GeForce GTX 970 vs Geforce GTX 680

Intro

Compare those specifications to the Geforce GTX 680, which features a clock frequency of 1006 MHz and a GDDR5 memory speed of 1502 MHz. It also features a 256-bit bus, and makes use of a 28 nm design. It features 1536 SPUs, 128 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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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 970		10867 points
Geforce GTX 680		7650 points
	Difference: 3217 (42%)

Ethereum Mining Hash Rate

GeForce GTX 970		19 Mh/s
Geforce GTX 680		16 Mh/s
	Difference: 3 (19%)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 970		145 Watts
Geforce GTX 680		195 Watts
	Difference: 50 Watts (34%)

Memory Bandwidth

Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 970 should theoretically be a bit superior to the Geforce GTX 680 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 970		224000 MB/sec
Geforce GTX 680		192256 MB/sec
	Difference: 31744 (17%)

Texel Rate

The Geforce GTX 680 is a bit (more or less 18%) better at AF than the GeForce GTX 970. (explain)

Geforce GTX 680		128768 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 970		109200 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 19568 (18%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 970 should be quite a bit (more or less 109%) more effective at FSAA than the Geforce GTX 680, and capable of handling higher screen resolutions without losing too much performance. (explain)

GeForce GTX 970		67200 Mpixels/sec
Geforce GTX 680		32192 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 35008 (109%)

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 largest amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR memory, the result should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the card's 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 can be processed in one second. This figure is worked out by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the video card will be at texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed in one second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum amount of pixels the video card could possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - also called Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel output rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.