GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon RX 6400
The Radeon RX 6400 is a big jump in performance — leading the GeForce GTX 970 by roughly 20% in our performance index. It also comes out ahead on value, making it the straightforward pick if the price fits your budget.
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Radeon RX 6400 vs GeForce GTX 970: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 6400 vs GeForce GTX 970
The Radeon RX 6400 is significantly faster, around 20% ahead of the GeForce GTX 970. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
On price, expect to pay $196 CAD for the Radeon RX 6400 versus $288 CAD for the GeForce GTX 970. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the Radeon RX 6400 wins on performance-per-dollar by about 76%. The GeForce GTX 970 is trading below its $329 CAD MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
The Radeon RX 6400 draws just 53W versus 145W for the GeForce GTX 970, and it also delivers more performance per watt — so it runs cooler and quieter and needs less PSU headroom. Its more modern RDNA 2 architecture on a TSMC N6 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 6400 is roughly 8 years newer than the GeForce GTX 970 (RDNA 2 vs Maxwell), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the GeForce GTX 970 brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon RX 6400 offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 6400?
The Radeon RX 6400 is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the GeForce GTX 970 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Radeon RX 6400 better than the GeForce GTX 970?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce GTX 970 or the Radeon RX 6400?
Is the GeForce GTX 970 worth the extra $92 CAD over the Radeon RX 6400?
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 6400?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce GTX 970 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Maxwell | RDNA 2 |
| Process Node | TSMC 28nm | TSMC N6 |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 1,664✓ | 768 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | — | 12 |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce GTX 970 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,050 MHz | 1,923 MHz✓ |
| Boost Clock | 1,178 MHz | 2,321 MHz✓ |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce GTX 970 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 256-bit✓ | 64-bit |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps | 16 Gbps✓ |
| Bandwidth | 224.3 GB/s✓ | 128 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce GTX 970 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| TDP | 145 W | 53 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 2x 6-pin | None |
| Released | Sep 2014 | Jan 2022 |