GeForce RTX 3060 vs ATI Radeon HD 5970
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon HD 5970 and GeForce RTX 3060, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
RTX 3060 outperforms ATI HD 5970 by a whopping 656% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 610 | 91 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 4 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.31 | 67.68 |
| Power efficiency | 1.37 | 17.85 |
| Architecture | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) | Ampere (2020−2024) |
| GPU code name | Hemlock | GA106 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 18 November 2009 (15 years ago) | 12 January 2021 (4 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $699 | $329 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
RTX 3060 has 21732% better value for money than ATI HD 5970.
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 cores | 1600 ×2 | 3584 |
| Core clock speed | 725 MHz | 1320 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1777 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,154 million | 12,000 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 294 Watt | 170 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 58.00 ×2 | 199.0 |
| Floating-point processing power | 2.32 TFLOPS ×2 | 12.74 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 32 ×2 | 48 |
| TMUs | 80 ×2 | 112 |
| Tensor Cores | no data | 112 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 28 |
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 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Length | 305 mm | 242 mm |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 12-pin |
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 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB ×2 | 12 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit ×2 | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1000 MHz | 1875 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 128.0 GB/s ×2 | 360.0 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | - |
| Resizable BAR | - | + |
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 HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| HDMI | - | + |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 6.7 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 3.0 |
| Vulkan | N/A | 1.3 |
| CUDA | - | 8.6 |
| DLSS | - | + |
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.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
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:
| Full HD | 14−16
−721%
| 115
+721%
|
| 1440p | 8−9
−738%
| 67
+738%
|
| 4K | 5−6
−760%
| 43
+760%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 49.93
−1645%
| 2.86
+1645%
|
| 1440p | 87.38
−1679%
| 4.91
+1679%
|
| 4K | 139.80
−1727%
| 7.65
+1727%
|
- RTX 3060 has 1645% lower cost per frame in 1080p
- RTX 3060 has 1679% lower cost per frame in 1440p
- RTX 3060 has 1727% lower cost per frame in 4K
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 230−240
+0%
|
230−240
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 79
+0%
|
79
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 230−240
+0%
|
230−240
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 78
+0%
|
78
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 146
+0%
|
146
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 124
+0%
|
124
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Valorant | 230−240
+0%
|
230−240
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 230−240
+0%
|
230−240
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 270−280
+0%
|
270−280
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 75
+0%
|
75
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 156
+0%
|
156
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 135
+0%
|
135
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 110
+0%
|
110
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 141
+0%
|
141
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 81
+0%
|
81
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 179
+0%
|
179
+0%
|
| Valorant | 230−240
+0%
|
230−240
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 64
+0%
|
64
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 147
+0%
|
147
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 127
+0%
|
127
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 95−100
+0%
|
95−100
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 87
+0%
|
87
+0%
|
| Valorant | 230−240
+0%
|
230−240
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 280−290
+0%
|
280−290
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 81
+0%
|
81
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 50
+0%
|
50
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
| Valorant | 260−270
+0%
|
260−270
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 100−110
+0%
|
100−110
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 39
+0%
|
39
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 94
+0%
|
94
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 72
+0%
|
72
+0%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 82
+0%
|
82
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 32
+0%
|
32
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 65
+0%
|
65
+0%
|
| Valorant | 240−250
+0%
|
240−250
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 18
+0%
|
18
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 115
+0%
|
115
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 48
+0%
|
48
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 80−85
+0%
|
80−85
+0%
|
| Hogwarts Legacy | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
This is how ATI HD 5970 and RTX 3060 compete in popular games:
- RTX 3060 is 721% faster in 1080p
- RTX 3060 is 738% faster in 1440p
- RTX 3060 is 760% faster in 4K
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 66 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.06 | 38.24 |
| Recency | 18 November 2009 | 12 January 2021 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 12 GB |
| Chip lithography | 40 nm | 8 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 294 Watt | 170 Watt |
RTX 3060 has a 655.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, a 1100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 400% more advanced lithography process, and 72.9% lower power consumption.
The GeForce RTX 3060 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 5970 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
