870M vs 970M

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Combined performance score

GTX 970M
14.79
+66.2%

970M outperforms 870M by 66% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking327452
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money3.882.88
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Kepler (2012−2018)
GPU code nameGM204N15P-GT
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date7 October 2014 (9 years old)12 March 2014 (10 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$2,560.89 no data
Current price$848 (0.3x MSRP)$403
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970M has 35% better value for money than GTX 870M.

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 cores12801344
CUDA cores12801344
Core clock speed924 MHz941 MHz
Boost clock speed1038 MHz967 MHz
Number of transistors5,200 million3,540 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)unknown100 Watt
Texture fill rate83.04108.3
Floating-point performance2,657 gflops2,599 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 970M and GeForce GTX 870M 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 3.0PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectorsNoneNone
SLI options++

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 GB6 GB
Standard memory configurationno dataGDDR5
Memory bus width192 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed2500 MHzUp to 2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s120.0 GB/s
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 outputs
eDP 1.2 signal supportno dataUp to 3840x2160
LVDS signal supportno dataUp to 1920x1200
VGA аnalog display support+Up to 2048x1536
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+Up to 3840x2160
HDMI++
HDCP content protectionno data+
G-SYNC support+no data
7.1 channel HD audio on HDMIno data+
TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreamingno 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++
Optimus++
BatteryBoost+no data
Ansel+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.54.5
OpenCL1.11.1
Vulkan1.1.1261.1.126
CUDA++

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
+66.2%
GTX 870M 8.90

970M outperforms 870M by 66% in our combined benchmark results.


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 5732
+66.2%
GTX 870M 3449

970M outperforms 870M by 66% in Passmark.

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
+20%
GTX 870M 24035

970M outperforms 870M by 20% 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
+38%
GTX 870M 7156

970M outperforms 870M by 38% 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 970M 7463
+59%
GTX 870M 4694

970M outperforms 870M by 59% 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 970M 51247
+63.6%
GTX 870M 31322

970M outperforms 870M by 64% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

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 18330
+47.3%
GTX 870M 12443

970M outperforms 870M by 47% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.

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 16481
+47.1%
GTX 870M 11207

970M outperforms 870M by 47% in GeekBench 5 Vulkan.

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
+81%
GTX 870M 9499

970M outperforms 870M by 81% in GeekBench 5 CUDA.

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
+43.7%
GTX 870M 65

970M outperforms 870M by 44% in Unigine Heaven 3.0.

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
+50%
GTX 870M 34

970M outperforms 870M by 50% in Octane Render OctaneBench.

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
+70%
80−85
−70%
Full HD58
+26.1%
46
−26.1%
1440p27
+68.8%
16−18
−68.8%
4K21
+10.5%
19
−10.5%

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
+133%
18−20
−133%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+92.3%
12−14
−92.3%
Battlefield 5 66
+120%
30−33
−120%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
+58.3%
24−27
−58.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Far Cry 5 46
+109%
21−24
−109%
Far Cry New Dawn 41
+78.3%
21−24
−78.3%
Forza Horizon 4 61
+96.8%
30−35
−96.8%
Hitman 3 40−45
+86.4%
21−24
−86.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+72.2%
18−20
−72.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 40
+111%
18−20
−111%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+86.7%
14−16
−86.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 36
+100%
18−20
−100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+92.3%
12−14
−92.3%
Battlefield 5 54
+80%
30−33
−80%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 35−40
+58.3%
24−27
−58.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Far Cry 5 43
+95.5%
21−24
−95.5%
Far Cry New Dawn 38
+65.2%
21−24
−65.2%
Forza Horizon 4 53
+71%
30−35
−71%
Hitman 3 40−45
+86.4%
21−24
−86.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+72.2%
18−20
−72.2%
Metro Exodus 24
+84.6%
12−14
−84.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 34
+78.9%
18−20
−78.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45
+60.7%
28
−60.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+86.7%
14−16
−86.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 21
+16.7%
18−20
−16.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+92.3%
12−14
−92.3%
Battlefield 5 49
+63.3%
30−33
−63.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Far Cry 5 39
+77.3%
21−24
−77.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 35
+52.2%
21−24
−52.2%
Forza Horizon 4 36
+16.1%
30−35
−16.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 26
+73.3%
15
−73.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 27−30
+86.7%
14−16
−86.7%

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
+200%
4−5
−200%
Battlefield 5 33
+154%
12−14
−154%
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
+87.5%
8−9
−87.5%
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
+75%
8−9
−75%
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
+125%
4−5
−125%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
+167%
6−7
−167%

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
+150%
6−7
−150%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry 5 13
+85.7%
7−8
−85.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 12
+20%
10−11
−20%
Forza Horizon 4 6
−83.3%
10−12
+83.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%

This is how GTX 970M and GTX 870M compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 70% faster than GTX 870M

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 26.1% faster than GTX 870M

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 68.8% faster than GTX 870M

4K resolution:

  • GTX 970M is 10.5% faster than GTX 870M

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 200% faster than the GTX 870M.
  • in Forza Horizon 4, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 870M is 83.3% faster than the GTX 970M.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 970M is ahead in 67 tests (99%)
  • GTX 870M is ahead in 1 test (1%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 14.79 8.90
Recency 7 October 2014 12 March 2014

The GeForce GTX 970M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 870M 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 870M
GeForce GTX 870M

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