AMD Radeon HD 6970M
The AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6970M (or sometimes called ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6970) is a high-end graphics card normally reserved for big and heavy laptops. It is based on the desktop HD 6850 graphics card and therefore features UVD3 video processing and Eyefinity+. The codename of this GPU is Blackcomb XT and it should have comparable power consumption results as the GeForce GTX 480M.
The 960 Stream processors are still based on the "old" 5D architecture similar to the 5000 series. Therefore, the number of shaders is not comparable to the 1D cores of current Nvidia GPUs. The Tessellation performance should be improved (like the desktop 6800 series) with the new cards. The Stream processors can be used with DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL. With the latter two, the 6970M can also be used for general computations such as transcoding videos.
The 3D performance of this card lies between the GeForce GTX 470M and 485M, both of which are high-end notebook GPUs. In our tests, the 6970M is on average 33% faster than a GeForce GTX 480M, but the newer GTX 485M is still about 12% faster than the AMD card. Compared to the previous generation ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, the Radeon 6970M is about 50% faster, but has greater power demands.
For gamers, this means that the Radeon HD 6970M is able to fluently display all most modern games in high detail settings. Only Crysis and Metro 2033 stutter in the highest detail settings at 1920x1080 resolution (see below).
The new UVD3 video decoder supports the decoding of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, Flash and now also Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos on the graphics card.
Furthermore, the HD 6900M series integrates an HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and/or DisplayPort (e.g. for Blu-Ray videos).
The AMD HD3D Technology offers support for Blu-Ray 3D and 3D displays (integrated and external). However, the solution is not as mature as Nvidia's 3D Vision.
Thanks to Eyefinity, the graphics chip is able to theoretically drive up to 6 monitors simultaneously. However, this only works if the laptop features enough video outputs.
The power consumption of the 6790M should be similar to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 480M / 485M and is therefore at about 100 Watts when considering the MXM board and the 2 GB GDDR5 memory. Eurocom, for example, states that the TDP ranges from about 75-100 Watts. As a result, the card is only suited for large laptops with good cooling solutions.
Manufacturer | AMD |
Radeon HD 6900M Series | |
Codename | Blackcomb XT |
Architecture | Terascale 2 |
Pipelines | 960 - unified |
Core Speed | 680 MHz |
Memory Speed | 900 MHz |
Memory Bus Width | 256 Bit |
Memory Type | GDDR5 |
Max. Amount of Memory | 2048 MB |
Shared Memory | no |
DirectX | DirectX 11, Shader 5.0 |
Transistor Count | 1700 Million |
technology | 40 nm |
Notebook Size | large |
Date of Announcement | 06.01.2011 |
Link to Manufacturer Page | http://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/... |
Benchmarks
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 2983 avg: 3066 median: 3054 (7%) max: 3143 Points
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB -2%
AMD Radeon HD 6790 5%
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3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 2774 avg: 2821 median: 2818.5 (5%) max: 2874 Points
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 0%
AMD Radeon HD 6790 2%
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3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 11091 avg: 12056 median: 11898 (12%) max: 13412 Points
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ATI Radeon HD 5770 -3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 2%
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3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 10895 avg: 11385 median: 11499 (11%) max: 11645 Points
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AMD Radeon HD 6790 5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 5%
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3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
min: 53658 avg: 56456 median: 56921 (30%) max: 58788 Points
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ATI Radeon HD 5770 -12%
AMD Radeon HD 6790 3%
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3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 18890 avg: 21991 median: 22213 (32%) max: 24871 Points
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3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings +20155 points (37%)
3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings |
Alienware M17x Pre-Sample  | 2720QM | 4 GB | | | 20155 |
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3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +min: 14047 avg: 17190 median: 17447 (32%) max: 19907 Points
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 4%
ATI Radeon HD 5770 4%
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Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high
min: 33 avg: 33.3 median: 33.2 (6%) max: 33.7 fps
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti -4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 0%
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SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 snx-01
min: 9.25 avg: 9.9 median: 10.2 (7%) max: 10.35 fps
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 0%
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specvp11 tcvis-02 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 tcvis-02
min: 4.13 avg: 5.7 median: 6.1 (10%) max: 6.81 fps
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ATI Radeon HD 5770 34%
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specvp11 sw-02 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 sw-02
min: 16.02 avg: 21 median: 22.3 (27%) max: 24.63 fps
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ATI Radeon HD 5770 30%
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specvp11 proe-05 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 proe-05
min: 1.45 avg: 1.9 median: 1.9 (8%) max: 2.31 fps
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specvp11 maya-03 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 maya-03
min: 7.66 avg: 10.8 median: 11.5 (9%) max: 13.22 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 -86%
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specvp11 lightwave-01 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 lightwave-01
min: 20.59 avg: 25.2 median: 25.7 (28%) max: 29.34 fps
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ATI Radeon HD 5770 29%
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specvp11 ensight-04 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 ensight-04
min: 17.64 avg: 18.8 median: 19.2 (9%) max: 19.46 fps
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ATI Radeon HD 5770 6%
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specvp11 catia-03 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 catia-03
min: 5.34 avg: 6.9 median: 7.2 (9%) max: 8.09 fps
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Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
7.6 Points (96%)
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 1%
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Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
7.6 Points (96%)
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 1%
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Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
min: 6890 avg: 7968 median: 7951.5 (38%) max: 9080 points
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Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
min: 40.3 avg: 53.3 median: 55.6 (25%) max: 61.87 fps
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ATI Radeon HD 5670 0%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 3%
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- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card

- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 16%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 13%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 46%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 42%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 12%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -1%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -5%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 2%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -32%
ATI Radeon HD 5850 32%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -26%
ATI Radeon HD 5850 36%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -26%
ATI Radeon HD 5850 40%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 10%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 28%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 33%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 14%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 15%
ATI Radeon HD 5850 35%
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 19%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 3%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 12%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 26%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 26%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -13%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 10%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 15%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB 22%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -16%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB -4%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 -21%
ATI Radeon HD 5850 -6%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 -23%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 -23%
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