GPU Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of specifications and performance
Performance Comparison
AMD Radeon HD 7970
249%
249%
AMD Radeon HD 6850
45%
45%
AMD Radeon HD 7970 is approximately 204% faster
Technical Specifications
| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics ProcessorDifferent | Tahiti | Barts |
| CoresDifferent | 2048 | 960 |
| TMUsDifferent | 128 | 48 |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 |
| Memory SizeDifferent | 3 GB | 1024 MB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Bus WidthDifferent | 384 bit | 256 bit |
Graphics Processor
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU NameDifferent | Tahiti | Barts |
| GPU VariantDifferent | Tahiti XT(215-0821060) | Barts PRO(215-0798006) |
| ArchitectureDifferent | GCN 1.0 | TeraScale 2 |
| Foundry | TSMC | TSMC |
| Process SizeDifferent | 28 nm | 40 nm |
| TransistorsDifferent | 4,313 million | 1,700 million |
| DensityDifferent | 12.3M / mm² | 6.7M / mm² |
| Die SizeDifferent | 352 mm² | 255 mm² |
| Chip PackageDifferent | N/A | HFCBGA-1737 |
Graphics Card
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| Release DateDifferent | Jan 9th, 2012 | Oct 21st, 2010 |
| AnnouncedDifferent | Dec 22nd, 2011 | N/A |
| GenerationDifferent | Southern Islands(HD 7900) | Northern Islands(HD 6800) |
| PredecessorDifferent | Northern Islands | Evergreen |
| SuccessorDifferent | Sea Islands | Southern Islands |
| Production | End-of-life | End-of-life |
| Launch PriceDifferent | 549 USD | 179 USD |
| Bus InterfaceDifferent | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| ReviewsDifferent | 191 in our database | 105 in our database |
Clock Speeds
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| GPU ClockDifferent | 925 MHz | 775 MHz |
| Memory ClockDifferent | 1375 MHz5.5 Gbps effective | 1000 MHz4 Gbps effective |
Memory
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| Memory SizeDifferent | 3 GB | 1024 MB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory BusDifferent | 384 bit | 256 bit |
| BandwidthDifferent | 264.0 GB/s | 128.0 GB/s |
Render Config
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| Shading UnitsDifferent | 2048 | 960 |
| TMUsDifferent | 128 | 48 |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 |
| Compute UnitsDifferent | 32 | 12 |
| L1 CacheDifferent | 16 KB (per CU) | 8 KB (per CU) |
| L2 CacheDifferent | 768 KB | 512 KB |
Theoretical Performance
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel RateDifferent | 29.60 GPixel/s | 24.80 GPixel/s |
| Texture RateDifferent | 118.4 GTexel/s | 37.20 GTexel/s |
| FP32 (float)Different | 3.789 TFLOPS | 1,488.0 GFLOPS |
| FP64 (double)Different | 947.2 GFLOPS (1:4) | N/A |
Board Design
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| Slot Width | Dual-slot | Dual-slot |
| LengthDifferent | 275 mm10.8 inches | 198 mm7.8 inches |
| HeightDifferent | 111 mm4.4 inches | N/A |
| WidthDifferent | 38 mm1.5 inches | N/A |
| TDPDifferent | 250 W | 127 W |
| Suggested PSUDifferent | 600 W | 300 W |
| OutputsDifferent | 1x DVI1x HDMI 1.4a2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | 2x DVI1x HDMI 1.3a2x mini-DisplayPort 1.1 |
| Power ConnectorsDifferent | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |
| Board NumberDifferent | 109-C38637-00 | 109-C22301-00B |
Graphics Features
| Feature | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
|---|---|---|
| DirectXDifferent | 12 (11_1) | 11.2 (11_0) |
| OpenGLDifferent | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| OpenCLDifferent | 2.1 (1.2) | 1.2 |
| VulkanDifferent | 1.2.170 | N/A |
| Shader ModelDifferent | 6.5 (5.1) | 5.0 |
Comparison Summary
7
Specifications Compared
8
Feature Categories
48
Detailed Features
More Comparisons with AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare AMD Radeon HD 7970 with other GPUs of similar performance
AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Performance113%
Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition is 13% faster than AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 590 Performance113%
GeForce GTX 590 is 13% faster than AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon R9 280X
Radeon R9 280X Performance111%
Radeon R9 280X is 11% faster than AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs Radeon HD 6990
Radeon HD 6990 Performance109%
Radeon HD 6990 is 9% faster than AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Performance103%
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is 3% faster than AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs GeForce GTX 680
GeForce GTX 680 Performance101%
GeForce GTX 680 is 1% faster than AMD Radeon HD 7970
Compare Detailed Specs
More Comparisons with AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare AMD Radeon HD 6850 with other GPUs of similar performance
AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs GeForce GTX 470
GeForce GTX 470 Performance116%
GeForce GTX 470 is 16% faster than AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs GeForce GTX 650 Ti
GeForce GTX 650 Ti Performance111%
GeForce GTX 650 Ti is 11% faster than AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs Radeon HD 5850
Radeon HD 5850 Performance109%
Radeon HD 5850 is 9% faster than AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 285 Performance102%
GeForce GTX 285 is 2% faster than AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs Radeon HD 6850
Radeon HD 6850 Performance100%
Radeon HD 6850 is 0% slower than AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare Detailed Specs
AMD Radeon HD 6850 vs GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 280 Performance94%
GeForce GTX 280 is 6% slower than AMD Radeon HD 6850
Compare Detailed Specs