GeForce GTX 480 vs GTX 970M

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 970M with GeForce GTX 480, including specs and performance data.

GTX 970M
2014
3 GB GDDR5
14.76
+38.6%

GTX 970M outperforms GTX 480 by a substantial 39% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking362436
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data1.66
Power efficiency12.572.94
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameGM204GF100
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date7 October 2014 (10 years ago)26 March 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$2,560.89 $499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

GTX 970M and GTX 480 have a nearly equal value for money.

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 cores1280480
Core clock speed924 MHz700 MHz
Boost clock speed1038 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,200 million3,100 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)unknown250 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate83.0442.06
Floating-point processing power2.657 TFLOPS1.345 TFLOPS
ROPs4848
TMUs8060

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 sizelargeno data
Bus supportPCI Express 3.016x PCI-E 2.0
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 2.0 x16
Lengthno data267 mm
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsNone1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount3 GB1536 MB
Memory bus width192 Bit384 Bit
Memory clock speed2500 MHz1848 MHz (3696 data rate)
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s177.4 GB/s
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 ConnectorsNo outputsTwo Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor supportno data+
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI++
HDCP-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
G-SYNC support+-
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

Supported technologies

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

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

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.54.2
OpenCL1.11.1
Vulkan1.1.126N/A
CUDA++

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score.

GTX 970M 14.76
+38.6%
GTX 480 10.65

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

GTX 970M 5708
+38.6%
GTX 480 4119

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.

GTX 970M 9878
+97%
GTX 480 5014

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.

GTX 970M 7463
+104%
GTX 480 3650

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.

GTX 970M 19035
+44.8%
GTX 480 13144

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.

GTX 970M 51
GTX 480 54
+5.9%

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:

900p136
+43.2%
95−100
−43.2%
Full HD58
+45%
40−45
−45%
1440p27
+50%
18−20
−50%
4K21
+50%
14−16
−50%

Cost per frame, $

1080p44.15
−254%
12.48
+254%
1440p94.85
−242%
27.72
+242%
4K121.95
−242%
35.64
+242%
  • GTX 480 has 254% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 480 has 242% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • GTX 480 has 242% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+44%
24−27
−44%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+38.1%
21−24
−38.1%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+44%
24−27
−44%
Battlefield 5 66
+50%
40−45
−50%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+38.1%
21−24
−38.1%
Far Cry 5 46
+35.3%
30−35
−35.3%
Fortnite 163
+172%
60−65
−172%
Forza Horizon 4 61
+41.9%
40−45
−41.9%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+46.2%
24−27
−46.2%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 60
+66.7%
35−40
−66.7%
Valorant 110−120
+24.5%
90−95
−24.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+44%
24−27
−44%
Battlefield 5 54
+22.7%
40−45
−22.7%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 190−200
+26.7%
150−160
−26.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+38.1%
21−24
−38.1%
Dota 2 85−90
+25.4%
70−75
−25.4%
Far Cry 5 43
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Fortnite 65
+8.3%
60−65
−8.3%
Forza Horizon 4 53
+23.3%
40−45
−23.3%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+46.2%
24−27
−46.2%
Grand Theft Auto V 49
+28.9%
35−40
−28.9%
Metro Exodus 24
+20%
20−22
−20%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 49
+36.1%
35−40
−36.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45
+73.1%
24−27
−73.1%
Valorant 110−120
+24.5%
90−95
−24.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 49
+11.4%
40−45
−11.4%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+38.1%
21−24
−38.1%
Dota 2 85−90
+25.4%
70−75
−25.4%
Far Cry 5 39
+14.7%
30−35
−14.7%
Forza Horizon 4 36
−19.4%
40−45
+19.4%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+46.2%
24−27
−46.2%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 33
−9.1%
35−40
+9.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 26
+0%
24−27
+0%
Valorant 110−120
+24.5%
90−95
−24.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 49
−22.4%
60−65
+22.4%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 100−110
+35.1%
75−80
−35.1%
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+46.7%
14−16
−46.7%
Metro Exodus 14
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 120−130
+156%
50−55
−156%
Valorant 140−150
+30.6%
110−120
−30.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 33
+32%
24−27
−32%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+60%
10−11
−60%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+50%
8−9
−50%
Far Cry 5 27
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%
Forza Horizon 4 23
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+37.5%
16−18
−37.5%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 31
+47.6%
21−24
−47.6%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Counter-Strike 2 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Grand Theft Auto V 33
+57.1%
21−24
−57.1%
Metro Exodus 7
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Valorant 75−80
+43.4%
50−55
−43.4%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 15
+25%
12−14
−25%
Counter-Strike 2 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Dota 2 50−55
+35.1%
35−40
−35.1%
Far Cry 5 13
+30%
10−11
−30%
Forza Horizon 4 6
−183%
16−18
+183%
Forza Horizon 5 12−14
+50%
8−9
−50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 14
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+0%
12−14
+0%

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

  • GTX 970M is 43% faster in 900p
  • GTX 970M is 45% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 970M is 50% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 970M is 50% faster in 4K

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

  • in Fortnite, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 970M is 172% faster.
  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 480 is 183% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 970M is ahead in 60 tests (90%)
  • GTX 480 is ahead in 5 tests (7%)
  • there's a draw in 2 tests (3%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.76 10.65
Recency 7 October 2014 26 March 2010
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 1536 MB
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm

GTX 970M has a 38.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 42.9% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GTX 970M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 480 in performance tests.

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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
GeForce GTX 970M
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
GeForce GTX 480

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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