Notebookcheck Logo

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M SLI

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M SLI

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M SLI is a high-end DirectX 12-compatible graphics solution for laptops, consisting of two GeForce GTX 860M. Each card has a 28 nm GM107 core based on the Maxwell architecture. The clocks for the SLI-setup are identical to a single GTX 860M. With SLI, each card usually renders a single frame (AFR mode). Therefore, it may suffer from micro stuttering in low fps ranges of 30fps. This happens because of different timespans between two frames (e.g., irregular delays between sequential frames).

Alternatively, there is also a version based on the Kepler chip GK104, which has 1152 shader units clocked at 797 MHz.

Architecture

Compared to Kepler, Maxwell has been optimized in several details to increase power efficiency. Smaller Streaming Multiprocessors (SMM) with only 128 ALUs (Kepler: 192) and an optimized scheduler should lead to better utilization of the shaders. Nvidia promises that a Maxwell SMM with 128 ALUs can offer 90 percent of the performance of a Kepler SMX with 192 ALUs. Each of the two GM107 features 5 SMMs and thus 640 shader cores, 40 TMUs and 16 ROPs (128-bit interface).

Another optimization is the massively enlarged L2 cache (GM107: 2 MB). The increased size can handle some of the memory traffic to allow for a relatively narrow memory interface without significantly reducing the performance.

Similar to Fermi and Kepler, Maxwell / GM107 supports DirectX 12 with feature level 11.0 only.

Performance

The GeForce GTX 860M SLI is about 70 - 80 percent faster than a single GTX 860M, leading to a performance somewhere between a single GeForce GTX 680 (desktop) and Radeon R9 280X (desktop). Accordingly, the 860M SLI competes with the high-end single-GPU GeForce GTX 880M. Most games (as of 2014) are playable at the highest detail setting and in FullHD resolution. In many cases it is even possible to activate additional anti-aliasing.

Features

GM107 integrates the sixth generation of the PureVideo HD video engine (VP6), offering a better decoding performance for H.264 and MPEG-2 videos. Of course, VP6 supports all features of previous generations (4K support, PIP, video encoding via NVENC API). Unfortunately, HDMI 2.0 is still not supported.

Power consumption

The power consumption of the GeForce GTX 860M SLI should double from 60 to about 120 watts (including board and memory) compared to a single GTX 860M. Therefore, only large desktop replacements can handle the heat.

GeForce GTX 800M Series

GeForce GTX 880M SLI compare 3072 @ 0.95 GHz2x 256 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 860M SLI 1280 @ 1.03 GHz2x 128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 880M compare 1536 @ 0.95 GHz256 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 870M compare 1344 @ 0.94 GHz192 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 860M compare 640 @ 1.03 GHz128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 850M compare 640 @ 0.88 GHz128 Bit @ 2000 - 5000 MHz
ArchitectureMaxwell
Pipelines1280 - unified
Core Speed1029 MHz
Memory Speed5000 MHz
Memory Bus Width2x 128 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory2x 4096 MB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0, OpenGL 4.3
Power Consumption120 Watt
Transistor Count0 Billion
technology28 nm
FeaturesBattery Boost, GameStream, ShadowPlay, GPU Boost 2.0, Optimus, PhysX, CUDA, SLI, GeForce Experience
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement12.03.2014

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
2.7 pt (8%)
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

low 1024x768
253.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
146.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
68  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
33.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
84.3  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
60  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
18.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
14.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1280x720
60  fps    + Compare
med. 1280x720
60  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
49.6  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
32.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Thief

Thief

2014
low 1024x768
75.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
67.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
64.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
40.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
102.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
96.8  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
73.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
46.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
172.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
153  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
120.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
49.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
87.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
74.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
64.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
55  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Dota 2

Dota 2

2013
low 1024x768
119  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
111.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
107.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
GRID 2

GRID 2

2013
low 1024x768
206.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
149.6  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
133.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
81.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
95.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
86.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
62  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
39.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
223.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
185  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
162.6  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
61.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
384.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
275.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
167  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
80.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Crysis 3

Crysis 3

2013
low 1024x768
130.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
108.5  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
83.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
28.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3

2012
low 1024x768
111  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
100.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
84.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
38.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
66  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
61.4  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
53.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
35.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
124  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
67.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
45.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
lowmed.highultraQHD4K
GRID: Autosport253.6146.16833.3
Watch Dogs84.36018.914.6
Wolfenstein: The New Order606049.632.2
Thief75.567.564.240.4
Call of Duty: Ghosts102.296.873.246.3
Battlefield 4172.5153120.849.7
Saints Row IV87.874.464.255
Dota 2119111.9107.4
GRID 2206.7149.6133.981.8
Metro: Last Light95.486.56239.3
BioShock Infinite223.4185162.661.8
Tomb Raider384.8275.516780.6
Crysis 3130.9108.583.728.3
Far Cry 3111100.984.938.4
Hitman: Absolution6661.453.935.8
Guild Wars 212467.545.2
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps


9
7


10
5
1
2
8
4
2
10
4






For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

Add one or more devices and compare

In the following list you can select (and also search for) devices that should be added to the comparison. You can select more than one device.

restrict list:

show all (including archived), 2024, 2023
v1.26
log 05. 11:42:54

#0 no ids found in url (should be separated by "_") +0s ... 0s

#1 not redirecting to Ajax server +0s ... 0s

#2 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Mon, 04 Mar 2024 05:34:43 +0100 +0.001s ... 0.001s

#3 composed specs +0.078s ... 0.079s

#4 did output specs +0s ... 0.079s

#5 start showIntegratedCPUs +0s ... 0.079s

#6 getting avg benchmarks for device 5683 +0.034s ... 0.113s

#7 got single benchmarks 5683 +0.008s ... 0.121s

#8 got avg benchmarks for devices +0s ... 0.121s

#9 min, max, avg, median took s +0.295s ... 0.416s

#10 before gaming benchmark output +0s ... 0.416s

#11 Got 62 rows for game benchmarks. +0.01s ... 0.426s

#12 composed SQL query for gamebenchmarks +0s ... 0.426s

#13 got data and put it in $dataArray +0.011s ... 0.437s

#14 benchmarks composed for output. +0.657s ... 1.094s

#15 return log +0.043s ... 1.137s

Please share our article, every link counts!

» Comparison of GPUs
Detailed list of all laptop GPUs sorted by class and performance.

» Benchmark List
Sort and restrict laptop GPUs based on performance in synthetic benchmarks.

» Notebook Gaming List
Playable games for each graphics card and their average FPS results.

Class 1

Class 2

Radeon PRO W6600M *

Class 3

UHD Graphics 32EUs
UHD Graphics 750

Class 4

Class 5

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter