NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI vs AMD Radeon RX 480

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Combined performance score

RX 480
22.29

GeForce GTX 970M SLI outperforms Radeon RX 480 by 9% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking228208
Place by popularity93not in top-100
Value for money12.026.73
ArchitecturePolaris (2016−2019)Maxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code namePolaris 10 Ellesmereno data
GCN generation4th Genno data
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date29 June 2016 (7 years old)7 October 2014 (9 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$229 no data
Current price$174 (0.8x MSRP)$1326
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 480 has 79% better value for money than GTX 970M SLI.

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 cores23042560
Compute units36no data
Core clock speed1120 MHz924 MHz
Boost clock speed1266 MHz1038 MHz
Number of transistors5,700 million2x 5200 Million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)150 Watt162 Watt
Texture fill rate182.3no data
Floating-point performance5,834 gflopsno data

Size and compatibility

Information on Radeon RX 480 and GeForce GTX 970M SLI compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). 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 sizeno datalarge
Bus supportn/ano data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
Length241 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinno data
SLI optionsno data+
Bridgeless CrossFire1no 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount8 GB2x 6 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit2x 192 Bit
Memory clock speed8000 MHz5000 MHz
Memory bandwidth224 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 Connectors1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPortno data
Eyefinity1no data
HDMI2.0no data
DisplayPort support1.4HDRno data

Technologies

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

AppAccelerationn/ano data
CrossFire1no data
Enduron/ano data
FRTC1no data
FreeSync+no data
HD3Dn/ano data
LiquidVR1no data
PowerTune+no data
TressFX1no data
TrueAudion/ano data
ZeroCore+no data
UVD+no data
VCE+no data
Optimusno data+

API support

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

DirectXDirectX® 1212_1
Shader Model6.4no data
OpenGL4.5no data
OpenCL2.0no data
Vulkan+no data
Mantlen/ano data
CUDAno 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.

RX 480 22.29
GTX 970M SLI 24.19
+8.5%

GeForce GTX 970M SLI outperforms Radeon RX 480 by 9% in our combined benchmark results.


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%

RX 480 39552
+9.5%
GTX 970M SLI 36119

Radeon RX 480 outperforms GeForce GTX 970M SLI by 10% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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%

RX 480 17919
GTX 970M SLI 18870
+5.3%

GeForce GTX 970M SLI outperforms Radeon RX 480 by 5% 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%

RX 480 12186
GTX 970M SLI 14760
+21.1%

GeForce GTX 970M SLI outperforms Radeon RX 480 by 21% 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%

RX 480 72213
GTX 970M SLI 96944
+34.2%

GeForce GTX 970M SLI outperforms Radeon RX 480 by 34% 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%

RX 480 383333
+49.4%
GTX 970M SLI 256573

Radeon RX 480 outperforms GeForce GTX 970M SLI by 49% 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%

RX 480 132
GTX 970M SLI 169
+27.7%

GeForce GTX 970M SLI outperforms Radeon RX 480 by 28% 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:

Full HD78
−12.8%
88
+12.8%
1440p54
−1.9%
55−60
+1.9%
4K35
−11.4%
39
+11.4%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
−8.3%
35−40
+8.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 58
+20.8%
45−50
−20.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 35−40
−10.3%
40−45
+10.3%
Battlefield 5 70−75
−6.8%
75−80
+6.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 55−60
−10.3%
60−65
+10.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
−8.3%
35−40
+8.3%
Far Cry 5 55−60
−8.5%
60−65
+8.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 60−65
−6.7%
60−65
+6.7%
Forza Horizon 4 100
+23.5%
80−85
−23.5%
Hitman 3 65−70
−9.1%
70−75
+9.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
−8.3%
50−55
+8.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 69
+76.9%
35−40
−76.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 66
+24.5%
50−55
−24.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
−7%
45−50
+7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 49
+2.1%
45−50
−2.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 35−40
−10.3%
40−45
+10.3%
Battlefield 5 70−75
−6.8%
75−80
+6.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35
−82.9%
60−65
+82.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
−8.3%
35−40
+8.3%
Far Cry 5 55−60
−8.5%
60−65
+8.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 60−65
−6.7%
60−65
+6.7%
Forza Horizon 4 93
+14.8%
80−85
−14.8%
Hitman 3 65−70
−9.1%
70−75
+9.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
−8.3%
50−55
+8.3%
Metro Exodus 41
+2.5%
40−45
−2.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2 34
−14.7%
35−40
+14.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 57
+7.5%
50−55
−7.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 78
−9%
85
+9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
−7%
45−50
+7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 35
−37.1%
45−50
+37.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 35−40
−10.3%
40−45
+10.3%
Battlefield 5 70−75
−6.8%
75−80
+6.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
−8.3%
35−40
+8.3%
Far Cry 5 55−60
−8.5%
60−65
+8.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 69
+7.8%
60−65
−7.8%
Forza Horizon 4 77
−5.2%
80−85
+5.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 44
−9.1%
48
+9.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
−7%
45−50
+7%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
−8.8%
35−40
+8.8%
Hitman 3 35−40
−8.1%
40−45
+8.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−33
−6.7%
30−35
+6.7%
Metro Exodus 21−24
−9.1%
24−27
+9.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 21
+16.7%
18−20
−16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30
−10.3%
30−35
+10.3%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−8.3%
24−27
+8.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
−14.3%
24−27
+14.3%
Battlefield 5 50−55
−8%
50−55
+8%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
−7.1%
14−16
+7.1%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−10.5%
40−45
+10.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 50
+6.4%
45−50
−6.4%
Forza Horizon 4 45−50
−11.1%
50−55
+11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
−11.5%
27−30
+11.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18
−12.5%
18−20
+12.5%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
−11.8%
18−20
+11.8%
Hitman 3 21−24
−9.5%
21−24
+9.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
−14.3%
16−18
+14.3%
Metro Exodus 15
+0%
14−16
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
−8.3%
12−14
+8.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18
+5.9%
16−18
−5.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27
−3.7%
28
+3.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 17
+13.3%
14−16
−13.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
−8.3%
12−14
+8.3%
Battlefield 5 24−27
−11.5%
27−30
+11.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Far Cry 5 18−20
−11.1%
20−22
+11.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 26
+8.3%
24−27
−8.3%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
−9.7%
30−35
+9.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−11
−10%
10−12
+10%

This is how RX 480 and GTX 970M SLI compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 970M SLI is 12.8% faster than RX 480

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 970M SLI is 1.9% faster than RX 480

4K resolution:

  • GTX 970M SLI is 11.4% faster than RX 480

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

  • in Red Dead Redemption 2, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 480 is 76.9% faster than the GTX 970M SLI.
  • in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 970M SLI is 82.9% faster than the RX 480.

All in all, in popular games:

  • RX 480 is ahead in 14 tests (21%)
  • GTX 970M SLI is ahead in 53 tests (78%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 22.29 24.19
Recency 29 June 2016 7 October 2014
Chip lithography 14 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 162 Watt

We couldn't decide between Radeon RX 480 and GeForce GTX 970M SLI. The differences in performance seem too small.

Be aware that Radeon RX 480 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 970M SLI is a notebook one.


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.


AMD Radeon RX 480
Radeon RX 480
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI
GeForce GTX 970M SLI

Similar GPU comparisons

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User ratings: view and submit

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4.2 1545 votes

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2.3 45 votes

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Questions and comments

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