Steam Deck GPU vs GeForce GTX 970M

Primary details

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

Place in performance ranking	330	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	3.95	no data
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2022)
GPU code name	GM204	Van Gogh
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	7 October 2014 (9 years ago)	25 February 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$2,560.89	no data
Current price	$848 (0.3x MSRP)	$15.29

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	1280	512
CUDA cores	1280	no data
Core clock speed	924 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1038 MHz	1600 MHz
Number of transistors	5,200 million	2,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	unknown	15 Watt
Texture fill rate	83.04	51.20
Floating-point performance	2,657 gflops	no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 970M and Steam Deck GPU 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 size	large	no data
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	MXM-B (3.0)	no data
Length	no data	298 mm
Supplementary power connectors	None	None
SLI options	+	no data

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 type	GDDR5	LPDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	2500 MHz	5.5 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	120 GB/s	88 GB/s
Shared memory	-	no data

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 Connectors	No outputs	1x USB Type-C
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	no data
G-SYNC support	+	no data

Supported 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 Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	no data
Optimus	+	no data
BatteryBoost	+	no data
Ansel	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.4	6.5
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	2.0
Vulkan	1.1.126	1.2
CUDA	+	no data

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	7 October 2014	25 February 2022
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm

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Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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