1050 Max-Q vs 860M SLI

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Combined performance score

GTX 860M SLI
12.28
+17.7%

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 18% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking368397
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money4.603.58
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameno dataN17P-G0 Max-Q
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date12 March 2014 (10 years old)3 January 2018 (6 years old)
Current price$489 $1085
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 860M SLI has 28% better value for money than GTX 1050 Max-Q.

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 cores1280640
Core clock speed1029 MHz999 - 1189 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1139 - 1328 MHz
Number of transistors2x 1870 Million3,300 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)120 Watt34 - 40 Watt
Texture fill rateno data53.12
Floating-point performanceno data1,700 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 860M SLI and GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizelargelarge
Interfaceno dataPCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone
SLI options+no data

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 amount2x 4 GB4 GB
Memory bus width2x 128 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed5000 MHz7000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data112.1 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 Connectorsno dataNo outputs

Technologies

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

Optimus+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (FL 11_0)12 (12_1)
Shader Modelno data6.4
OpenGLno data4.6
OpenCLno data1.2
Vulkanno data1.2.131
CUDA+6.1

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 860M SLI 12.28
+17.7%
GTX 1050 Max-Q 10.43

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 18% in our combined benchmark results.


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 860M SLI 27223
+4.4%
GTX 1050 Max-Q 26081

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 4% 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 860M SLI 9840
+37.6%
GTX 1050 Max-Q 7154

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 38% 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 860M SLI 5941
+5.2%
GTX 1050 Max-Q 5650

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 5% 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 860M SLI 41434
+17.1%
GTX 1050 Max-Q 35392

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 17% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

Unigine Heaven 3.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark using Unigine, a 3D game engine by eponymous Russian company. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. Version 3.0 was released in 2012, and in 2013 it was superseded by Heaven 4.0, which introduced several slight improvements, including a newer version of Unigine.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 860M SLI 83
+17.9%
GTX 1050 Max-Q 70

860M SLI outperforms 1050 Max-Q by 18% in Unigine Heaven 3.0.

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 HD46
−2.2%
47
+2.2%
1440p24−27
+9.1%
22
−9.1%
4K16−18
+14.3%
14
−14.3%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−42.3%
37
+42.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 20−22
+25%
16−18
−25%
Battlefield 5 40−45
−9.5%
46
+9.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
−12.5%
36
+12.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−15.6%
37
+15.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−18.2%
39
+18.2%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+16.2%
35−40
−16.2%
Hitman 3 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−19%
25
+19%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
−15.4%
30
+15.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+21.1%
18−20
−21.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−19.2%
31
+19.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 20−22
+25%
16−18
−25%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+5%
40
−5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
+18.5%
27
−18.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Far Cry 5 30−35
−6.3%
34
+6.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−12.1%
37
+12.1%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+16.2%
35−40
−16.2%
Hitman 3 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Metro Exodus 18−20
+0%
19
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
+61.5%
13
−61.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24−27
+8.3%
24
−8.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
−40%
35
+40%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+21.1%
18−20
−21.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+62.5%
16
−62.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 20−22
+25%
16−18
−25%
Battlefield 5 40−45
+13.5%
37
−13.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Far Cry 5 30−35
+3.2%
31
−3.2%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
−3%
34
+3%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+16.2%
35−40
−16.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+19%
21
−19%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+21.1%
18−20
−21.1%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 18−20
+5.9%
17
−5.9%
Hitman 3 18−20
+18.8%
16−18
−18.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Metro Exodus 10−12
+0%
11
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 16−18
+0%
16
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12−14
+20%
10
−20%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 9−10
+50%
6−7
−50%
Battlefield 5 24−27
+33.3%
18−20
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry 5 20−22
−10%
22
+10%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
−14.3%
24
+14.3%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+21.1%
18−20
−21.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Watch Dogs: Legion 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
−12.5%
9
+12.5%
Hitman 3 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Metro Exodus 5−6
−40%
7
+40%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
−14.3%
8
+14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
−18.2%
13
+18.2%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 7−8
+16.7%
6
−16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry 5 10−11
−10%
11
+10%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+0%
12
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+23.1%
12−14
−23.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%

This is how GTX 860M SLI and GTX 1050 Max-Q compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 1050 Max-Q is 2.2% faster than GTX 860M SLI

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 860M SLI is 9.1% faster than GTX 1050 Max-Q

4K resolution:

  • GTX 860M SLI is 14.3% faster than GTX 1050 Max-Q

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

  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 860M SLI is 100% faster than the GTX 1050 Max-Q.
  • in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 1050 Max-Q is 42.3% faster than the GTX 860M SLI.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 860M SLI is ahead in 44 tests (65%)
  • GTX 1050 Max-Q is ahead in 19 tests (28%)
  • there's a draw in 5 tests (7%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 12.28 10.43
Recency 12 March 2014 3 January 2018
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 120 Watt 34 Watt

The GeForce GTX 860M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q in performance tests.


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

User ratings

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M SLI
GeForce GTX 860M SLI
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q
GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q

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