Radeon HD 6970M vs R9 M470

Place in the ranking	582	587
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	no data	5.46
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	Emerald	Blackcomb
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	15 May 2016 (8 years ago)	4 January 2011 (13 years ago)

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	768	960
Core clock speed	900 MHz	680 MHz
Boost clock speed	1000 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,080 million	1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	no data	75 Watt
Texture fill rate	48.00	32.64
Floating-point processing power	1.536 TFLOPS	1.306 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32
TMUs	48	48

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).

Laptop size	large	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors	no data	None

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	96 GB/s	115.2 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

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.3	5.0
OpenGL	4.6	4.4
OpenCL	2.0	1.2
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/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.

R9 M470 6.04
+2.7%

HD 6970M 5.88

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.

R9 M470 2330
+2.6%

HD 6970M 2270

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:

900p	50−55 −4%	52 +4%
Full HD	50−55 −2%	51 +2%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

10−11

+0%

10−11

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Battlefield 5	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +8.3%	12−14 −8.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +2.6%	35−40 −2.6%
Hitman 3	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +2.8%	35−40 −2.8%
Metro Exodus	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +5%	20−22 −5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +2%	45−50 −2%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Battlefield 5	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +8.3%	12−14 −8.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 +6.3%	16−18 −6.3%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +2.6%	35−40 −2.6%
Hitman 3	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +2.8%	35−40 −2.8%
Metro Exodus	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +5%	20−22 −5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +5.3%	18−20 −5.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +2%	45−50 −2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +8.3%	12−14 −8.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +2.6%	35−40 −2.6%
Hitman 3	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +2.8%	35−40 −2.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +5%	20−22 −5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +5.3%	18−20 −5.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +2%	45−50 −2%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

16−18

+0%

16−18

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +20%	5−6 −20%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Far Cry 5	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	18−20 +5.9%	16−18 −5.9%
Hitman 3	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Metro Exodus	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 +2.7%	35−40 −2.7%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12
+10%

10−11

−10%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Hitman 3	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 +7.1%	14−16 −7.1%
Metro Exodus	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 +50%	2−3 −50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	0−1	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

6−7

+0%

6−7

+0%

This is how R9 M470 and HD 6970M compete in popular games:

HD 6970M is 4% faster in 900p
HD 6970M is 2% faster in 1080p

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

in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 M470 is 100% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

R9 M470 is ahead in 34 tests (49%)
there's a draw in 36 tests (51%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.04	5.88
Recency	15 May 2016	4 January 2011
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm

R9 M470 has a 2.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon R9 M470 and Radeon HD 6970M.

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