GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon Pro W6600X

Place in the ranking	157	219
Place by popularity	not in top-100	78
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	52.95	13.66
Power efficiency	19.57	11.66
Architecture	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)
GPU code name	Navi 23	GM204
Market segment	Workstation	Desktop
Release date	3 August 2021 (3 years ago)	19 September 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$699	$329

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Pro W6600X has 288% better value for money than GTX 970.

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	2048	1664
Core clock speed	2068 MHz	1050 MHz
Boost clock speed	2479 MHz	1178 MHz
Number of transistors	11,060 million	5,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	148 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	98 °C
Texture fill rate	317.3	122.5
Floating-point processing power	10.15 TFLOPS	3.92 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	56
TMUs	128	104
Ray Tracing Cores	32	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).

Bus support	no data	PCI Express 3.0
Interface	PCIe 4.0 x8	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	267 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	no data	500 Watt
Supplementary power connectors	None	2x 6-pin
SLI options	-	+

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	GDDR6	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2000 MHz	7.0 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	256.0 GB/s	224 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	No outputs	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2
Multi monitor support	no data	4 displays
HDMI	-	+
HDCP	-	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	-	+
Audio input for HDMI	no data	Internal

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	-	+
GeForce ShadowPlay	-	+
GPU Boost	no data	2.0
GameWorks	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 Ultimate (12_2)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.7	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.4
OpenCL	2.1	1.2
Vulkan	1.3	1.1.126
CUDA	-	+

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.

Pro W6600X 34.11
+36.1%

GTX 970 25.07

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.

Pro W6600X 13113
+36.1%

GTX 970 9637

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	100−110 +25%	80 −25%
1440p	70−75 +34.6%	52 −34.6%
4K	50−55 +25%	40 −25%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.99 −70%	4.11 +70%
1440p	9.99 −57.8%	6.33 +57.8%
4K	13.98 −70%	8.23 +70%

GTX 970 has 70% lower cost per frame in 1080p
GTX 970 has 58% lower cost per frame in 1440p
GTX 970 has 70% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Elden Ring	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Metro Exodus	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Valorant	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Dota 2	47 +0%	47 +0%
Elden Ring	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Fortnite	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	71 +0%	71 +0%
Metro Exodus	16 +0%	16 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	63 +0%	63 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	70 +0%	70 +0%
Valorant	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
World of Tanks	250−260 +0%	250−260 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	60 +0%	60 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Dota 2	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Far Cry 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	47 +0%	47 +0%
Valorant	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Elden Ring	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
World of Tanks	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Far Cry 5	70−75 +0%	70−75 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Metro Exodus	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Valorant	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Dota 2	46 +0%	46 +0%
Elden Ring	20−22 +0%	20−22 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	46 +0%	46 +0%
Metro Exodus	13 +0%	13 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	61 +0%	61 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	46 +0%	46 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Dota 2	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Fortnite	25 +0%	25 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Valorant	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%

This is how Pro W6600X and GTX 970 compete in popular games:

Pro W6600X is 25% faster in 1080p
Pro W6600X is 35% faster in 1440p
Pro W6600X is 25% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	34.11	25.07
Recency	3 August 2021	19 September 2014
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	7 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	148 Watt

Pro W6600X has a 36.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 23.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon Pro W6600X is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 970 in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon Pro W6600X is a workstation graphics card while GeForce GTX 970 is a desktop one.

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