Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire vs GeForce GTX 580M SLI

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 580M SLI and Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 580M SLI
2011
100 Watt
10.44
+14.1%

GTX 580M SLI outperforms HD 6970M Crossfire by a moderate 14% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking437478
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency7.15no data
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)Terascale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameN12E-GTX2Blackcomb XT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date6 January 2011 (13 years ago)6 January 2011 (13 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores7681920
Core clock speed620 MHz680 MHz
Number of transistorsno data2x1700 Million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)100 Wattno data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizelargelarge

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amountno data2x2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1500 MHz900 MHz
Shared memory--

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX1111

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 580M SLI 10.44
+14.1%
HD 6970M Crossfire 9.15

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 580M SLI 6106
+10.2%
HD 6970M Crossfire 5542

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 580M SLI 25022
+10.4%
HD 6970M Crossfire 22667

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p76
−23.7%
94
+23.7%
Full HD89
−13.5%
101
+13.5%
1200p81
+15.7%
70−75
−15.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+14.3%
14−16
−14.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+9.1%
21−24
−9.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+10.7%
27−30
−10.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
+5.3%
18−20
−5.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+14.3%
14−16
−14.3%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 27−30
+12%
24−27
−12%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+9.8%
60−65
−9.8%
Hitman 3 18−20
+11.8%
16−18
−11.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+7.8%
50−55
−7.8%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+14.3%
27−30
−14.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+12%
24−27
−12%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+5%
60−65
−5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+9.1%
21−24
−9.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+10.7%
27−30
−10.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
+5.3%
18−20
−5.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+14.3%
14−16
−14.3%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 27−30
+12%
24−27
−12%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+9.8%
60−65
−9.8%
Hitman 3 18−20
+11.8%
16−18
−11.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+7.8%
50−55
−7.8%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+14.3%
27−30
−14.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+12%
24−27
−12%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+5%
60−65
−5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+9.1%
21−24
−9.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 20−22
+5.3%
18−20
−5.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+14.3%
14−16
−14.3%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+9.8%
60−65
−9.8%
Hitman 3 18−20
+11.8%
16−18
−11.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+7.8%
50−55
−7.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+10%
30−33
−10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
+8%
24−27
−8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+5%
60−65
−5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 27−30
+12%
24−27
−12%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+15.4%
35−40
−15.4%
Hitman 3 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+10.5%
18−20
−10.5%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+30%
10−11
−30%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Watch Dogs: Legion 60−65
+8.6%
55−60
−8.6%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
+13.3%
14−16
−13.3%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Hitman 3 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+16.2%
35−40
−16.2%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%

This is how GTX 580M SLI and HD 6970M Crossfire compete in popular games:

  • HD 6970M Crossfire is 24% faster in 900p
  • HD 6970M Crossfire is 13% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 580M SLI is 16% faster in 1200p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 580M SLI is 40% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 580M SLI is ahead in 68 tests (94%)
  • there's a draw in 4 tests (6%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 10.44 9.15

GTX 580M SLI has a 14.1% higher aggregate performance score.

The GeForce GTX 580M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI
GeForce GTX 580M SLI
AMD Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire
Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


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2.7 3 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.