GeForce GTX 970M: specs and benchmarks

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Aggregated performance score

It provides poor gaming and benchmark performance at 14.77% of a leader's which is GeForce RTX 4090.

RTX 4090GeForce RTX4090
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Summary

NVIDIA started GeForce GTX 970M sales 7 October 2014 at a recommended price of $2,560.89 . This is a laptop graphics card based on a Maxwell architecture and made with 28 nm manufacturing process. It is primarily aimed at gamers. 6 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 2.5 GHz are supplied, and together with 192 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 120 GB/s.

Compatibility-wise, this is card attached via MXM-B (3.0) interface. Power consumption is at unknown.

General info

Some basic facts about GeForce GTX 970M: architecture, market segment, release date etc.

Place in performance ranking329
Place by popularitynot in top-100
Value for money3.92
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code nameGM204
Market segmentLaptop
Release date7 October 2014 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$2,560.89
Current price$848 (0.3x MSRP)of 168889 (A100 PCIe 80 GB)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Technical specs

GeForce GTX 970M's specs such as number of shaders, GPU base clock, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of GeForce GTX 970M's performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider its benchmark and gaming test results.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1280of 20480 (Data Center GPU Max NEXT)
CUDA cores1280
Core clock speed924 MHzof 2610 (Radeon RX 6500 XT)
Boost clock speed1038 MHzof 3599 (Radeon RX 7990 XTX)
Number of transistors5,200 millionof 14400 (GeForce GTX 1070 SLI Mobile)
Manufacturing process technology28 nmof 4 (Radeon 780M)
Power consumption (TDP)unknownof 2400 (Data Center GPU Max Subsystem)
Texture fill rate83.04of 969.9 (H100 SXM5 96 GB)
Floating-point performance2,657 gflopsof 16384 (Radeon Pro Duo)

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 970M'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 sizelarge
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectorsNone
SLI options+

Memory

Parameters of memory installed on GeForce GTX 970M: 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 typeGDDR5
Maximum RAM amount6 GBof 192 (Radeon Instinct MI300X)
Memory bus width192 Bitof 8192 (Radeon Instinct MI250X)
Memory clock speed2500 MHzof 23000 (GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)
Memory bandwidth120 GB/sof 3276 (Aldebaran)
Shared memory-

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on GeForce GTX 970M. 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 ConnectorsNo outputs
VGA аnalog display support+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+
HDMI+
G-SYNC support+

Technologies

Technological solutions and APIs supported by GeForce GTX 970M. You'll probably need this information if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream+
GeForce ShadowPlay+
GPU Boost2.0
GameWorks+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+
Optimus+
BatteryBoost+
Ansel+

API support

APIs supported by GeForce GTX 970M, sometimes including their particular versions.

DirectX12 (12_1)
Shader Model6.4
OpenGL4.5of 4.6 (GeForce RTX 4090)
OpenCL1.1
Vulkan1.1.126
CUDA+

Benchmark performance

Synthetic benchmark performance of GeForce GTX 970M. 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 970M 14.77

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 970M 5721

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 970M 28845

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 970M 9878

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 970M 7463

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 970M 51247

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 970M 18376

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 970M 274626

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%

GTX 970M 17026

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%

GTX 970M 17191

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 970M 93

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 970M 51

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 34

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 21

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 3

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 24

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 37

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 medical-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 11

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 28

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 970M 12

SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 28

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 970M 34

SPECviewperf 12 - Catia

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 24

SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 21

SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 3

SPECviewperf 12 - Creo

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 37

SPECviewperf 12 - Medical

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 11

SPECviewperf 12 - Energy

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 970M 11.7

Gaming performance

Let's see how good GeForce GTX 970M 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:

900p136
Full HD58
1440p27
4K21

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 42
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
Battlefield 5 66
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
Far Cry 5 46
Far Cry New Dawn 41
Forza Horizon 4 61
Hitman 3 40−45
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 36
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
Battlefield 5 54
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
Far Cry 5 43
Far Cry New Dawn 38
Forza Horizon 4 53
Hitman 3 40−45
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
Metro Exodus 24
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 34
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
Battlefield 5 49
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
Far Cry 5 39
Far Cry New Dawn 35
Forza Horizon 4 36
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 26
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
Hitman 3 21−24
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
Metro Exodus 14
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 17
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
Battlefield 5 33
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
Far Cry 5 27
Far Cry New Dawn 25
Forza Horizon 4 23
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−11
Hitman 3 14−16
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
Metro Exodus 7
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
Battlefield 5 15
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
Far Cry 5 13
Far Cry New Dawn 12
Forza Horizon 4 6
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7

Relative performance

Overall GeForce GTX 970M performance compared to nearest competitors among notebook video cards.


AMD equivalent

According to our data, the closest AMD alternative to GeForce GTX 970M is Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870, which is slower by 3% and lower by 8 positions in our ranking.

RX Vega M GL / 870Radeon RXVega M GL / 870
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Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce GTX 970M:

Similar GPUs

Here is our recommendation of several graphics cards that are more or less close in performance to the one reviewed.

GTX 770M SLIGeForce GTX770M SLI
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GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GBGeForce GTX1060 Max-Q 6 GB
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GTX 1050 Ti MobileGeForce GTX1050 Ti Mobile
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HD 7970M CrossfireRadeon HD7970M Crossfire
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R9 M395XRadeon R9M395X
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R9 M295XRadeon R9M295X
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Recommended processors

These processors are most commonly used with GeForce GTX 970M according to our statistics.

User Ratings

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics card, as well as rate it yourself.


4.3 285 votes

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about GeForce GTX 970M, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.