Radeon RX 6500 XT vs HD 6970

Place in the ranking	537	220
Place by popularity	not in top-100	82
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.06	58.67
Power efficiency	2.01	15.90
Architecture	TeraScale 3 (2010−2013)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Cayman	Navi 24
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	14 December 2010 (14 years ago)	19 January 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$369	$199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6500 XT has 5435% better value for money than HD 6970.

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	1536	1024
Core clock speed	no data	2610 MHz
Boost clock speed	880 MHz	2815 MHz
Number of transistors	2,640 million	5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	550 Watt	107 Watt
Texture fill rate	84.48	180.2
Floating-point processing power	2.703 TFLOPS	5.765 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	32
TMUs	96	64
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	16

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 support	PCIe 2.0 x16	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x4
Length	267 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1x 6-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	2 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1375 MHz	2248 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	143.9 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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 HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort	1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	5.0	6.6
OpenGL	4.4	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.2
Vulkan	-	1.3

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 7.35

RX 6500 XT 24.83
+238%

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 2833

RX 6500 XT 9567
+238%

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.

HD 6970 3470

RX 6500 XT 15712
+353%

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	18−20 −244%	62 +244%
1440p	8−9 −250%	28 +250%
4K	4−5 −300%	16 +300%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	20.50	3.21
1440p	46.13	7.11
4K	92.25	12.44

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

12−14

−500%

72
+500%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −200%	50−55 +200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −410%	51 +410%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −268%	80−85 +268%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −233%	50−55 +233%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −350%	54 +350%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −235%	55−60 +235%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −210%	65−70 +210%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 −196%	140−150 +196%
Hitman 3	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −165%	110−120 +165%
Metro Exodus	21−24 −305%	85−90 +305%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 −220%	60−65 +220%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −236%	80−85 +236%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 −90.7%	100−110 +90.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −200%	50−55 +200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −330%	43 +330%
Battlefield 5	21−24 −268%	80−85 +268%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −233%	50−55 +233%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −183%	34 +183%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −235%	55−60 +235%
Far Cry New Dawn	21−24 −210%	65−70 +210%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 −196%	140−150 +196%
Hitman 3	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −165%	110−120 +165%
Metro Exodus	21−24 −305%	85−90 +305%
Red Dead Redemption 2	20−22 −220%	60−65 +220%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −328%	107 +328%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −141%	50−55 +141%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 −90.7%	100−110 +90.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18−20 −200%	50−55 +200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−11 −210%	31 +210%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −233%	50−55 +233%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −150%	30 +150%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −235%	55−60 +235%
Forza Horizon 4	45−50 −196%	140−150 +196%
Hitman 3	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −114%	92 +114%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −232%	83 +232%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −145%	54 +145%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +116%	25 −116%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20−22

−220%

60−65
+220%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 −236%	45−50 +236%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−12 −245%	35−40 +245%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 −271%	24−27 +271%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −667%	23 +667%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −300%	27−30 +300%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −467%	17 +467%
Far Cry 5	8−9 −250%	27−30 +250%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −422%	140−150 +422%
Hitman 3	10−12 −164%	27−30 +164%
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18 −313%	66 +313%
Metro Exodus	8−9 −613%	57 +613%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 −1020%	56 +1020%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 −400%	30−33 +400%
Watch Dogs: Legion	45−50 −198%	140−150 +198%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14

−215%

40−45
+215%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	6−7 −300%	24−27 +300%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 −280%	18−20 +280%
Hitman 3	3−4 −233%	10 +233%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 −429%	120−130 +429%
Metro Exodus	5−6 −460%	27−30 +460%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 −600%	28 +600%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 −275%	14−16 +275%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −100%	6 +100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 −367%	14−16 +367%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −300%	4 +300%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −250%	14−16 +250%
Forza Horizon 4	8−9 −325%	30−35 +325%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	2−3 −1150%	25 +1150%
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3 −400%	10 +400%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

7−8

−200%

21−24
+200%

This is how HD 6970 and RX 6500 XT compete in popular games:

RX 6500 XT is 244% faster in 1080p
RX 6500 XT is 250% faster in 1440p
RX 6500 XT is 300% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 6970 is 116% faster.
in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6500 XT is 1150% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

HD 6970 is ahead in 1 test (1%)
RX 6500 XT is ahead in 71 test (99%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	7.35	24.83
Recency	14 December 2010	19 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	550 Watt	107 Watt

RX 6500 XT has a 237.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 566.7% more advanced lithography process, and 414% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6500 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6970 in performance tests.

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