GeForce GT 1030 vs GeForce GTX 960M

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GT 1030 and GeForce GTX 960M, 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 GT 1030 stacks up against GeForce GTX 960M, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 960M is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: GeForce GTX 960M 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 960M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GT 1030 GeForce GTX 960M
Power consumption (TDP) 30 Watt 75 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x4 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 4 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 960M has 150% more power consumption, than GeForce GT 1030.
  • GeForce GT 1030 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x4, and GeForce GTX 960M uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • GeForce GTX 960M has 2 GB more memory, than GeForce GT 1030.
  • GeForce GT 1030 is used in Desktops, and GeForce GTX 960M - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GT 1030 is build with Pascal architecture, and GeForce GTX 960M - with Maxwell.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GT 1030 is 132 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 960M.
  • GeForce GT 1030 is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and GeForce GTX 960M - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GT 1030 is 3500 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 960M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 12−14 18−20
ultra / 1080p 8−9 10−11
QHD / 1440p 2−3 4−5
4K / 2160p 4−5
low / 720p 27−30 35−40
medium / 1080p 16−18 21−24
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 960M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 38% more, than GeForce GT 1030.

Full Specs

  GeForce GT 1030 GeForce GTX 960M
Architecture Pascal Maxwell
Code name N17P-G1 N16P-GX
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 17 May 2017 12 March 2015
Pipelines 384 640
Core clock speed 1228 MHz 1096 MHz
Boost Clock 1670 MHz 1202 MHz
Transistor count 1,800 million 1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 35.23 47.04
Floating-point performance 1,127 gflops 1,505 gflops
Length 145 mm
Memory bus width 64 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 6000 MHz 2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 48.06 GB/s 80 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
VR Ready +
DirectX 12 (12_1) 12 (11_0)
Shader Model 6.4 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.5
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan 1.2.131 1.1.126
CUDA 6.1 +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.11 kh/s
CUDA cores 640
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 175 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
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