DDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 6970 has 266% more power consumption, than Radeon Sky 500.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and Radeon Sky 500 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • Radeon Sky 500 has 2 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 6970.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is build with Terascale 2 architecture, and Radeon Sky 500 - with GCN 1.0.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is manufactured by 40 nm process technology, and Radeon Sky 500 - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Radeon HD 6970 is 25 mm longer, than Radeon Sky 500.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon Sky 500 is 3425 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 6970.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 14−16 35−40
ultra / 1080p 9−10 21−24
QHD / 1440p 3−4 16−18
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 30−35 60−65
medium / 1080p 18−20 40−45
The average gaming FPS of Radeon Sky 500 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 140% more, than Radeon HD 6970.

Full Specs

  Radeon HD 6970 Radeon Sky 500
Architecture Terascale 2 GCN 1.0
Code name Cayman Pitcairn
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 14 December 2010 27 March 2013
Pipelines 1536 1280
Core clock speed 950 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 76.00
Floating-point performance 2,703.4 gflops 2,432 gflops
Length 267 mm 242 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 1375 MHz 4800 MHz
Memory bandwidth 154 GB/s
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 PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 273 Mh/s
Eyefinity +
Design reference
CrossFire +
Form factor full height / full length
DisplayPort count 1
Dual-link DVI support +
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