GeForce GTX 590 vs GTX 960

Place in the ranking	345	499
Place by popularity	53	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	8.83	0.75
Power efficiency	9.10	1.64
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code name	GM206	GF110
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 January 2015 (10 years ago)	24 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$699

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 960 has 1077% better value for money than GTX 590.

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	1024
Core clock speed	1127 MHz	607 MHz
Boost clock speed	1178 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,940 million	3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	365 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	97 °C
Texture fill rate	75.39	38.91
Floating-point processing power	2.413 TFLOPS	1.244 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	48
TMUs	64	64

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).

Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	241 mm	279 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	400 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	2x 8-pin
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	4 GB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Memory bus width	128 Bit	768-bit (384-bit per GPU)
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	1707 MHz
Memory bandwidth	112 GB/s	327.7 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	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	Three Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	4 displays	+
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	Internal

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	+	-
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	-
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	-

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.2
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	+	N/A
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 960 15.26
+82.5%

GTX 590 8.36

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 960 6097
+82.5%

GTX 590 3341

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 960 10768
+17.5%

GTX 590 9167

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.

GTX 960 30751
+19.6%

GTX 590 25720

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 960 7916
+18.5%

GTX 590 6680

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 960 18636
+45.5%

GTX 590 12811

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	85−90 +80.9%	47 −80.9%
Full HD	62 −74.2%	108 +74.2%
1200p	200−210 +78.6%	112 −78.6%
4K	30 +87.5%	16−18 −87.5%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.21 +102%	6.47 −102%
4K	6.63 +559%	43.69 −559%

GTX 960 has 102% lower cost per frame in 1080p
GTX 960 has 559% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	27−30 +64.7%	16−18 −64.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +82.4%	16−18 −82.4%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +82.1%	27−30 −82.1%
Counter-Strike 2	27−30 +64.7%	16−18 −64.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +82.4%	16−18 −82.4%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +85.7%	35−40 −85.7%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 +100%	21−24 −100%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +87%	21−24 −87%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +58.3%	24−27 −58.3%
Valorant	60−65 +100%	30−35 −100%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +82.1%	27−30 −82.1%
Counter-Strike 2	27−30 +64.7%	16−18 −64.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +82.4%	16−18 −82.4%
Dota 2	33 +6.5%	30−35 −6.5%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +54.1%	35−40 −54.1%
Fortnite	85−90 +72.5%	50−55 −72.5%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +85.7%	35−40 −85.7%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 +100%	21−24 −100%
Grand Theft Auto V	49 +58.1%	30−35 −58.1%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +87%	21−24 −87%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	110−120 +66.2%	65−70 −66.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +58.3%	24−27 −58.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	49 +88.5%	24−27 −88.5%
Valorant	60−65 +100%	30−35 −100%
World of Tanks	200−210 +55.8%	120−130 −55.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +82.1%	27−30 −82.1%
Counter-Strike 2	27−30 +64.7%	16−18 −64.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +82.4%	16−18 −82.4%
Dota 2	55−60 +83.9%	30−35 −83.9%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +54.1%	35−40 −54.1%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 +85.7%	35−40 −85.7%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 +100%	21−24 −100%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	110−120 +66.2%	65−70 −66.2%
Valorant	60−65 +100%	30−35 −100%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	24−27 +118%	10−12 −118%
Grand Theft Auto V	24−27 +118%	10−12 −118%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	140−150 +248%	40−45 −248%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 +100%	7−8 −100%
World of Tanks	110−120 +74.6%	60−65 −74.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 +100%	16−18 −100%
Counter-Strike 2	14−16 +100%	7−8 −100%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +71.4%	7−8 −71.4%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +117%	18−20 −117%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +105%	18−20 −105%
Forza Horizon 5	24−27 +92.3%	12−14 −92.3%
Metro Exodus	35−40 +133%	14−16 −133%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +75%	12−14 −75%
Valorant	40−45 +81.8%	21−24 −81.8%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +30.8%	12−14 −30.8%
Dota 2	27−30 +42.1%	18−20 −42.1%
Grand Theft Auto V	27−30 +42.1%	18−20 −42.1%
Metro Exodus	10−12 +175%	4−5 −175%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	45−50 +88%	24−27 −88%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +66.7%	6−7 −66.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	27−30 +42.1%	18−20 −42.1%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 +114%	7−8 −114%
Counter-Strike 2	16−18 +30.8%	12−14 −30.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%
Dota 2	27−30 +42.1%	18−20 −42.1%
Far Cry 5	20−22 +100%	10−11 −100%
Fortnite	18−20 +100%	9−10 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +109%	10−12 −109%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 +100%	6−7 −100%
Valorant	18−20 +125%	8−9 −125%

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

GTX 960 is 81% faster in 900p
GTX 590 is 74% faster in 1080p
GTX 960 is 79% faster in 1200p
GTX 960 is 88% faster in 4K

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

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960 is 248% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, GTX 960 surpassed GTX 590 in all 64 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	15.26	8.36
Recency	22 January 2015	24 March 2011
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	365 Watt

GTX 960 has a 82.5% 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 204.2% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 960 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 590 in performance tests.

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