Your Graphics Research
Your Graphics Research
| Recommended System Requirements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game | GeForce GTX 970 EVGA Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB Edition | GeForce GTX 960 2GB |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7% | 71% |
| Assassins Creed: Valhalla | 3% | 57% |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | 6% | 52% |
| FIFA 21 | 46% | 14% |
| Grand Theft Auto VI | 50% | 141% |
| Far Cry 6 | 54% | 148% |
| Genshin Impact | 7% | 71% |
| Hitman 3 | 39% | 123% |
| Watch Dogs Legion | 3% | 65% |
| World of Warcraft: Shadowlands | 53% | 145% |
In terms of overall gaming performance, the graphical capabilities of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 EVGA Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB Edition are significantly better than the Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 2GB.
The GTX 970 has a 38 MHz higher core clock speed and 40 more Texture Mapping Units than the GTX 960. This results in the GTX 970 providing 49.1 GTexel/s better texturing performance. This still holds weight but shader performance is generally more relevant, particularly since both of these GPUs support at least DirectX 10.
The GTX 970 has a 38 MHz higher core clock speed and 24 more Render Output Units than the GTX 960. This results in the GTX 970 providing 29.1 GPixel/s better pixeling performance. However, both GPUs support DirectX 9 or above, and pixeling performance is only really relevant when comparing older cards.
The GTX 960 was released less than a year after the GTX 970, and so they are likely to have similar driver support for optimizing performance when running the latest games.
Both GPUs exhibit very powerful performance, so it probably isn't worth upgrading from one to the other, as both are capable of running even the most demanding games at the highest settings.
The GTX 970 has 2048 MB more video memory than the GTX 960, so is likely to be much better at displaying game textures at higher resolutions. This is supported by the fact that the GTX 970 also has superior memory performance overall.
The GTX 970 has 112.2 GB/sec greater memory bandwidth than the GTX 960, which means that the memory performance of the GTX 970 is massively better than the GTX 960.
The GeForce GTX 970 EVGA Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB Edition has 1664 Shader Processing Units and the GeForce GTX 960 2GB has 1024. However, the actual shader performance of the GTX 970 is 2959 and the actual shader performance of the GTX 960 is 1628. The GTX 970 having 1331 better shader performance and an altogether better performance when taking into account other relevant data means that the GTX 970 delivers a massively smoother and more efficient experience when processing graphical data than the GTX 960.
The GeForce GTX 970 EVGA Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB Edition requires 150 Watts to run and the GeForce GTX 960 2GB requires 120 Watts. We would recommend a PSU with at least 500 Watts for the GTX 970 and a PSU with at least 400 Watts for the GTX 960. The GTX 970 requires 30 Watts more than the GTX 960 to run. The difference is not significant enough for the GTX 970 to have a noticeably larger impact on your yearly electricity bills than the GTX 960.
| Core Speed | 1165 MHz |  | vs | 1127 MHz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boost Clock | 1317 MHz | | vs | 1178 MHz | |
| Architecture | Maxwell GM204-200-A1 | Maxwell GM206-300-A1 | |||
| OC Potential | Poor | vs |
| Good | |
| Driver Support | Great | vs | Great | ||
| Release Date | 19 Sep 2014 | vs | | 22 Jan 2015 | |
| GPU Link | GD Link | GD Link | |||
| Approved | | | |||
| Comparison | |||||
| 1366x768 | 10
|
|
vs | |
10
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600x900 | 10
|
|
vs | |
10
|
| 1920x1080 | 10
|
|
vs | 8.2
|
|
| 2560x1440 | 7.6
|
|
vs | 5.9
|
|
| 3840x2160 | 5.7
|
|
vs | 4.3
|
|
| Memory | 4096 MB | | vs | 2048 MB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 1753 MHz | | vs | | 1753 MHz |
| Memory Bus | 256 Bit | | vs | 128 Bit | |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | | vs | | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 224.4GB/sec | | vs | 112.2GB/sec | |
| L2 Cache | 1792 KB | |
vs | 1024 KB | |
| Delta Color Compression | yes | vs | yes | ||
| Memory Performance | 0% | |
vs | |
0% |
| Comparison | |||||
| Shader Processing Units | 1664 | | vs | 1024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Shader Performance | 100% | | vs | 78% | |
| Technology | 28nm | | vs | | 28nm |
| Texture Mapping Units | 104 | | vs | 64 | |
| Texture Rate | 121.2 GTexel/s | | vs | 72.1 GTexel/s | |
| Render Output Units | 56 | | vs | 32 | |
| Pixel Rate | 65.2 GPixel/s | | vs | 36.1 GPixel/s | |
| Comparison | |||||
| Max Digital Resolution (WxH) | 5120x3200 | | vs | | 5120x3200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VGA Connections | 0 | vs | 0 | ||
| DVI Connections | 2 | | vs | 1 | |
| HDMI Connections | 1 | | vs | | 1 |
| DisplayPort Connections | - | vs | | 3 | |
| Comparison | |||||
| Max Power | 150 Watts | vs | | 120 Watts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended PSU | 500 Watts & 30 Amps | vs | | 400 Watts & 27 Amps | |
| DirectX | 12.1 | | vs | | 12.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shader Model | 5.0 | | vs | | 5.0 |
| Open GL | 4.5 | | vs | | 4.5 |
| Open CL | - | vs | - | ||
| Notebook GPU | no | no | |||
| SLI/Crossfire | yes | | vs | | yes |
| Dedicated | yes | | vs | | yes |
| Comparison | |||||
| Recommended Processor | Intel Core i7-4770K 4-Core 3.5GHz | vs | | Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended RAM | 8 GB | | vs | | 8 GB |
| Maximum Recommended Gaming Resolution | 2560x1440 | | vs | 1920x1080 | |
| Performance Value |  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini Review | Overview GeForce GTX 970 EVGA Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB Edition is a special edition of NVIDIA's high-end GeForce GTX 970 4GB created by EVGA. It features a new Cooling Solution and overclocking out of the box. Read below to know more. Overclock Out of The Box The Central Unit now runs at 1165MHz, instead of 1051MHz. Boost Clock is now of 1317MHz, instead of 1178MHz. Memory Clock was left untouched. This means the Card performs better when compared to the reference NVIDIA Graphics Card but should also consume slightly more power. Cooling Solution The reference NVIDIA Single-Fan Cooling System has been replaced by EVGA's Dual Fan Cooling Solution. This means the card runs cooler under load. Performance Benchmarks indicate a 6% performance over the reference GeForce GTX 970 4GB. | Overview GeForce GTX 960 2GB is a Performance Graphics Card based on the Second Revision of the Maxwell architecture. Architecture The Second variant of the Maxwell Architecture, despite being also manufactured with a 28nm technology, has an extremely large L2 Cache and features a Third Generation Delta Color Compression which allows NVIDIA to produce Graphics Cards with relatively small memory data transfer rates, without causing too much impact on the overall performance. Furthermore, the Shaders have been redesigned and are both more powerful and energy efficient. The Second Revision of Maxwell also adds the VXGI (Voxel Global Illumination) Technology which makes scenes significantly more lifelike and believable as light interacts more realistically in the game environment and the MFAA Technology which provides the same effect as MSAA but at a much lower performance cost. GPU It equips a GPU Codenamed GM206-300-A1 which has 8 Stream Multiprocessors activated and thus offers 1024 Shader Processing Units, 64 TMUs and 32 ROPs. The Central Unit is initially clocked at 1127MHz and goes up to 1158MHz, in Turbo Mode. Memory The GPU accesses a 2GB frame buffer of fast GDDR5, through a 128-bit memory interface. The size of the frame buffer is adequate. The Memory Clock Operates at 1753MHz. Power Consumption With a rated board TDP of 120W, it requires at least a 400W PSU with one available 6-pin connector. Performance At 1920x1080, the best suited resolution for GeForce GTX 960, benchmarks indicate its performance is a little over the older GeForce GTX 670. Therefore, GeForce GTX 770 and even Radeon R9 280X are still faster, though less energy efficient. System Suggestions GeForce GTX 960 2GB is best suited for resolutions up to and including 1920x1080. We recommend a Strong Processor and 8GB of RAM for Optimal Performance. | |||
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