GeForce GTX 960M vs GeForce GTX 970M

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GTX 970M, 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 GTX 960M stacks up against GeForce GTX 970M, check out specs charts below.

GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GTX 970M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GTX 970M are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 or GeForce GTX 970M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 960M GeForce GTX 970M
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt
Interface MXM-B (3.0) MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 6 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • Both video cards are using MXM-B (3.0) interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 970M has 2 GB more memory, than GeForce GTX 960M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GTX 970M are build with Maxwell architecture.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 960M is 172 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 970M.
  • GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GTX 970M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 960M and GeForce GTX 970M is 2500 MHz.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 18−20 35−40
ultra / 1080p 10−11 21−24
QHD / 1440p 4−5 16−18
4K / 2160p 4−5 10−11
low / 720p 35−40 60−65
medium / 1080p 21−24 40−45
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 970M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 100% more, than GeForce GTX 960M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 960M GeForce GTX 970M
Architecture Maxwell Maxwell
Code name N16P-GX GM204
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 12 March 2015 7 October 2014
Pipelines 640 1280
Core clock speed 1096 MHz 924 MHz
Boost Clock 1202 MHz 1038 MHz
Transistor count 1,870 million 5,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 47.04 83.04
Floating-point performance 1,505 gflops 2,657 gflops
Memory bus width 128 Bit 192 Bit
Memory clock speed 2500 MHz 2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 80 GB/s 120 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
DirectX 12 (11_0) 12 (12_1)
Shader Model 5.1 6.4
OpenGL 4.5 4.5
OpenCL 1.2 1.1
Vulkan 1.1.126 1.1.126
CUDA + +
CUDA cores 640 1280
Bus support PCI Express 3.0 PCI Express 3.0
SLI options + +
HDMI + +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 175 Mh/s 314 Mh/s
Laptop size medium sized large
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support + +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder + +
Optimus + +
GameStream + +
GeForce ShadowPlay + +
GPU Boost 2.0 2.0
GameWorks + +
BatteryBoost + +
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