NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 960
10,767.510% of 104,598
Radeon RX 5500 XT81% better
19,49919% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 5500 XT has 81% 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 RX 5500 XT113% better
115.3871% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 5500 XT has 113% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 960 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop GeForce GTX 960
Shop Radeon RX 5500 XT
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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q1 2015 with a MSRP of $199. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM206) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 960 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,753 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 112.2 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The GTX 960 includes 1,024 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,127 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,178 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 64 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GTX 960 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 300 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 120 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GTX 960 has the 172nd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 10.29% 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 RX 5500 XT GPU

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q4 2019 with a MSRP of $169. It is built on the RDNA 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Navi 14) and is manufactured on a 7 nm process.

Memory

The RX 5500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 1,750 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 224 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RX 5500 XT includes 1,408 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,607 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,845 MHz. It usually operates at 1,717 MHz during typical gaming workloads. Complementing the processing units are 88 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RX 5500 XT occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 300 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 130 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RX 5500 XT has the 116th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 18.64% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 19,499 score and $169 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 115.38. This is the 8th 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 RX 5500 XT
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0RDNA 1.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2015Q4 2019
Launch Price (MSRP)$199$169
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for F1 24
F1 24
Display FPS for Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Display FPS for Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima
Display FPS for Dragon's Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2
Display FPS for Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Forbidden West
Display FPS for Alone in the Dark (2024)
Alone in the Dark (2024)
Display FPS for Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest

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 F1 24
F1 24
GeForce GTX 960Radeon RX 5500 XT
Low - 1080p
--
158 FPS
Medium - 1080p
--
133 FPS
High - 1080p
--
97 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
--
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
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 RX 5500 XT

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 RX 5500 XT

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 960
10,767.510% of 104,598
Radeon RX 5500 XT81% better
19,49919% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 5500 XT has 81% better performance than the GeForce GTX 960 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 960 is ranked 172nd with a score of 10,767.5, and the Radeon RX 5500 XT is ranked 116th with a score of 19,499.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 960
54.1134% of 161.45
Radeon RX 5500 XT113% better
115.3871% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 5500 XT has 113% 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 RX 5500 XT is ranked 8th with a performance per dollar of 115.38.

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
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER21,980.5+104%
GeForce GTX 166021,063.5+96%
Radeon RX 5500 XT19,499+81%
Radeon RX 57018,967+76%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER18,224.5+69%
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%

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
Arc A750129.02+138%
Arc A770125.54+132%
Radeon RX 5500 XT115.38+113%
Radeon RX 6500 XT115.35+113%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER114.62+112%
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 RX 5500 XT
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
4,941
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
5,518
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
49,917.5
86,609
(+73.5%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
7,915.5
14,305
(+80.72%)
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
--
57,618
3DMark 11 Performance Score
9,875.5
19,887
(+101.38%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
120
--
PassMark G3D Mark
6,079
9,139
(+50.34%)
PassMark G2D Mark
682
769
(+12.76%)
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 RX 5500 XT
CodenameGM206Navi 14
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0RDNA 1.0
Process Size28 nm7 nm
Transistors2,940 million6,400 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 RX 5500 XT
Memory Size2 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR6
Memory Bandwidth112.2 Gb/s224 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz1,750 MHz
Memory Interface128 bit128 bit
L1 Cache48 KB--
L2 Cache1,024 KB2 MB

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 RX 5500 XT
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x8
Thermal Design Power (TDP)120 W130 W
Suggested PSU300 W300 W
Power Connectors1x 6-pin1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a

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 RX 5500 XT
Stream Processors (SP)--1,408
CUDA Cores1,024--
Compute Units (CU)--22
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)6488
Render Output Units (ROP)3232
Core Clock Speed1,127 MHz1,607 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,178 MHz1,845 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Game)--1,717 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 RX 5500 XT
Pixel Fill Rate37.7 GPixel/s59.04 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate75.39 GTexel/s162.4 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance2.41 TFLOPS5.2 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance75.39 GFLOPS324.7 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 RX 5500 XT
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_1)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.8

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