NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M vs AMD Radeon HD 7870M

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 960M95% better
5,2785% of 104,598
Radeon HD 7870M
2,7023% of 104,598

The GeForce GTX 960M has 95% better performance than the Radeon HD 7870M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 960M
No data available
Radeon HD 7870M
No data available

We do not have any performance per dollar data for the GeForce GTX 960M and the Radeon HD 7870M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q1 2015. It is built on the Maxwell GPU microarchitecture (codename GM107) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 960M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,253 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 80.19 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 960M includes 640 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,097 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,176 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 40 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 16 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 75 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The GTX 960M has the 243rd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 5.05% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon HD 7870M GPU

The AMD Radeon HD 7870M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q2 2012. It is built on the GCN 1.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Heathrow) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The HD 7870M has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,000 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 64 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 HD 7870M includes 640 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 800 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 40 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 16 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 45 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The HD 7870M has the 316th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 2.58% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

General Info

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

InfoGeForce GTX 960MRadeon HD 7870M
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwellGCN 1.0
Market SegmentMobileMobile
Release DateQ1 2015Q2 2012
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 Rage 2
Rage 2
Display FPS for Anno 1800
Anno 1800
Display FPS for Tom Clancy's The Division 2
The Division 2
Display FPS for Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0
Display FPS for Anthem
Anthem
Display FPS for Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn
Display FPS for Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus

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 Rage 2
Rage 2
GeForce GTX 960MRadeon HD 7870M
Low - 720p
33 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
16 FPS
--
High - 1080p
14 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
13 FPS
--
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 960M orRadeon HD 7870M
GPUFrames Per Second
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile25+88%
GeForce GTX 965M24.1+81%
Iris Xe MAX23.2+74%
GeForce MX35015+13%
GeForce MX25014+5%
GeForce GTX 960M13.3
GeForce MX33012.9-3%
GeForce MX2304.1-69%

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 960M orRadeon HD 7870M
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 960M95% better
5,2785% of 104,598
Radeon HD 7870M
2,7023% of 104,598

The GeForce GTX 960M has 95% better performance than the Radeon HD 7870M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 960M is ranked 243rd with a score of 5,278, and the Radeon HD 7870M is ranked 316th with a score of 2,702.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 960M
No data available
Radeon HD 7870M
No data available

We do not have any performance per dollar data for the GeForce GTX 960M and the Radeon HD 7870M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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 960M or
GPUBenchmark Performance
Quadro M12005,310+1%
Radeon Pro 5605,305+1%
GeForce GTX 960M5,278
Radeon Pro 5555,185-2%
Quadro M2000M5,143-3%
GeForce GT 755M2,800.5-47%
GeForce GTX 485M2,709-49%
Radeon HD 7870M2,702-49%
GeForce GTX 670M2,698-49%
Quadro 5010M2,693-49%

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 960M orRadeon HD 7870M
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Our database does not have enough data to compare the benchmark performance per dollar with other GPUs.

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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
1,148
--
3DMark Time Spy Score
1,202
--
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
30,085.5
--
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
4,318
--
3DMark 11 Performance Score
5,535.5
(+82.27%)
3,037
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
81.4
--
PassMark G3D Mark
3,379
(+124.22%)
1,507
PassMark G2D Mark
245
551
(+124.9%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
56.2
--
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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
CodenameGM107Heathrow
ArchitectureMaxwellGCN 1.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors1,870 million1,500 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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
Memory Size4 GB2 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth80.19 Gb/s64 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,253 MHz1,000 MHz
Memory Interface128 bit128 bit
L1 Cache64 KB16 KB
L2 Cache2 MB256 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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
Bus InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)75 W45 W
OutputsDevice DependentDevice Dependent

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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
Stream Processors (SP)--640
CUDA Cores640--
Compute Units (CU)--10
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)4040
Render Output Units (ROP)1616
Core Clock Speed1,097 MHz800 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,176 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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
Pixel Fill Rate18.82 GPixel/s12.8 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate47.04 GTexel/s32 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance1.51 TFLOPS1,024 GFLOPS
FP64 Performance47.04 GFLOPS64 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 960MRadeon HD 7870M
DirectX12 (11_0)12 (11_1)
OpenCL3.02.1 (1.2)
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.7 (5.1)6.5 (5.1)

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