485M SLI vs 970M

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Combined performance score

GTX 970M
14.79
+60.6%

970M outperforms 485M SLI by 61% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking327438
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money3.888.37
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameGM204N11E-GTX-A1
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date7 October 2014 (9 years old)6 January 2011 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$2,560.89 no data
Current price$848 (0.3x MSRP)$149
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 485M SLI has 116% better value for money than GTX 970M.

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 cores1280768
CUDA cores1280no data
Core clock speed924 MHz575 MHz
Boost clock speed1038 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,200 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)unknown100 Watt
Texture fill rate83.04no data
Floating-point performance2,657 gflopsno data

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 970M and GeForce GTX 485M SLI 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 sizelargelarge
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)no data
Supplementary power connectorsNoneno 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount6 GB2x2 GB
Memory bus width192 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed2500 MHz1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth120 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
G-SYNC support+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 (12_1)11
Shader Model6.4no data
OpenGL4.5no data
OpenCL1.1no 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 970M 14.79
+60.6%
GTX 485M SLI 9.21

970M outperforms 485M SLI by 61% 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%

GTX 970M 28845
+16.2%
GTX 485M SLI 24830

970M outperforms 485M SLI by 16% 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%

GTX 970M 9878
+85.2%
GTX 485M SLI 5334

970M outperforms 485M SLI by 85% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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
+52.8%
89
−52.8%
Full HD58
−77.6%
103
+77.6%
1440p27
+68.8%
16−18
−68.8%
4K21
+75%
12−14
−75%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 42
+121%
18−20
−121%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+78.6%
14−16
−78.6%
Battlefield 5 66
+113%
30−35
−113%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
+52%
24−27
−52%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Far Cry 5 46
+100%
21−24
−100%
Far Cry New Dawn 41
+70.8%
24−27
−70.8%
Forza Horizon 4 61
+90.6%
30−35
−90.6%
Hitman 3 40−45
+78.3%
21−24
−78.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+63.2%
18−20
−63.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40
+100%
20−22
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+75%
16−18
−75%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 36
+89.5%
18−20
−89.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+78.6%
14−16
−78.6%
Battlefield 5 54
+74.2%
30−35
−74.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
+52%
24−27
−52%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Far Cry 5 43
+87%
21−24
−87%
Far Cry New Dawn 38
+58.3%
24−27
−58.3%
Forza Horizon 4 53
+65.6%
30−35
−65.6%
Hitman 3 40−45
+78.3%
21−24
−78.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+63.2%
18−20
−63.2%
Metro Exodus 24
+71.4%
14−16
−71.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 34
+70%
20−22
−70%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45
+137%
18−20
−137%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+75%
16−18
−75%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21
+10.5%
18−20
−10.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+78.6%
14−16
−78.6%
Battlefield 5 49
+58.1%
30−35
−58.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Far Cry 5 39
+69.6%
21−24
−69.6%
Far Cry New Dawn 35
+45.8%
24−27
−45.8%
Forza Horizon 4 36
+12.5%
30−35
−12.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 26
+36.8%
18−20
−36.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+75%
16−18
−75%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
+69.2%
12−14
−69.2%
Hitman 3 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+40%
14−16
−40%
Metro Exodus 14
+100%
7−8
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20
+66.7%
12−14
−66.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 17
+113%
8−9
−113%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+140%
5−6
−140%
Battlefield 5 33
+136%
14−16
−136%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Far Cry 5 27
+92.9%
14−16
−92.9%
Far Cry New Dawn 25
+78.6%
14−16
−78.6%
Forza Horizon 4 23
+43.8%
16−18
−43.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+66.7%
9−10
−66.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 9−10
+125%
4−5
−125%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−11
+66.7%
6−7
−66.7%
Hitman 3 14−16
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
+25%
8−9
−25%
Metro Exodus 7
+133%
3−4
−133%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9
+80%
5−6
−80%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
+129%
7−8
−129%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 7−8
+75%
4−5
−75%
Battlefield 5 15
+114%
7−8
−114%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry 5 13
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 12
+20%
10−11
−20%
Forza Horizon 4 6
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
+100%
3−4
−100%

This is how GTX 970M and GTX 485M SLI compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 52.8% faster than GTX 485M SLI

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 485M SLI is 77.6% faster than GTX 970M

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 68.8% faster than GTX 485M SLI

4K resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 75% faster than GTX 485M SLI

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 970M is 140% faster than the GTX 485M SLI.
  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 485M SLI is 83.3% faster than the GTX 970M.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 970M is ahead in 67 tests (99%)
  • GTX 485M SLI is ahead in 1 test (1%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 14.79 9.21
Recency 7 October 2014 6 January 2011
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm

The GeForce GTX 970M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 485M SLI 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 970M
GeForce GTX 970M
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M SLI
GeForce GTX 485M SLI

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