NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 970
16,03315% of 104,598
GeForce RTX 206069% better
27,162.526% of 104,598

The GeForce RTX 2060 has 69% better performance than the GeForce GTX 970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 970
48.7330% of 161.45
GeForce RTX 206060% better
77.8348% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 2060 has 60% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop GeForce GTX 970
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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 15.33% 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 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q1 2019 with a MSRP of $349. It is built on the Turing GPU microarchitecture (codename TU106) and is manufactured on a 12 nm process.

Memory

The RTX 2060 has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 1,750 MHz memory clock and a 192 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 336 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 RTX 2060 includes 1,920 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,365 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,680 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 120 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 48 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 240 tensor cores optimized for AI-accelerated workloads and 30 RT cores dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RTX 2060 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4a, USB Type-C display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 160 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RTX 2060 has the 88th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 25.97% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 27,162.5 score and $349 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 77.83. This is the 39th 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 970GeForce RTX 2060
ManufacturerNVIDIANVIDIA
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0Turing
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2014Q1 2019
Launch Price (MSRP)$329$349
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Crysis Remastered
Crysis Remastered
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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
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Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Display FPS for Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Display FPS for DIRT 5
DIRT 5
Display FPS for Watch Dogs: Legion
Watch Dogs: Legion
Display FPS for FIFA 21
FIFA 21

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 Crysis Remastered
Crysis Remastered
GeForce GTX 970GeForce RTX 2060
Low - 720p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
--
138 FPS
High - 1080p
--
71 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
50 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
28 FPS
4K UHD - 2160p
--
18 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 970 orGeForce RTX 2060

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 orGeForce RTX 2060
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX 5700 XT14.25-28%
GeForce RTX 306014.49-27%
Radeon RX 570015.17-23%
GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER16.22-18%
GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER17.51-12%
GeForce RTX 206019.83
Radeon RX Vega 6421.32+8%
GeForce RTX 207022.28+12%
Radeon VII22.77+15%
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER22.84+15%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 970
16,03315% of 104,598
GeForce RTX 206069% better
27,162.526% of 104,598

The GeForce RTX 2060 has 69% better performance than the GeForce GTX 970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 970 is ranked 138th with a score of 16,033, and the GeForce RTX 2060 is ranked 88th with a score of 27,162.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 970
48.7330% of 161.45
GeForce RTX 206060% better
77.8348% of 161.45

The GeForce RTX 2060 has 60% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 970 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 970 is ranked 66th with a performance per dollar of 48.73, and the GeForce RTX 2060 is ranked 39th with a performance per dollar of 77.83.

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
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce RTX 306028,375+77%
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti27,503+72%
GeForce RTX 206027,162.5+69%
GeForce GTX 107024,652+54%
Radeon RX 59023,362.5+46%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282+8%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5+1%
GeForce GTX 97016,033
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619-3%
GeForce GTX 165013,645-15%

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 970 or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti82.05+68%
Radeon RX 48078.25+61%
GeForce RTX 206077.83+60%
GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER74.36+53%
Radeon RX Vega 5672.9+50%
GeForce GTX 96054.11+11%
GeForce GTX 95052.52+8%
GeForce GTX 97048.73
Radeon R9 390X41.83-14%
Radeon R9 280X36.09-26%

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 970GeForce RTX 2060
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
3,544
7,732
(+118.17%)
3DMark Time Spy Score
3,693
7,878
(+113.32%)
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
72,819
107,083
(+47.05%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
11,954
19,338
(+61.77%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
13,249
22,982
(+73.46%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
141.6
--
PassMark G3D Mark
9,638
14,147
(+46.78%)
PassMark G2D Mark
767
(+3.65%)
740
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 970GeForce RTX 2060
CodenameGM204TU106
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0Turing
Process Size28 nm12 nm
Transistors5,200 million10,800 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 970GeForce RTX 2060
Memory Size4 GB6 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR6
Memory Bandwidth224.4 Gb/s336 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz1,750 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit192 bit
L1 Cache48 KB64 KB
L2 Cache2 MB3 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 970GeForce RTX 2060
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)148 W160 W
Suggested PSU300 W450 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4a, USB Type-C

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 970GeForce RTX 2060
CUDA Cores1,6641,920
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)--30
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)104120
Render Output Units (ROP)5648
Tensor Cores--240
Ray Tracing Cores--30
Core Clock Speed1,050 MHz1,365 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,178 MHz1,680 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 970GeForce RTX 2060
Pixel Fill Rate65.97 GPixel/s80.64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate122.5 GTexel/s201.6 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance3.92 TFLOPS6.45 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance122.5 GFLOPS201.6 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 970GeForce RTX 2060
DirectX12 (12_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
OpenCL3.03.0
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.