GeForce GTX 960M vs GTX 590

Place in the ranking	494	490
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.78	no data
Power efficiency	1.63	8.01
Architecture	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)	Maxwell (2014−2017)
GPU code name	GF110	GM107
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	24 March 2011 (13 years ago)	13 March 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$699	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores	1024	640
Core clock speed	607 MHz	1096 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1176 MHz
Number of transistors	3,000 million	1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	365 Watt	75 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	97 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	38.91	47.04
Floating-point processing power	1.244 TFLOPS	1.505 TFLOPS
ROPs	48	16
TMUs	64	40

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 size	no data	medium sized
Bus support	16x PCI-E 2.0	PCI Express 3.0
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	MXM-B (3.0)
Length	279 mm	no data
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 8-pin	no data
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 type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)	4 GB
Memory bus width	768-bit (384-bit per GPU)	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1707 MHz	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	327.7 GB/s	80 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	Three Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort	No outputs
Multi monitor support	+	no data
VGA аnalog display support	no data	+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	-	+
GeForce ShadowPlay	-	+
GPU Boost	no data	2.0
GameWorks	-	+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	-	+
Optimus	-	+
BatteryBoost	-	+
Ansel	no data	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.2	4.5
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	N/A	1.1.126
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.

GTX 590 8.67

GTX 960M 8.76
+1%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 590 3341

GTX 960M 3373
+1%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 590 9167
+73.7%

GTX 960M 5278

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 590 6680
+54.7%

GTX 960M 4318

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

GTX 590 12811
+17%

GTX 960M 10946

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:

900p	47 −102%	95 +102%
Full HD	109 +221%	34 −221%
1200p	112 +1.8%	110−120 −1.8%
1440p	14−16 −7.1%	15 +7.1%
4K	12−14 −16.7%	14 +16.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.41	no data
1440p	49.93	no data
4K	58.25	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

14−16

+0%

14−16

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −19%	25 +19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −8.3%	12−14 +8.3%
Battlefield 5	24−27 −15.4%	30 +15.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	20−22 −40%	28 +40%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 −29.2%	31 +29.2%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −44.8%	84 +44.8%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −2%	50−55 +2%
Metro Exodus	24−27 −19.2%	31 +19.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 −65.5%	48 +65.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −47.6%	31 +47.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −8.3%	12−14 +8.3%
Battlefield 5	24−27 +13%	23 −13%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	20−22 −20%	24 +20%
Far Cry New Dawn	24−27 +4.3%	23 −4.3%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 −22.4%	71 +22.4%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −2%	50−55 +2%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +0%	26 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −204%	73 +204%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +90.9%	11 −90.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −8.3%	12−14 +8.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	20−22 +11.1%	18 −11.1%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +132%	25 −132%
Hitman 3	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50 −2%	50−55 +2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +71.4%	14 −71.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

+0%

24−27

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	16−18 +21.4%	14 −21.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14 −15.4%	15 +15.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8−9 +0%	8 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	10−11 +0%	10 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −25%	45 +25%
Hitman 3	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Metro Exodus	10−12 −36.4%	15 +36.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	9−10 −11.1%	10−11 +11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −1.8%	55−60 +1.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

−7.1%

14−16
+7.1%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	8−9 +33.3%	6 −33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 −16.7%	7 +16.7%
Hitman 3	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35 −2.9%	35−40 +2.9%
Metro Exodus	6−7 −33.3%	8 +33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 −66.7%	10 +66.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	5−6 +25%	4 −25%
Forza Horizon 4	10−11 −10%	10−12 +10%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	4−5 −25%	5−6 +25%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9

−12.5%

9−10
+12.5%

This is how GTX 590 and GTX 960M compete in popular games:

GTX 960M is 102% faster in 900p
GTX 590 is 221% faster in 1080p
GTX 590 is 2% faster in 1200p
GTX 960M is 7% faster in 1440p
GTX 960M is 17% faster in 4K

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 590 is 132% faster.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960M is 204% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 590 is ahead in 9 tests (13%)
GTX 960M is ahead in 30 tests (42%)
there's a draw in 33 tests (46%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.67	8.76
Recency	24 March 2011	13 March 2015
Maximum RAM amount	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)	4 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	365 Watt	75 Watt

GTX 960M has a 1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 386.7% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTX 590 and GeForce GTX 960M.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 590 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 960M is a notebook one.

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