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.

General info

Some basic facts about GeForce GTX 960M: architecture, market segment, release date etc.

Place in performance ranking	455
Place by popularity	not in top-100
Value for money	1.43
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code name	N16P-GX
Market segment	Laptop
Release date	12 March 2015 (9 years old)
Current price	$799	of 168889 (A100 PCIe 80 GB)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

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 1070 SLI Mobile)
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	of 4 (Radeon 780M)
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 192 (Radeon Instinct MI300X)
Memory bus width	128 Bit	of 8192 (Radeon Instinct MI250X)
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz	of 23000 (GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)
Memory bandwidth	80 GB/s	of 3276 (Aldebaran)
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 RTX 4090)
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.

GTX 960M 8.78

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 960M 3401

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 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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 960M 4318

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 960M 30086

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 960M 10711

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%

GTX 960M 226308

GeekBench 5 Vulkan

Benchmark coverage: 5%

GTX 960M 8845

GeekBench 5 CUDA

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 960M 11818

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 960M 56

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 960M 32

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 15

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 6

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 2

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 16

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 35

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 medical-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 2

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 16

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 960M 18

SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 16

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%

GTX 960M 15

SPECviewperf 12 - Catia

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 16

SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 6

SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 2

SPECviewperf 12 - Creo

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 35

SPECviewperf 12 - Medical

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 2

SPECviewperf 12 - Energy

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 960M 17.9

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:

900p	95
Full HD	36
1440p	15
4K	13

FPS 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	12−14
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	12−14
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	24
Watch Dogs: Legion	14−16

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	11
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14
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	14
Watch Dogs: Legion	14−16

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14
Hitman 3	14−16
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16
Metro Exodus	7−8
Red Dead Redemption 2	6−7
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	11

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5
Battlefield 5	17
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5
Far Cry 5	15
Far Cry New Dawn	15
Forza Horizon 4	18
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7
Hitman 3	8−9
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9
Metro Exodus	3−4
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	4−5
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5
Battlefield 5	3
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2
Far Cry 5	7
Far Cry New Dawn	6
Forza Horizon 4	10−11
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3

Relative performance

Overall GeForce GTX 960M performance compared to nearest competitors among notebook video cards.

Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 102.73

Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire 102.51

GeForce GTX 870M 101.48

GeForce GTX 960M 100

GeForce GTX 675M SLI 99.77

GeForce GT 755M SLI 98.75

Radeon R9 M290X 95.9

AMD equivalent

According to our data, the closest AMD alternative to GeForce GTX 960M is Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire, which is faster by 3% and higher by 8 positions in our ranking.