GeForce GTX 280M SLI vs GTX 960M

Place in the ranking	485	721
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	8.08	1.59
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2017)	G9x (2007−2010)
GPU code name	GM107	N10E-GTX
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	13 March 2015 (9 years ago)	2 March 2009 (15 years ago)

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	640	256
Core clock speed	1096 MHz	585 MHz
Boost clock speed	1176 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	1,870 million	1508 Million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	47.04	no data
Floating-point processing power	1.505 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	16	no data
TMUs	40	no data

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).

Laptop size	medium sized	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	no data
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	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz	950 MHz
Memory bandwidth	80 GB/s	no data
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	No outputs	no data
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	-

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	+	-
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	-
Optimus	+	-
BatteryBoost	+	-
Ansel	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	10
Shader Model	5.1	no data
OpenGL	4.5	no data
OpenCL	1.2	no data
Vulkan	1.1.126	-
CUDA	+	+

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	95 +171%	35−40 −171%
Full HD	34 +183%	12−14 −183%
1440p	14 +180%	5−6 −180%
4K	13 +160%	5−6 −160%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

14−16
+133%

6−7

−133%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	25 +150%	10−11 −150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Battlefield 5	30 +400%	6−7 −400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +125%	8−9 −125%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Far Cry 5	28 +300%	7−8 −300%
Far Cry New Dawn	31 +244%	9−10 −244%
Forza Horizon 4	84 +342%	18−20 −342%
Hitman 3	16−18 +113%	8−9 −113%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Metro Exodus	31 +520%	5−6 −520%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +200%	8−9 −200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	48 +269%	12−14 −269%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +47.5%	40−45 −47.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	31 +210%	10−11 −210%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Battlefield 5	23 +283%	6−7 −283%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +125%	8−9 −125%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Far Cry 5	24 +243%	7−8 −243%
Far Cry New Dawn	23 +156%	9−10 −156%
Forza Horizon 4	71 +274%	18−20 −274%
Hitman 3	16−18 +113%	8−9 −113%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Metro Exodus	26 +420%	5−6 −420%
Red Dead Redemption 2	24−27 +200%	8−9 −200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +123%	12−14 −123%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	73 +387%	14−16 −387%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +47.5%	40−45 −47.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	11 +10%	10−11 −10%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20 +125%	8−9 −125%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +133%	6−7 −133%
Far Cry 5	18 +157%	7−8 −157%
Forza Horizon 4	25 +31.6%	18−20 −31.6%
Hitman 3	16−18 +113%	8−9 −113%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +108%	24−27 −108%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 +123%	12−14 −123%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14 −7.1%	14−16 +7.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +47.5%	40−45 −47.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27
+200%

8−9

−200%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14 +133%	6−7 −133%
Far Cry New Dawn	15 +200%	5−6 −200%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	8 +167%	3−4 −167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +350%	2−3 −350%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +100%	2−3 −100%
Far Cry 5	10 +150%	4−5 −150%
Forza Horizon 4	45	0−1
Hitman 3	12−14 +50%	8−9 −50%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +125%	8−9 −125%
Metro Exodus	15 +200%	5−6 −200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 +233%	3−4 −233%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	8−9 +300%	2−3 −300%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 +180%	20−22 −180%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16
+114%

7−8

−114%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	6 +200%	2−3 −200%
Far Cry New Dawn	7 +250%	2−3 −250%
Hitman 3	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +192%	12−14 −192%
Metro Exodus	8 +167%	3−4 −167%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10 +233%	3−4 −233%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6 +150%	2−3 −150%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2	0−1
Far Cry 5	4 +300%	1−2 −300%
Forza Horizon 4	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 +400%	1−2 −400%
Watch Dogs: Legion	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

9−10
+125%

4−5

−125%

This is how GTX 960M and GTX 280M SLI compete in popular games:

GTX 960M is 171% faster in 900p
GTX 960M is 183% faster in 1080p
GTX 960M is 180% faster in 1440p
GTX 960M is 160% faster in 4K

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 960M is 1000% faster.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 280M SLI is 7% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 960M is ahead in 61 test (98%)
GTX 280M SLI is ahead in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.75	3.44
Recency	13 March 2015	2 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	150 Watt

GTX 960M has a 154.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 96.4% more advanced lithography process, and 100% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 960M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 280M SLI in performance tests.

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