AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M

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Combined performance score

GTX 960M
8.77
+95.8%

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 96% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking454617
Place by popularitynot in top-10036
Value for money1.41no data
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Vega (2017−2021)
GPU code nameN16P-GXVega Raven Ridge
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date12 March 2015 (9 years old)26 October 2017 (6 years old)
Current price$799 no data
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores640512
CUDA cores640no data
Core clock speed1096 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1202 MHz1200 MHz
Number of transistors1,870 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)75 Watt15 Watt
Texture fill rate47.04no data
Floating-point performance1,505 gflopsno data

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 960M and Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 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 sizemedium sizedno data
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)no data
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 typeGDDR5no data
Maximum RAM amount4 GBno data
Memory bus width128 Bitno data
Memory clock speed2500 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth80 GB/sno data
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 outputsno data
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI+no data

Technologies

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

GameStream+no data
GeForce ShadowPlay+no data
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+no data
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+no data
Optimus+no data
BatteryBoost+no data
Ansel+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12_1
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.5no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan1.1.126no data
CUDA+no data

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 960M 8.77
+95.8%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 4.48

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 96% in our combined benchmark results.


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
+48.4%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 3557

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 48% 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 960M 4318
+81.4%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 2381

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 81% 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 960M 30086
+90.8%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 15770

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 91% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

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
+99.8%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 113247

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 100% in 3DMark Ice Storm 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 960M 56
+106%
RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 27

GeForce GTX 960M outperforms Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) by 106% 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:

900p95
+111%
45−50
−111%
Full HD36
+100%
18
−100%
1440p15
+114%
7−8
−114%
4K13
+30%
10
−30%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+55.6%
9
−55.6%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 25
+66.7%
15
−66.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+30%
10
−30%
Battlefield 5 38
+58.3%
24
−58.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+50%
16
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+55.6%
9
−55.6%
Far Cry 5 28
+133%
12
−133%
Far Cry New Dawn 27
+108%
13
−108%
Forza Horizon 4 35
+34.6%
26
−34.6%
Hitman 3 21−24
+120%
10−11
−120%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+50%
12
−50%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+25%
12
−25%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 24
+100%
12
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
+25%
12
−25%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 19
+72.7%
11
−72.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Battlefield 5 31
+40.9%
22
−40.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+300%
6
−300%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+133%
6
−133%
Far Cry 5 25
+150%
10
−150%
Far Cry New Dawn 25
+78.6%
14
−78.6%
Forza Horizon 4 31
+3.3%
30
−3.3%
Hitman 3 21−24
+120%
10−11
−120%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+125%
8−9
−125%
Metro Exodus 12
+71.4%
7
−71.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+66.7%
9−10
−66.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 19
+90%
10
−90%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24
+84.6%
13
−84.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 11
+37.5%
8
−37.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+333%
3−4
−333%
Battlefield 5 26
+13%
23
−13%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+180%
5
−180%
Far Cry 5 23
+156%
9
−156%
Far Cry New Dawn 23
+64.3%
14
−64.3%
Forza Horizon 4 25
+8.7%
23
−8.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14
+75%
8
−75%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
+200%
5−6
−200%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+85.7%
7−8
−85.7%
Hitman 3 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%
Metro Exodus 7−8
+133%
3−4
−133%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 11
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8
+300%
2−3
−300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Battlefield 5 17
+113%
8−9
−113%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Far Cry 5 15
+114%
7−8
−114%
Far Cry New Dawn 15
+400%
3−4
−400%
Forza Horizon 4 18
+260%
5−6
−260%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5 0−1

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%
Hitman 3 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Metro Exodus 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+150%
2−3
−150%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
+33.3%
3
−33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10
+900%
1−2
−900%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+25%
4
−25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+100%
2−3
−100%
Battlefield 5 3
−100%
6
+100%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 7
+40%
5−6
−40%
Far Cry New Dawn 6
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Forza Horizon 4 10−11
+11.1%
9
−11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%

This is how GTX 960M and RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 960M is 111% faster than RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 960M is 100% faster than RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 960M is 114% faster than RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

4K resolution:

  • GTX 960M is 30% faster than RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960M is 900% faster than the RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000).
  • in Battlefield 5, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is 100% faster than the GTX 960M.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 960M is ahead in 59 tests (95%)
  • RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 8.77 4.48
Recency 12 March 2015 26 October 2017
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 75 Watt 15 Watt

The GeForce GTX 960M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) 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

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
GeForce GTX 960M
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

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