GeForce 9600M GS vs Radeon R5 230

Place in the ranking	1211	1299
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	2.07	1.17
Architecture	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)	Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code name	Caicos	G96C
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	3 April 2014 (10 years ago)	3 June 2008 (16 years ago)

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 cores	160	32
Core clock speed	no data	103 MHz
Number of transistors	370 million	314 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	19 Watt	20 Watt
Texture fill rate	5.000	6.880
Floating-point processing power	0.2 TFLOPS	0.0688 TFLOPS
ROPs	4	8
TMUs	8	16

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 size	no data	medium sized
Bus support	PCIe 1.0 x4	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	MXM-II
Length	168 mm	no data
Width	1-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	N/A	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	DDR3	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Memory bus width	64 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	800 MHz
Memory bandwidth	10.67 GB/s	25.6 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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x VGA	No outputs
Eyefinity	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

CrossFire	+	-
PowerPlay	+	no data
DDMA audio	-	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 11	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	5.0	4.0
OpenGL	4.4	3.3
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	-	N/A
CUDA	-	1.1

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. 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.

R5 230 0.57
+67.6%

9600M GS 0.34

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.

R5 230 221
+70%

9600M GS 130

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
World of Tanks	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%

1440p
High Preset

PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

2−3

+0%

2−3

+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Counter-Strike 2	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Far Cry 5	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Valorant	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	0−1	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Dota 2	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Valorant	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 32 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.57	0.34
Recency	3 April 2014	3 June 2008
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	19 Watt	20 Watt

R5 230 has a 67.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 37.5% more advanced lithography process, and 5.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R5 230 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600M GS in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R5 230 is a desktop card while GeForce 9600M GS is a notebook one.

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