NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M is an (upper) mid-range, DirectX 11-compatible graphics card for laptops unveiled in March 2015. It is based on Nvidia's Maxwell architecture (GM107 chip) and manufactured in 28 nm. The GTX 950M offers 640 shader units clocked at 914 MHz (+ Boost) as well as fast GDDR5 memory (128 bit, 5000 MHz effective, 80 GB/s). Compared to the previous and technically very similar GTX 850M, the GTX 950M is clocked slightly higher. A detailed performance comparison of the GTX 950M with GDDR5 and DDR3 can be found here.

Some GTX 950M may be equipped with cheaper 900 - 1000 MHz DDR3 memory (1800 - 2000 MHz effective, 28.8 - 32 GB/s), which leads to a 10 - 20 percent lower performance despite the slightly higher core clock of 993 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. 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.

GM107 supports DirectX 12 with feature level 11_0 only.

Performance

Although the GTX 950M has the same memory bandwidth as the previous GTX 850M, its higher core clock leads to a slightly better performance. Overall, the 950M (GDDR5 version) is about 15 percent slower than the GTX 960M and just slightly behind the old GTX 860M.

Many games of 2014/2015 can be played fluently in FullHD resolution and high detail settings. However, very demanding games such as Assassin's Creed Unity will require lower resolutions and/or details.

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 950M should be similar to (or slightly above) the previous GTX 850M at about 50 watts. Therefore, the GPU is best suited for 15-inch laptops or larger. The 900M series also supports Optimus to automatically switch between an integrated graphics card and the Nvidia GPU.

Manufacturer

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 900M Series

GeForce GTX 980M SLI	3072 @ 1038 - 1127 MHz	2x 256 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 970M SLI	2560 @ 924 - 1038 MHz	2x 192 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 965M SLI	2048 @ 924 - 950 MHz	128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 980M	1536 @ 1038 - 1127 MHz	256 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 970M	1280 @ 924 - 1038 MHz	192 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 965M	1024 @ 924 / 935 - 950 / 1151 MHz	128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 960M	640 @ 1096 - 1202 MHz	128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
GeForce GTX 950M	640 @ 914 - 993 - 1124 MHz	128 Bit @ 1800 - 5000 MHz

Codename

N16P-GT

Architecture

Maxwell

Pipelines

640 - unified

Core Speed

914 - 993 - 1124 (Boost) MHz

Memory Speed

1800 - 5000 MHz

Memory Bus Width

128 Bit

Memory Type

DDR3, GDDR5

Max. Amount of Memory

4096 MB

Shared Memory

DirectX

DirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0

Transistor Count

1870 Million

technology

28 nm

Features

Battery Boost, GameStream, ShadowPlay, GPU Boost 2.0, Optimus, PhysX, CUDA, SLI, GeForce Experience, GameWorks, Adaptive VSync, DSR, Ansel

Notebook Size

medium sized

Date of Announcement

12.03.2015

Link to Manufacturer Page

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook...

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy

10.2 pt (11%)

AMD Radeon HD 8180 -86%

...

AMD FirePro M4000 -6%

Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 -5%

AMD FirePro W4170M -5%

AMD Radeon R9 M265X -3%

AMD Radeon RX 550X (Laptop) -2%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000) -2%

NVIDIA GeForce MX230 0%

NVIDIA Quadro P520 0%

NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 0%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M

Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU) 1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 2%

NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2%

NVIDIA GeForce 945M 3%

AMD Radeon RX 640 3%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 10 5%

AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 6%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 6%

NVIDIA Quadro M1200 8%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 SLI (Laptop) 778%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Score

1094 Points (6%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Graphics

971 Points (5%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics

min: 139393 avg: 187457 median: 198867 (36%) max: 204769 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Graphics

min: 45989 avg: 75149 median: 73448 (10%) max: 120877 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score

min: 1262 avg: 12004 median: 13966 (21%) max: 16389 Points

+ 28 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics

min: 18547 avg: 21484 median: 21355.5 (11%) max: 25900 Points

+ 28 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score

min: 2304 avg: 2899 median: 2837.5 (9%) max: 3448 Points

+ 28 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics

min: 2931 avg: 3253 median: 3200 (7%) max: 3638 Points

+ 28 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics

min: 40625 avg: 81849 median: 69209 (9%) max: 162860 Points

+ 20 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score

min: 3276 avg: 4393 median: 4574.5 (12%) max: 4892 Points

+ 28 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU

min: 4046 avg: 4348 median: 4367 (7%) max: 4678 Points

+ 28 benchmarks and specifications - Hide comparison chart

AMD Radeon HD 6250 -96%

...

NVIDIA GeForce MX150 -4%

AMD FirePro W5170M -3%

AMD Radeon HD 6870 -3%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M SLI -3%

NVIDIA Quadro M1000M -3%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000) -1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 -1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 0%

AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 0%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M

AMD Radeon RX Vega 9 1%

NVIDIA GeForce MX250 1%

AMD Radeon Pro 450 4%

AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop) 5%

NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M SLI 7%

NVIDIA Quadro P600 7%

AMD Radeon R9 M280X 8%

AMD Radeon RX 540 8%

NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop) 9%

...

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 1250%

100%

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +

3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +

3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard

min: 43262 avg: 46127 median: 43517 (23%) max: 51603 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard

min: 19685 avg: 22798 median: 23810 (45%) max: 24898 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +

Unigine Valley 1.0 - Unigine Valley 1.0 DX

17.8 fps (10%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 DX 11

42.1 fps (14%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL

33.9 fps (15%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high

56.1 fps (11%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +

specvp11 lightwave-01 +

specvp11 ensight-04 +

specvp11 catia-03 +

SPECviewperf 12
specvp12 sw-03 +

specvp12 snx-02 +

specvp12 showcase-01 +

specvp12 mediacal-01 +

Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +

Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +

Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +

Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
GLBench 2.7 T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 +

GLBench 2.7 T-Rex HD Onscreen C24Z16 +

GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen

min: 123.62 avg: 132 median: 132.3 (21%) max: 141 fps

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan

min: 59.9 avg: 60 median: 60 (16%) max: 60 fps

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen

69 fps (16%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Onscreen

58.5 fps (22%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Room GPU

min: 642 avg: 733 median: 743.5 (8%) max: 803 Samples/s

+ 4 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Sala GPU

min: 1118 avg: 1234 median: 1242.5 (8%) max: 1334 Samples/s

+ 4 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

ComputeMark v2.1 - ComputeMark v2.1 Result

min: 2702 avg: 2777 median: 2747 (6%) max: 2853 points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

Power Consumption - Furmark Stress Test Power Consumption - external Monitor *

75.7 Watt (17%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

Power Consumption - The Witcher 3 Power Consumption - external Monitor *

60.7 Watt (13%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

Power Consumption - Witcher 3 Power Consumption *

33 Watt (7%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

- 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.

F1 2020

2020

79.9 fps + Compare

38.4 fps + Compare

28.8 fps + Compare

18.5 fps + Compare

12.6 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..

Gears Tactics

2020

98.1 fps + Compare

37.5 fps + Compare

20.5 fps + Compare

14.8 fps + Compare

10 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

2019

48 fps + Compare

37.7 fps + Compare

33.2 fps + Compare

18.6 fps + Compare

18.4 fps + Compare

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI PE60 2QD	6700HQ	8192 MB	915-928 / MHz	2048MB	1094

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI PE60 2QD	6700HQ	8192 MB	915-928 / MHz	2048MB	971

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Acer Aspire F15 F5-573G-53V1	6200U	8192 MB	915 - 928 / MHz	4096MB	139393
Medion Erazer P6661 MD 99873	6500U	8192 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	4096MB	189597
MSI GP62-2QEi781FD	5700HQ	16384 MB	993 / MHz	2048MB	198867
MSI PE60 2QD	6700HQ	8192 MB	915-928 / MHz	2048MB	204661
MSI PX60 QD-034US	5700HQ	16384 MB	915 / MHz	2048MB	204769

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Acer Aspire F15 F5-573G-53V1	6200U	8192 MB	915 - 928 / MHz	4096MB	45989
Medion Erazer P6661 MD 99873	6500U	8192 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	4096MB	48701
Asus N752VX-GC131T	6700HQ	8192 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	4096MB	73448
MSI PX60 QD-034US	5700HQ	16384 MB	915 / MHz	2048MB	86732
MSI GP62-2QEi781FD	5700HQ	16384 MB	993 / MHz	2048MB	120877

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Asus ZenBook UX530UX-FY070T	i7-7500U	8192 MB		2048MB	1262
HP Envy 15-ae020ng	5500U	8192 MB	1000 / MHz	4096MB	5196
Asus F756UX-T7013T	6200U	8192 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	2048MB	8906
Acer Aspire F15 F5-573G-53V1	6200U	8192 MB	915 - 928 / MHz	4096MB	8942
Toshiba Satellite P50-C-188	6200U	8192 MB		4096MB	8949
Acer Aspire E5-575G-549D	i5-7200U	8192 MB	928 / MHz	2048MB	9392
Medion Erazer P6661 MD 99873	6500U	8192 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	4096MB	9512
Schenker M505	4210M	8192 MB	993 / MHz	2048MB	9514
Acer Aspire VN7-572G-72L0	6500U	8192 MB	993 / MHz	4096MB	9618
Medion Erazer P7644	6500U	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	2048MB	9735
Lenovo ThinkPad E570-20H6S00000	i5-7200U	8192 MB	927 / MHz	2048MB	10297
Acer Aspire F5-771G-50RD	[email protected] GHz	8192 MB	405 / MHz	4096MB	10334
Acer Aspire V5-591G-50NC	6300HQ	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	4096MB	11761
Asus N751JX-T4056H	4720HQ	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	2048MB	13851
Asus GL552JX-CN154H	4720HQ	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	2048MB	14081
Nexoc M512 III (W650RC) (i7,GTX 950M)	6700HQ	8192 MB	993 / MHz	2048MB	14241
Asus R510JX-DM149H	4720HQ	8192 MB	993 / MHz	4096MB	14262
Nexoc M731III (W670RCQ)	6700HQ	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	2048MB	14319
MSI GP72-2QEi781	5700HQ	8192 MB	993 / MHz	2048MB	14362
HP Envy 17-n107ng	6700HQ	16384 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	4096MB	14389
Asus N752VX-GC131T	6700HQ	8192 MB	993 - 1124 / MHz	4096MB	14469
HP Pavilion 15-ak003ng	6700HQ	16384 MB	993-1124 / MHz	4096MB	14471
Asus N552VX-FY103T	6700HQ	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	2048MB	14578
Acer Aspire V5-591G-71K2	6700HQ	8192 MB	993-1124 / MHz	4096MB	14828
MSI PE60 2QD	6700HQ	8192 MB	915-928 / MHz	2048MB	16063
MSI PX60 QD-034US	5700HQ	16384 MB	915 / MHz	2048MB	16086
MSI GP62-2QEi781FD	5700HQ	16384 MB	993 / MHz	2048MB	16297
MSI PX60 6QD	6700HQ	16384 MB	914 - 993 - 1124 (Boost) / MHz	2048MB	16389