NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 is a high end desktop graphics card based on the Maxwell architecture. As the faster GTX 980, the GTX 970 uses the GM204 chip, but with reduced shaders (2048 vs. 1664) and TMUs (128 vs 103). The graphics card is equipped with 4 GB GDDR5 (7 GHz effective). 3.5 GB of the 4 GB are connected with 224 Bit, the rest only with a 32 Bit interface. This can lead to some stuttering or reduced frame rates in games that use the full 4 GB. The similar named mobile GeForce GTX 970M is clearly slower as it features only 1280 shader cores.

Despite the unique memory configuration, the GTX 970 performs on average on par with the older GeForce GTX 780 Ti or a AMD Radeon R9 290X.

The GM204 supports CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX, GeForce Experience, Surround, GameStream, GPU Boost 2.0, Adaptive Vertical Sync / G-SYNC, SLI, DSR, MFAA and Virtual Reality latency improvements.

The Maxwell architecture is very power efficient. While gaming, the card only uses as much power as the Radeon R9 285 which is more than 35% slower on average.

Manufacturer

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 900 Series

GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)	4096 @ 1.13 - 1.23 GHz	256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 Ti	2816 @ 1 - 1.2 GHz	256 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GTX 980	2048 @ 1.13 - 1.22 GHz	256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)	2048 @ 1.13 - 1.23 GHz	256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 970	1664 @ 1.05 - 1.18 GHz	224 + 32 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 960	1024 @ 1.13 - 1.18 GHz	128 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 950	768 @ 1.02 - 1.19 GHz	128 Bit @ 3300 MHz

Codename

GM204

Architecture

Maxwell

Pipelines

1664 - unified

Core Speed

1050 - 1178 (Boost) MHz

Memory Speed

3500 MHz

Memory Bus Width

224 + 32 Bit

Memory Type

GDDR5

Max. Amount of Memory

4096 MB

Shared Memory

DirectX

DirectX 12_1

Transistor Count

5200 Million

technology

28 nm

Features

CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX, GeForce Experience, Surround, GameStream, GPU Boost 2.0, Adaptive Vertical Sync, G-SYNC, SLI

Date of Announcement

19.09.2014

Link to Manufacturer Page

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-...

Benchmarks

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

40.6 pt (43%)

AMD Radeon HD 8180 -97%

...

AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire -10%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) -8%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q -7%

AMD Radeon R9 290X -6%

AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH -6%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop) -6%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M SLI -4%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M SLI -2%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop) 0%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop) 2%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 3%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 5%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI 5%

AMD Radeon R9 390X 6%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile 7%

AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop) 9%

AMD Radeon RX 570 (Desktop) 10%

AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) 11%

...

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 135%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Score

3693 Points (21%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Graphics

3544 Points (18%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications - Hide comparison chart

Intel UHD Graphics 600 -97%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q -15%

NVIDIA Quadro T2000 Max-Q -13%

NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (Laptop) -12%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q -11%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q -6%

AMD Radeon Pro 5500M -5%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile -2%

AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop) -1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Desktop) -1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

AMD Radeon RX 5300M 1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile 2%

AMD Radeon RX 470 (Desktop) 2%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile 4%

AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop) 10%

NVIDIA Quadro P5000 10%

AMD Radeon RX 570 (Desktop) 12%

NVIDIA Quadro P4000 12%

AMD Radeon R9 290X 13%

...

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 437%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics

422295 Points (67%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score

min: 23657 avg: 25575 median: 25575 (34%) max: 27493 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics

min: 71472 avg: 72819 median: 72819 (36%) max: 74166 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score

min: 9399 avg: 9713 median: 9434 (24%) max: 10307 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics

min: 11155 avg: 11802 median: 11954 (24%) max: 12296 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics

321805 Points (43%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score

min: 12033 avg: 13207 median: 13249 (31%) max: 14339 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU

min: 15071 avg: 15780 median: 16033 (27%) max: 16237 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications - Hide comparison chart

AMD Radeon HD 6250 -99%

...

AMD Radeon R9 M290X Crossfire -10%

AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH -9%

AMD Radeon RX 5300M -9%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI -9%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile -7%

AMD Radeon Pro 5500M -7%

AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop) -4%

NVIDIA Quadro P4000 -2%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti -1%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M SLI 0%

NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q 0%

AMD Radeon R9 290X 2%

NVIDIA Quadro P3200 3%

AMD Radeon RX 5500M 6%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop) 8%

AMD Radeon R9 Nano 10%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) 10%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 11%

...

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 275%

100%

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +

3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +

3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +

Unigine Valley 1.0 - Unigine Valley 1.0 DX

59.1 fps (29%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

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

Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +

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

GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen

396 fps (43%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen

217 fps (50%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Onscreen

41.5 fps (16%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

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

1874 Samples/s (19%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

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

3020 Samples/s (10%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

ComputeMark v2.1 - ComputeMark v2.1 Result

8549 points (18%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

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

316 Watt (57%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

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

267 Watt (45%)

+ 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.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint

2019

52 fps + Compare

36 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

FIFA 20

2019

153 fps + Compare

86 fps + Compare

Borderlands 3

2019

74 fps + Compare

48.6 fps + Compare

36.7 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Control

2019

153 fps + Compare

50 fps + Compare

36 fps + Compare

22.8 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

F1 2019

2019

110 fps + Compare

72 fps + Compare

49.3 fps + Compare

30.3 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Dirt Rally 2.0

2019

46.7 fps + Compare

35 fps + Compare

20.6 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Metro Exodus

2019

99 fps + Compare

49 fps + Compare

37.2 fps + Compare

31.1 fps + Compare

23.9 fps + Compare

13.2 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

Apex Legends

2019

70 fps + Compare

45.5 fps + Compare

23.3 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Just Cause 4

2018

57.8 fps + Compare

19.9 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Darksiders III

2018

68 fps + Compare

20.6 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Battlefield V

2018

47.5 fps + Compare

19.7 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Fallout 76

2018

59.8 fps + Compare

47.9 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Hitman 2

2018

58.1 61 ~ 60 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

F1 2018

2018

98 fps + Compare

63 fps + Compare

25.9 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Final Fantasy XV Benchmark

2018

101 fps + Compare

55.3 fps + Compare

35.6 fps + Compare

12.8 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.

Fortnite

2018

82 fps + Compare

60 fps + Compare

22 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Star Wars Battlefront 2

2017

66 fps + Compare

9.4 fps + Compare

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI Gaming Z GeForce GTX 970 Desktop PC	4790K	16 GB	1253 / 1753 MHz	4 GB	3693

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI Gaming Z GeForce GTX 970 Desktop PC	4790K	16 GB	1253 / 1753 MHz	4 GB	3544

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI Gaming Z GeForce GTX 970 Desktop PC	4790K	16 GB	1253 / 1753 MHz	4 GB	422295

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI GamingDock	4870HQ	16 GB	1064 / 3500 MHz	4 GB	23657
MSI Gaming Z GeForce GTX 970 Desktop PC	4790K	16 GB	1253 / 1753 MHz	4 GB	27493

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI Gaming Z GeForce GTX 970 Desktop PC	4790K	16 GB	1253 / 1753 MHz	4 GB	71472
MSI GamingDock	4870HQ	16 GB	1064 / 3500 MHz	4 GB	74166