GeForce GTX 870M vs GeForce GTX 960M

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 960M, which comes with GPU core speed of 1096 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 1000 MHz through a 128-bit bus. It also is comprised of 640 SPUs, 40 TAUs, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

Display Graphs

Hide Graphs

Benchmarks

These are real-world performance benchmarks that were submitted by Hardware Compare users. The scores seen here are the average of all benchmarks submitted for each respective test and hardware.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics Score

GeForce GTX 870M		4770 points
GeForce GTX 960M		4350 points
	Difference: 420 (10%)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 960M		65 Watts
GeForce GTX 870M		110 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (69%)

Memory Bandwidth

The GeForce GTX 870M should in theory be a lot faster than the GeForce GTX 960M overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 870M		96000 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 960M		64000 MB/sec
	Difference: 32000 (50%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 870M should be a lot (approximately 140%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 960M. (explain)

GeForce GTX 870M		105392 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 960M		43840 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 61552 (140%)

Pixel Rate

If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GTX 870M is a better choice, and very much so. (explain)

GeForce GTX 870M		22584 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 960M		17536 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 5048 (29%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be transported past the external memory interface within a second. It's calculated by multiplying the card's bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR type RAM, the result should be multiplied by 2 once again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The better the memory bandwidth, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that are processed per second. This number is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher this number, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels the video card can possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is worked out by multiplying the amount of ROPs by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also sometimes called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.