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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 vs AMD Radeon R9 380

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 960
10,767.510% of 104,937
Radeon R9 38013% better
12,19112% of 104,937

The Radeon R9 380 has 13% better performance than the GeForce GTX 960 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 960
54.1134% of 161.45
Radeon R9 38013% better
61.2638% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 380 has 13% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 960 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop GeForce GTX 960
Shop Radeon R9 380
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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 GPU

The GeForce GTX 960 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q1 2015 with a suggested retail price of $199. Its GM206 chip that powers the GPU uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,753 MHz memory clock and 128 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 112.2 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The GTX 960 is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 120 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 300 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The GeForce GTX 960 has the 168th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 10.26% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 10,767.5 score and $199 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 54.11. This is the 61st best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 380 GPU

The Radeon R9 380 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q2 2015 with a suggested retail price of $199. Its Antigua chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 3.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,375 MHz memory clock and 256 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 176 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The R9 380 is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 190 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 450 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The Radeon R9 380 has the 157th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 11.62% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 12,191 score and $199 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 61.26. This is the 53rd best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 3.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2015Q2 2015
Launch Price (MSRP)$199$199
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Display FPS for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3
Display FPS for Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V
Display FPS for BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider
GeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
Low - 768p
113 FPS
--
Medium - 768p
71 FPS
--
High - 1080p
44 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
36 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD
17 FPS
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 960 orRadeon R9 380

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 960 orRadeon R9 380

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 960
10,767.510% of 104,937
Radeon R9 38013% better
12,19112% of 104,937

The Radeon R9 380 has 13% better performance than the GeForce GTX 960 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 960 is ranked 168th with a score of 10,767.5, and the Radeon R9 380 is ranked 157th with a score of 12,191.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 960
54.1134% of 161.45
Radeon R9 38013% better
61.2638% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 380 has 13% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 960 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 960 is ranked 61st with a performance per dollar of 54.11, and the Radeon R9 380 is ranked 53rd with a performance per dollar of 61.26.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 960 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5+50%
GeForce GTX 97016,033+49%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619+45%
GeForce GTX 165013,645+27%
Radeon R9 38012,191+13%
Radeon R9 280X10,792+0%
GeForce GTX 96010,767.5
GeForce GTX 68010,216.5-5%
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti9,453-12%
GeForce GTX 5909,166.5-15%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 960 or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Radeon RX 48078.25+45%
GeForce RTX 206077.83+44%
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti68.01+26%
Radeon R9 38061.26+13%
GeForce GT 103059.84+11%
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)58.2+8%
Radeon R7 37057.17+6%
GeForce GTX 96054.11
GeForce GTX 95052.52-3%
GeForce GTX 97048.73-10%

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
49,917.5
50,723
(+1.61%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
7,915.5
8,218
(+3.82%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
9,875.5
11,264
(+14.06%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
120
--
PassMark G3D Mark
6,072
6,147
(+1.24%)
PassMark G2D Mark
665
(+0.45%)
662
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
CodenameGM206Antigua
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 3.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors2,940 million5,000 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
Memory Size2 GB2 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth112.2 Gb/s176 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz1,375 MHz
Memory Interface128 bit256 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache1,024 KB512 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)120 W190 W
Suggested PSU300 W450 W
Power Connectors1x 6-pin2x 6-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
Stream Processors (SP)--1,792
CUDA Cores1,024--
Compute Units (CU)--28
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)64112
Render Output Units (ROP)3232
Core Clock Speed1,127 MHz970 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,178 MHz--

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
Pixel Fill Rate37.7 GPixel/s31.04 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate75.39 GTexel/s108.6 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance2.41 TFLOPS3.48 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance75.39 GFLOPS217.3 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecGeForce GTX 960Radeon R9 380
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.76.5

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.