GeForce GTX 970M SLI vs Apple M1 8-Core GPU

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Apple M1 8-Core GPU and GeForce GTX 970M SLI, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

Apple M1 8-Core GPU
2020
14.54

GTX 970M SLI outperforms Apple M1 8-Core GPU by an impressive 68% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking356227
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiencyno data10.46
Architectureno dataMaxwell (2014−2017)
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date10 November 2020 (4 years ago)7 October 2014 (10 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores82560
Core clock speed1278 MHz924 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1038 MHz
Number of transistorsno data2x 5200 Million
Manufacturing process technology5 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data162 Watt

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizeno datalarge
SLI options-+

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeno dataGDDR5
Maximum RAM amountno data2x 6 GB
Memory bus widthno data2x 192 Bit
Memory clock speedno data5000 MHz
Shared memory+-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Optimus-+

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectXno data12_1
CUDA-+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Apple M1 8-Core GPU 14.54
GTX 970M SLI 24.38
+67.7%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Apple M1 8-Core GPU 280200
+9.2%
GTX 970M SLI 256573

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD28
−214%
88
+214%
4K21−24
−85.7%
39
+85.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−81.8%
40−45
+81.8%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−65.6%
50−55
+65.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−78.3%
40−45
+78.3%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−73.9%
80−85
+73.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−78.6%
50−55
+78.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−81.8%
40−45
+81.8%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−69.7%
55−60
+69.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−64.1%
60−65
+64.1%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
−55.4%
140−150
+55.4%
Hitman 3 27−30
−81.5%
45−50
+81.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−56.9%
110−120
+56.9%
Metro Exodus 45−50
−78.7%
80−85
+78.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−64.1%
60−65
+64.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
−78.3%
80−85
+78.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−34.2%
100−110
+34.2%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−65.6%
50−55
+65.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−78.3%
40−45
+78.3%
Battlefield 5 45−50
−73.9%
80−85
+73.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−78.6%
50−55
+78.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−81.8%
40−45
+81.8%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−69.7%
55−60
+69.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−64.1%
60−65
+64.1%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
−55.4%
140−150
+55.4%
Hitman 3 27−30
−81.5%
45−50
+81.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−56.9%
110−120
+56.9%
Metro Exodus 45−50
−78.7%
80−85
+78.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−64.1%
60−65
+64.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
−78.3%
80−85
+78.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−300%
136
+300%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−34.2%
100−110
+34.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
−65.6%
50−55
+65.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−78.3%
40−45
+78.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−78.6%
50−55
+78.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
−81.8%
40−45
+81.8%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−69.7%
55−60
+69.7%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
−55.4%
140−150
+55.4%
Hitman 3 27−30
−81.5%
45−50
+81.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 70−75
−56.9%
110−120
+56.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
−78.3%
80−85
+78.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
−41.2%
48
+41.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion 75−80
−34.2%
100−110
+34.2%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
−64.1%
60−65
+64.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
−70.4%
45−50
+70.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−68.2%
35−40
+68.2%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−78.6%
24−27
+78.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−12
−118%
24−27
+118%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
−86.7%
27−30
+86.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
−114%
14−16
+114%
Far Cry 5 16−18
−75%
27−30
+75%
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
−93.1%
130−140
+93.1%
Hitman 3 16−18
−70.6%
27−30
+70.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
−72.4%
50−55
+72.4%
Metro Exodus 24−27
−91.7%
45−50
+91.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−121%
50−55
+121%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
−100%
30−33
+100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 85−90
−58.6%
130−140
+58.6%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−78.3%
40−45
+78.3%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 14−16
−71.4%
24−27
+71.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
−90%
18−20
+90%
Hitman 3 10−11
−90%
18−20
+90%
Horizon Zero Dawn 65−70
−81.2%
120−130
+81.2%
Metro Exodus 12−14
−108%
27−30
+108%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
−115%
28
+115%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
−87.5%
14−16
+87.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
−85.7%
12−14
+85.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 7−8
−100%
14−16
+100%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−200%
6−7
+200%
Far Cry 5 8−9
−62.5%
12−14
+62.5%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
−73.7%
30−35
+73.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
−123%
27−30
+123%
Watch Dogs: Legion 5−6
−120%
10−12
+120%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−61.5%
21−24
+61.5%

This is how Apple M1 8-Core GPU and GTX 970M SLI compete in popular games:

  • GTX 970M SLI is 214% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 970M SLI is 86% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 970M SLI is 300% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 970M SLI surpassed Apple M1 8-Core GPU in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.54 24.38
Recency 10 November 2020 7 October 2014
Chip lithography 5 nm 28 nm

Apple M1 8-Core GPU has an age advantage of 6 years, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.

GTX 970M SLI, on the other hand, has a 67.7% higher aggregate performance score.

The GeForce GTX 970M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Apple M1 8-Core GPU in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Apple M1 8-Core GPU
M1 8-Core GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI
GeForce GTX 970M SLI

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


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2.3 45 votes

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Questions & comments

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