AMD · Radeon HD 6000 Series

AMD Radeon HD 6970

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 is a graphics card released on December 15, 2010, built on the TeraScale 3 architecture using a 40 nm process. It has 1,536 shading units, 2 GB of video memory on a 256-bit bus, 176.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, a boost clock of 880 MHz and a 250 W board power rating. It scores 2,829 in the PassMark G3D benchmark. It supports DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.4.

TeraScale 3Cayman XT40 nm

9/10 key specs recorded · 42 facts

Depth: 45 recorded fields, 4 PassMark workloads

Specification data last verified October 1, 2026 against PassMark Videocard Benchmark, AMD.com Specifications and Wikipedia GPU list tables (wikigrid-2026-09). Coverage: 9 of 10 tracked specifications recorded.

PassMark Videocard Benchmark AMD.com Specifications PassMark Videocard Benchmark Wikipedia GPU list tables (wikigrid-2026-09)

Shading units

1,536cores

Memory

2 GB

256-bit

Boost clock

880 MHz

880 MHz base

Board power

250 W

Performance

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 scores 2,829 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 72% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked (PassMark rank #788), measured across 2,222 submitted results. Its PassMark G2D score is 436.

PassMark G3D Mark

2,829

Rank #788
Faster than 72% of 2,658 GPUs
2,222 samples

0relative to the fastest GPU on record (41,928)

PassMark workload tests

DirectX 9 68 fps

reference: fastest recorded 526 fps · faster than 67% of 1,675 GPUs

DirectX 10 20 fps

reference: fastest recorded 231 fps · faster than 62% of 1,602 GPUs

DirectX 11 21 fps

reference: fastest recorded 362 fps · faster than 51.5% of 1,430 GPUs

GPU Compute 1,040 ops/s

reference: fastest recorded 26,591 ops/s · faster than 49.8% of 1,447 GPUs

Averages of PassMark PerformanceTest submissions; frames/sec are PassMark test-scene rates, not game FPS. Tests PassMark does not report for this card are omitted. PassMark listing

In the PassMark workload tests the AMD Radeon HD 6970 averages DirectX 9 68 fps, DirectX 10 20 fps, DirectX 11 21 fps and GPU Compute 1,040 ops/s, across 2,222 submitted results. Frames per second are PassMark test-scene rates, not game frame rates.

Theoretical throughput

FP32 (single precision) 2.703 TFLOPS calculatedcalculated from shaders x boost clock (MHz) x 2 / 1e6 = 1536 x 880 x 2 / 1e6

Pixel fill rate 28.16 GPixel/s calculatedcalculated from ROPs x boost clock (MHz) / 1000 = 32 x 880 / 1000

Texture fill rate 84.48 GTexel/s calculatedcalculated from TMUs x boost clock (MHz) / 1000 = 96 x 880 / 1000

FP32 (single precision) (2.703 TFLOPS), Pixel fill rate (28.16 GPixel/s) and Texture fill rate (84.48 GTexel/s) are calculated by Feex from stored specifications, not stated by AMD.

As stated by PassMark

Category Desktop

Bus interface PCIe 2.1 x16

Max memory 2 GB

Core clock 880 MHz

Memory clock 1375 MHz

DirectX 11

OpenGL 4.4

Max TDP 250 W

First benchmarked 2012-08-20

Samples 2,222

PassMark listing (collected 2026-09-30)

PassMark's own listing for the AMD Radeon HD 6970 states the PCIe 2.1 x16 interface, up to 2 GB of memory, a core clock of 880 MHz, DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.4, first benchmarked on 2012-08-20. These are PassMark's figures, shown separately from the specification tables above.

Not to be confused with

This page covers the AMD Radeon HD 6970 specifically. It is a different product from AMD Radeon HD 6970M, which have their own specifications. Check the exact model name before comparing figures.

Graphics processor

Architecture TeraScale 3

Codename Cayman XT

Chip Not recorded

Process node 40 nm

Transistors 2,640 M

Die size 389 mm²

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 is based on the TeraScale 3 architecture, uses the Cayman XT graphics processor, is manufactured on a 40 nm process, contains 2,640 million transistors and has a die size of 389 mm².

Shader configuration

Shading units 1,536

Compute units Not recorded

Streaming multiprocessors Not recorded

Execution units Not recorded

Texture units (TMUs) 96

Render output units (ROPs) 32

Ray tracing cores Not recorded

Tensor / AI cores Not recorded

XMX engines Not recorded

Infinity cache Not recorded

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 has 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units and 32 render output units.

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 does not use XMX engines; those are specific to Intel Arc graphics. Feex has no recorded ray tracing core count for the AMD Radeon HD 6970.

Clock speeds

Base clock 880 MHz

Boost clock 880 MHz

Game clock Not recorded

Memory clock Not recorded

Effective memory clock Not recorded

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 runs at a base clock of 880 MHz and boosts to 880 MHz.

Memory

Size 2 GB

Type Not recorded

Bus width 256-bit

Bandwidth 176.0 GB/s

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 is equipped with 2 GB of memory, uses a 256-bit memory bus and delivers 176.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Board and power

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 has a board power rating of 250 W, a total board power of 550 W and it connects over PCIe 2.1 x16.

Board power (TDP) 250 W

Total board power 550 W

Suggested PSU Not recorded

Power connectors Not recorded

Slot width Not recorded

Length Not recorded

Width Not recorded

Height Not recorded

Cooler Not recorded

Max temperature Not recorded

Bus interface PCIe 2.1 x16

Market

Launched December 15, 2010

Launch price $369

Status Not recorded

Form factor Not recorded

Segment Desktop

Series Radeon HD 6000 Series

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 was released on December 15, 2010 and launched at a price of $369.

Benchmarks

PassMark G3D 2,829

PassMark G2D 436

Rank #788

Samples 2,222

Graphics and compute APIs

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 supports DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.4.

DirectX 11

OpenGL 4.4

CUDA is an NVIDIA technology and does not apply to the AMD Radeon HD 6970. Feex has no recorded Vulkan version for the AMD Radeon HD 6970. Feex has no recorded OpenCL version for the AMD Radeon HD 6970.

Display outputs

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 offers outputs HDMI, Dual Link DVI.

Outputs HDMI, Dual Link DVI

Frequently asked questions

How much VRAM does the AMD Radeon HD 6970 have?

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 has 2 GB of video memory on a 256-bit bus. Its memory bandwidth is 176.0 GB/s.

How much power does the AMD Radeon HD 6970 use and what power supply does it need?

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 has a board power rating of 250 W and a total board power of 550 W.

How fast is the AMD Radeon HD 6970?

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 scores 2,829 in the PassMark G3D benchmark, higher than 72% of the 2,658 GPUs benchmarked. Its PassMark rank is #788.

What bus interface does the AMD Radeon HD 6970 use?

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 connects over PCIe 2.1 x16.

When was the AMD Radeon HD 6970 released and how much did it cost at launch?

The AMD Radeon HD 6970 was released on December 15, 2010 and launched at a price of $369.

Corrections to this record

After an audit, 1 value on the AMD Radeon HD 6970 record was corrected. Each change is listed with its old value, new value, rule and sources.

Board power (TDP): ~~550 W~~ → 250 W. Rule: Two independent sources agree. 2 independent sources agree on 250 and contradict the stored 550. Sources: PassMark GPU benchmark list.

The audit log is public: all changes for this GPU, the corrections overview and the method.