NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 vs AMD Radeon 660M

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 970141% better
16,03315% of 104,737
Radeon 660M
6,651.56% of 104,737

The GeForce GTX 970 has 141% better performance than the Radeon 660M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 970
48.7330% of 161.45
Radeon 660M
No data available

The GeForce GTX 970 has 30% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q3 2014 with a MSRP of $329. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM204) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 970 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,753 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 224.4 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 970 includes 1,664 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,050 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,178 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 104 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 56 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GTX 970 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 148 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GTX 970 has the 138th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 15.31% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 16,033 score and $329 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 48.73. This is the 66th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon 660M GPU

The AMD Radeon 660M is a mobile graphics card that launched in Q1 2022. It is built on the RDNA 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Rembrandt) and is manufactured on a 6 nm process.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The 660M includes 384 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,500 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,900 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 24 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 16 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 6 ray accelerators dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 40 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The 660M has the 224th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 6.35% 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 970Radeon 660M
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0RDNA 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopMobile
Release DateQ3 2014Q1 2022
Launch Price (MSRP)$329--
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 Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest
Display FPS for Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3
Display FPS for F1 23
F1 23
Display FPS for Riders Republic
Riders Republic
Display FPS for Diablo 4
Diablo 4
Display FPS for Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6

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 970Radeon 660M
Low - 1080p
--
32 FPS
Medium - 1080p
--
27 FPS
High - 1080p
--
20 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 970 orRadeon 660M
GPUFrames Per Second
GeForce MX45020.4+3%
Radeon 660M19.8

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 970 orRadeon 660M
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 970141% better
16,03315% of 104,737
Radeon 660M
6,651.56% of 104,737

The GeForce GTX 970 has 141% better performance than the Radeon 660M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 970 is ranked 138th with a score of 16,033, and the Radeon 660M is ranked 224th with a score of 6,651.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 970
48.7330% of 161.45
Radeon 660M
No data available

The GeForce GTX 970 has 74% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

GeForce GTX 970's 48.73 performance per dollar ranks it 66th among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

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 970 or

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 970 orRadeon 660M
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)58.2+19%
Radeon R7 37057.17+17%
Radeon VII54.19+11%
GeForce GTX 96054.11+11%
GeForce GTX 95052.52+8%
GeForce GTX 97048.73
Radeon R9 390X41.83-14%
Radeon R9 280X36.09-26%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53-27%
GeForce GTX 98032.07-34%

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 970Radeon 660M
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
3,544
(+132.7%)
1,523
3DMark Time Spy Score
3,693
(+117.24%)
1,700
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
72,819
(+133.54%)
31,180
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
11,954
(+152.49%)
4,734.5
3DMark 11 Performance Score
13,249
(+89.18%)
7,003.5
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
141.6
(+18.3%)
119.7
PassMark G3D Mark
9,638
--
PassMark G2D Mark
775
--
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 970Radeon 660M
CodenameGM204Rembrandt
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0RDNA 2.0
Process Size28 nm6 nm
Transistors5,200 million13,100 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 970Radeon 660M
Memory Size4 GBSystem Shared
Memory TypeGDDR5System Shared
Memory Bandwidth224.4 Gb/sSystem Dependent
Memory Clock1,753 MHzSystem Shared
Memory Interface256 bitSystem Shared
L1 Cache48 KB128 KB
L2 Cache2 MB2 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 970Radeon 660M
Slots2 slots--
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x8
Thermal Design Power (TDP)148 W40 W
Suggested PSU300 W--
Power Connectors2x 6-pin--
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2Device 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 970Radeon 660M
Stream Processors (SP)--384
CUDA Cores1,664--
Compute Units (CU)--6
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)10424
Render Output Units (ROP)5616
Ray Accelerators--6
Core Clock Speed1,050 MHz1,500 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,178 MHz1,900 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 970Radeon 660M
Pixel Fill Rate65.97 GPixel/s30.4 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate122.5 GTexel/s45.6 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance3.92 TFLOPS1,459 GFLOPS
FP64 Performance122.5 GFLOPS91.2 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 970Radeon 660M
DirectX12 (12_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
OpenCL3.02.0
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.