GeForce 6800 XE vs Radeon HD 5970
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 558 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.82 | no data |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) | Curie (2003−2013) |
| GPU code name | Hemlock | NV40 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 18 November 2009 (14 years ago) | 30 September 2005 (18 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $699 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 1600 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 725 MHz | 275 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,154 million | 222 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 294 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 58.00 | 2.200 |
| Floating-point performance | 2x 2,320.0 gflops | no 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).
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | AGP 8x |
| Length | 305 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | None |
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 type | GDDR5 | DDR2 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 4000 MHz | 532 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 128.0 GB/s | 8.512 GB/s |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 9.0c (9_3) |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Benchmark coverage: 25%
Radeon HD 5970 outperforms GeForce 6800 XE by 3834% in Passmark.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 18 November 2009 | 30 September 2005 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 256 MB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 130 nm |
ATI HD 5970 has an age advantage of 4 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 225% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between Radeon HD 5970 and GeForce 6800 XE. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
