ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT vs ATI HD 5970

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 2900 XT, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 5970
2009
1 GB GDDR5, 294 Watt
5.92
+246%

ATI HD 5970 outperforms ATI HD 2900 XT by a whopping 246% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking589931
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.360.05
Power efficiency1.380.55
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)TeraScale (2005−2013)
GPU code nameHemlockR600
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date18 November 2009 (15 years ago)14 May 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$699 $399

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

ATI HD 5970 has 620% better value for money than ATI HD 2900 XT.

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 cores1600320
Core clock speed725 MHz743 MHz
Number of transistors2,154 million720 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm80 nm
Power consumption (TDP)294 Watt215 Watt
Texture fill rate58.0011.89
Floating-point processing power2.32 TFLOPS0.4755 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs8016

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).

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 1.0 x16
Length305 mm241 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount1 GB512 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit512 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHz828 MHz
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/s106.0 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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)10.0 (10_0)
Shader Model5.04.0
OpenGL4.43.3
OpenCL1.2N/A
VulkanN/AN/A

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.

ATI HD 5970 5.92
+246%
ATI HD 2900 XT 1.71

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.

ATI HD 5970 2282
+246%
ATI HD 2900 XT 659

Gaming performance

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

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.92 1.71
Recency 18 November 2009 14 May 2007
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 512 MB
Chip lithography 40 nm 80 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 294 Watt 215 Watt

ATI HD 5970 has a 246.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

ATI HD 2900 XT, on the other hand, has 36.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 5970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 2900 XT 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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ATI Radeon HD 5970
Radeon HD 5970
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT
Radeon HD 2900 XT

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.


3.6 43 votes

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3.8 64 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.