780 Ti vs 970

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Combined performance score

GTX 970
24.89
+1.3%

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 1% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking198204
Place by popularity82not in top-100
Value for money22.805.05
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Kepler (2012−2018)
GPU code nameGM204GK110
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 September 2014 (9 years old)7 November 2013 (10 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$329 $699
Current price$105 (0.3x MSRP)$461 (0.7x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970 has 351% better value for money than GTX 780 Ti.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores16642880
CUDA cores16642880
Core clock speed1050 MHz875 MHz
Boost clock speed1178 MHz928 MHz
Number of transistors5,200 million7,080 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)145 Watt250 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature98 °Cno data
Texture fill rate109 billion/sec210 billion/sec
Floating-point performance3,920 gflops5,345 gflops

Size and 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).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.0PCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length10.5" (26.7 cm)10.5" (26.7 cm)
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)500 Wattno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinsOne 8-pin and one 6-pin
SLI options++

Memory

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB3 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/s7.0 GB/s
Memory bandwidth224 GB/s336 GB/s
Shared memory--

Video outputs and ports

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 ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort
Multi monitor support4 displays4 displays
HDMI++
HDCP++
Maximum VGA resolution2048x15362048x1536
G-SYNC support+no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalInternal

Technologies

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

Blu Ray 3Dno data+
3D Gamingno data+
3D Visionno data+
GameStream+no data
GeForce ShadowPlay+no data
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+no data
3D Vision Liveno data+

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_1)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.44.4
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.1.1261.1.126
CUDA++

Synthetic benchmark performance

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


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 970 24.89
+1.3%
GTX 780 Ti 24.56

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 1% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 970 9645
+1.4%
GTX 780 Ti 9516

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 1% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 970 42263
+8.9%
GTX 780 Ti 38813

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 9% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 970 16033
+2.7%
GTX 780 Ti 15619

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 3% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 970 11954
+1.2%
GTX 780 Ti 11812

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 1% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 970 72819
GTX 780 Ti 75688
+3.9%

780 Ti outperforms 970 by 4% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 9%

GTX 970 26878
GTX 780 Ti 28156
+4.8%

780 Ti outperforms 970 by 5% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.

GeekBench 5 Vulkan

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 Vulkan API by AMD & Khronos Group.

Benchmark coverage: 5%

GTX 970 32271
+22.7%
GTX 780 Ti 26297

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 23% in GeekBench 5 Vulkan.

GeekBench 5 CUDA

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 CUDA API by NVIDIA.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 970 25897
+24%
GTX 780 Ti 20877

970 outperforms 780 Ti by 24% in GeekBench 5 CUDA.

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 970 79
GTX 780 Ti 103
+30.4%

780 Ti outperforms 970 by 30% in Octane Render OctaneBench.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

GTX 970 1543
GTX 780 Ti 1812
+17.4%

780 Ti outperforms 970 by 17% in Unigine Heaven 4.0.

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 HD82
−17.1%
96
+17.1%
1440p54
+8%
50−55
−8%
4K38
+8.6%
35−40
−8.6%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2.5%
40−45
−2.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+2.3%
40−45
−2.3%
Battlefield 5 80−85
+1.3%
80−85
−1.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 65−70
+1.5%
65−70
−1.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2.5%
40−45
−2.5%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+1.6%
60−65
−1.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 65−70
+1.5%
65−70
−1.5%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+1.2%
80−85
−1.2%
Hitman 3 75−80
+1.4%
70−75
−1.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60
+1.9%
50−55
−1.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+2.1%
45−50
−2.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+2.3%
40−45
−2.3%
Battlefield 5 80−85
+1.3%
80−85
−1.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 65−70
+1.5%
65−70
−1.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2.5%
40−45
−2.5%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+1.6%
60−65
−1.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 65−70
+1.5%
65−70
−1.5%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+1.2%
80−85
−1.2%
Hitman 3 75−80
+1.4%
70−75
−1.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%
Metro Exodus 39
−5.1%
40−45
+5.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60
+1.9%
50−55
−1.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 81
+44.6%
55−60
−44.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+2.1%
45−50
−2.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 45−50
+0%
45−50
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+2.3%
40−45
−2.3%
Battlefield 5 48
−66.7%
80−85
+66.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2.5%
40−45
−2.5%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+1.6%
60−65
−1.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 65−70
+1.5%
65−70
−1.5%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+1.2%
80−85
−1.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 43
−30.2%
55−60
+30.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion 45−50
+2.1%
45−50
−2.1%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Hitman 3 40−45
+2.4%
40−45
−2.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%
Metro Exodus 24
+0%
24−27
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+0%
30−35
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+4.2%
24−27
−4.2%
Battlefield 5 55−60
+1.8%
55−60
−1.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+2.4%
40−45
−2.4%
Far Cry New Dawn 45−50
+2.1%
45−50
−2.1%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+2%
50−55
−2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
+3.4%
27−30
−3.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Hitman 3 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Metro Exodus 13
−15.4%
14−16
+15.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 29
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 16−18
+6.7%
14−16
−6.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+7.7%
12−14
−7.7%
Battlefield 5 20
−45%
27−30
+45%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+2.9%
30−35
−2.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%

This is how GTX 970 and GTX 780 Ti compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 780 Ti is 17.1% faster than GTX 970

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 970 is 8% faster than GTX 780 Ti

4K resolution:

  • GTX 970 is 8.6% faster than GTX 780 Ti

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 970 is 44.6% faster than the GTX 780 Ti.
  • in Battlefield 5, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 780 Ti is 66.7% faster than the GTX 970.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 970 is ahead in 39 tests (57%)
  • GTX 780 Ti is ahead in 5 tests (7%)
  • there's a draw in 24 tests (35%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 24.89 24.56
Recency 19 September 2014 7 November 2013
Cost $329 $699
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 3 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 145 Watt 250 Watt

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce GTX 780 Ti. The differences in performance seem too small.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
GeForce GTX 970
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti
GeForce GTX 780 Ti

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