GeForce 720A vs GeForce GTX 870M

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce 720A and GeForce GTX 870M, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce 720A stacks up against GeForce GTX 870M, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 870M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 870M is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with GeForce GTX 870M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce 720A GeForce GTX 870M
Power consumption (TDP) 33 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type DDR3 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 6 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 870M has 203% more power consumption, than GeForce 720A.
  • GeForce 720A is connected by PCIe 2.0 x16, and GeForce GTX 870M uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 870M has 5 GB more memory, than GeForce 720A.
  • GeForce 720A is used in Desktops, and GeForce GTX 870M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce 720A is build with Fermi 2.0 architecture, and GeForce GTX 870M - with Kepler.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 870M is 166 MHz higher, than GeForce 720A.
  • GeForce 720A and GeForce GTX 870M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 0−1 16−18
ultra / 1080p 10−11
QHD / 1440p 0−1 4−5
low / 720p 1−2 35−40
medium / 1080p 0−1 21−24
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 870M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 3600% more, than GeForce 720A.

Full Specs

  GeForce 720A GeForce GTX 870M
Architecture Fermi 2.0 Kepler
Code name GF117 N15P-GT
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 1 July 2014 12 March 2014
Pipelines 96 1344
Core clock speed 775 MHz 941 MHz
Boost Clock 938 MHz 967 MHz
Transistor count 585 million 3,540 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 15.01 108.3
Floating-point performance 360.2 gflops 2,599 gflops
Memory bus width 64 Bit 192 Bit
Memory clock speed 2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 16 GB/s 120.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (11_0) 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 5.1 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.5
OpenCL 1.1 1.1
Vulkan N/A 1.1.126
CUDA 2.1 +
CUDA cores 1344
Bus support PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 82 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Standard memory configuration GDDR5
eDP 1.2 signal support Up to 3840x2160
LVDS signal support Up to 1920x1200
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support Up to 3840x2160
HDCP content protection +
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI +
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
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