Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M: specs and benchmarks
Price now
799$
Games supported
70%
- Interface MXM-B (3.0)
- Core clock speed 1096 + Boost
- Max video memory 4 GB
- Memory type GDDR5
- Memory clock speed 2500 MHz
- Maximum resolution
Year of release
2015
Performance
8.65
Summary
NVIDIA started GeForce GTX 960M sales 12 March 2015. This is a laptop graphics card based on a Maxwell architecture and made with 28 nm manufacturing process. It is primarily aimed at gamers. 4 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 2.5 GHz are supplied, and together with 128 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 80 GB/s.
Compatibility-wise, this is card attached via MXM-B (3.0) interface. Power consumption is at 75 Watt.
It provides poor gaming and benchmark performance at
8.65%
of a leader's which is NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.
General info
Some basic facts about GeForce GTX 960M: architecture, market segment, release date etc.
| Place in performance ranking | 402 | |
| Value for money | 1.29 | |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2018) | |
| GPU code name | N16P-GX | |
| Market segment | Laptop | |
| Release date | 12 March 2015 (8 years old) | |
| Current price | $799 | of 158889 (A100 PCIe) |
Value for money
Technical specs
GeForce GTX 960M's specs such as number of shaders, GPU base clock, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of GeForce GTX 960M's performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider its benchmark and gaming test results.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 640 | of 20480 (Data Center GPU Max NEXT) |
| CUDA cores | 640 | |
| Core clock speed | 1096 MHz | of 2610 (Radeon RX 6500 XT) |
| Boost clock speed | 1202 MHz | of 3599 (Radeon RX 7990 XTX) |
| Number of transistors | 1,870 million | of 14400 (GeForce GTX 1080 SLI Mobile) |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | of 4 (GeForce RTX 4080) |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | of 2400 (Data Center GPU Max Subsystem) |
| Texture fill rate | 47.04 | of 969.9 (H100 SXM5 96 GB) |
| Floating-point performance | 1,505 gflops | of 16384 (Radeon Pro Duo) |
Size and compatibility
Information on GeForce GTX 960M's 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 size | medium sized | |
| Bus support | PCI Express 3.0 | |
| Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | |
| SLI options | + |
Memory
Parameters of memory installed on GeForce GTX 960M: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Note that GPUs integrated into processors have no dedicated memory and use a shared part of system RAM instead.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | of 128 (Radeon Instinct MI250X) |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | of 8192 (Radeon Instinct MI250X) |
| Memory clock speed | 2500 MHz | of 22400 (GeForce RTX 4080) |
| Memory bandwidth | 80 GB/s | of 14400 (Radeon R7 M260) |
| Shared memory | - |
Video outputs and ports
Types and number of video connectors present on GeForce GTX 960M. As a rule, this section is relevant only for desktop reference graphics cards, since for notebook ones the availability of certain video outputs depends on the laptop model, while non-reference desktop models can (though not necessarily will) bear a different set of video ports.
| Display Connectors | No outputs | |
| VGA аnalog display support | + | |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | + | |
| HDMI | + |
Technologies
Technological solutions and APIs supported by GeForce GTX 960M. You'll probably need this information if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| GameStream | + | |
| GeForce ShadowPlay | + | |
| GPU Boost | 2.0 | |
| GameWorks | + | |
| H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder | + | |
| Optimus | + | |
| BatteryBoost | + | |
| Ansel | + |
API support
APIs supported by GeForce GTX 960M, sometimes including their particular versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | of 4.6 (GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile) |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | |
| CUDA | + |
Benchmark performance
Synthetic benchmark performance of GeForce GTX 960M. 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.
Passmark
This is probably the most ubiquitous benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various 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: 24%
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: 16%
3DMark Fire Strike Score
Benchmark coverage: 13%
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: 13%
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 seemingly made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
Benchmark coverage: 13%
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%
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.
Benchmark coverage: 8%
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%
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%
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%
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%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 medical-01
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01
Benchmark coverage: 3%
SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Maya
This part of SPECviewperf 12 workstation benchmark uses Autodesk Maya 13 engine to render a superhero energy plant static scene consisting of more than 700 thousand polygons, in six different modes.
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Catia
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Creo
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Medical
Benchmark coverage: 2%
SPECviewperf 12 - Energy
Benchmark coverage: 2%
Send in your benchmark results
Send your test results of GeForce GTX 960M.
Mining hashrates
Cryptocurrency mining performance of GeForce GTX 960M. Usually measured in megahashes per second.
| Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) | 175 Mh/s |
Gaming performance
Let's see how good GeForce GTX 960M is for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in frames per second. Comparisons with game system requirements are included, but remember that sometimes official requirements may reflect reality inaccurately.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular modern games across different resolutions:
| Full HD | 37 | |
| 1440p | 15 | |
| 4K | 14 |
Performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 |
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 25 | |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 14−16 | |
| Battlefield 5 | 38 | |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 24−27 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | |
| Far Cry 5 | 28 | |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 27 | |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 35 | |
| Hitman 3 | 21−24 | |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 18−20 | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 14−16 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24 | |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 14−16 |
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 19 | |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 14−16 | |
| Battlefield 5 | 31 | |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 24−27 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | |
| Far Cry 5 | 25 | |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 25 | |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 31 | |
| Hitman 3 | 21−24 | |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 18−20 | |
| Metro Exodus | 12 | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 14−16 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 19 | |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 20−22 | |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 14−16 |
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 11 | |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 14−16 | |
| Battlefield 5 | 26 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 14−16 | |
| Far Cry 5 | 23 | |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 23 | |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 25 | |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 20−22 | |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 14−16 |
1440p
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 12−14 | |
| Hitman 3 | 14−16 | |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 12−14 | |
| Metro Exodus | 8−9 | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 6−7 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 11 | |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 6−7 |
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 8 | |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 5−6 | |
| Battlefield 5 | 17 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6 | |
| Far Cry 5 | 15 | |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 15 | |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 18 | |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 4−5 |
4K
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 6−7 | |
| Hitman 3 | 8−9 | |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 7−8 | |
| Metro Exodus | 3−4 | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6 | |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 4−5 | |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 7−8 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 4−5 | |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 3−4 | |
| Battlefield 5 | 3 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3 | |
| Far Cry 5 | 7 | |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 6 | |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 10−12 | |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 3−4 |
Relative perfomance
Overall GeForce GTX 960M performance compared to nearest competitors among notebook video cards.
AMD equivalent
According to our data, the closest AMD alternative to GeForce GTX 960M is Radeon R9 M470X, which is nearly equal in speed and lower by 1 position in our ranking.
Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce GTX 960M:
Similar GPUs
Here is our recommendation of several graphics cards that are more or less close in performance to the one reviewed.
Recommended processors
These processors are most commonly used with GeForce GTX 960M according to our statistics.
35.7%
18.5%
8.2%
2%
1.9%
1.6%
1.5%
0.9%
