Radeon R5 230 vs HD 6970

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon R5 230, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 6970
2010
2 GB GDDR5, 550 Watt
7.34
+1188%

HD 6970 outperforms R5 230 by a whopping 1188% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking5351207
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.00no data
Power efficiency2.052.09
ArchitectureTeraScale 3 (2010−2013)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameCaymanCaicos
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferencereference
Release date14 December 2010 (13 years ago)3 April 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$369 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores1536160
Boost clock speed880 MHzno data
Number of transistors2,640 million370 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)550 Watt19 Watt
Texture fill rate84.485.000
Floating-point processing power2.703 TFLOPS0.2 TFLOPS
ROPs324
TMUs968

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).

Bus supportPCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 1.0 x4
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length267 mm168 mm
Width2-slot1-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pinN/A

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 typeGDDR5DDR3
Maximum RAM amount2 GB4 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed1375 MHzno data
Memory bandwidthno data10.67 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 HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x VGA
Eyefinity++
HDMI++

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

CrossFire++
​PowerPlayno data+
DDMA audiono data-

API compatibility

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

DirectXDirectX® 11DirectX® 11
Shader Model5.05.0
OpenGL4.44.4
OpenCL1.21.2

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.

HD 6970 7.34
+1188%
R5 230 0.57

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.

HD 6970 2831
+1181%
R5 230 221

Gaming performance

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

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 12−14 0−1

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+1700%
1−2
−1700%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11 0−1
Battlefield 5 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+1400%
1−2
−1400%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14 0−1
Far Cry 5 16−18
+1600%
1−2
−1600%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+2000%
1−2
−2000%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1533%
3−4
−1533%
Hitman 3 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+1333%
3−4
−1333%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+2000%
1−2
−2000%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+1900%
1−2
−1900%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+2400%
1−2
−2400%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+1250%
4−5
−1250%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+1700%
1−2
−1700%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11 0−1
Battlefield 5 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+1400%
1−2
−1400%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14 0−1
Far Cry 5 16−18
+1600%
1−2
−1600%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+2000%
1−2
−2000%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1533%
3−4
−1533%
Hitman 3 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+1333%
3−4
−1333%
Metro Exodus 21−24
+2000%
1−2
−2000%
Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+1900%
1−2
−1900%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+2400%
1−2
−2400%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+1250%
4−5
−1250%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+1700%
1−2
−1700%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+1400%
1−2
−1400%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14 0−1
Far Cry 5 16−18
+1600%
1−2
−1600%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
+1533%
3−4
−1533%
Hitman 3 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
+1333%
3−4
−1333%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+2400%
1−2
−2400%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+2100%
1−2
−2100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+1250%
4−5
−1250%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 20−22
+1900%
1−2
−1900%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
+1300%
1−2
−1300%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12 0−1

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4 0−1
Far Cry 5 8−9 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+1250%
2−3
−1250%
Hitman 3 10−12 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
+1500%
1−2
−1500%
Metro Exodus 8−9 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5−6 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+1467%
3−4
−1467%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+1200%
1−2
−1200%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6 0−1
Hitman 3 3−4 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+2300%
1−2
−2300%
Metro Exodus 5−6 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 4−5 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 4−5 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 8−9 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2−3 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8 0−1

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 7.34 0.57
Recency 14 December 2010 3 April 2014
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 550 Watt 19 Watt

HD 6970 has a 1187.7% higher aggregate performance score.

R5 230, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 2794.7% lower power consumption.

The Radeon HD 6970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R5 230 in performance tests.


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

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AMD Radeon HD 6970
Radeon HD 6970
AMD Radeon R5 230
Radeon R5 230

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.


3.7 156 votes

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2.8 238 votes

Rate Radeon R5 230 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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