AMD Radeon R9 270X vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

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Combined performance score

GTX 960
15.65
+24%

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon R9 270X by 24% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking315362
Place by popularity53not in top-100
Value for money2.124.43
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameGM206Curacao XT
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date22 January 2015 (9 years old)8 October 2013 (10 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 $199
Current price$440 (2.2x MSRP)$136 (0.7x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 270X has 109% better value for money than GTX 960.

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 cores10241280
CUDA cores1024no data
Core clock speed1127 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1178 MHz1050 MHz
Number of transistors2,940 million2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)120 Watt180 Watt
Texture fill rate72 billion/sec84.00
Floating-point performance2,413 gflops2,688 gflops

Size and 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).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.0PCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length9.5" (24.1 cm)no data
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)400 Wattno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pins2 x 6-pin
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 amount4 GB4 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/sno data
Memory bandwidth112 GB/s179.2 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 ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.22x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
Eyefinityno data+
HDMI++
HDCP+no data
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
DisplayPort supportno data+
G-SYNC support+no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Technologies

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

AppAccelerationno data+
CrossFireno data1
Endurono data-
FreeSyncno data1
HD3Dno data+
LiquidVRno data1
PowerTuneno data-
TressFXno data1
TrueAudiono data+
ZeroCoreno data-
UVDno data+
DDMA audiono data+
GameStream+no data
GeForce ShadowPlay+no data
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)DirectX® 12
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan++
Mantleno 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 960 15.65
+24%
R9 270X 12.62

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon R9 270X by 24% 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 960 6064
+24%
R9 270X 4889

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon R9 270X by 24% in Passmark.

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 960 7916
+20.7%
R9 270X 6560

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon R9 270X by 21% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

GTX 960 866
+17.8%
R9 270X 735

GeForce GTX 960 outperforms Radeon R9 270X by 18% in Unigine Heaven 4.0.

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:

Full HD65
+30%
50−55
−30%
4K29
+38.1%
21−24
−38.1%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%
Battlefield 5 50−55
+23.3%
40−45
−23.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+21.2%
30−35
−21.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+28.1%
30−35
−28.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+22.2%
45−50
−22.2%
Hitman 3 40−45
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+23.8%
21−24
−23.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−33
+30.4%
21−24
−30.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%
Battlefield 5 50−55
+23.3%
40−45
−23.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 40−45
+21.2%
30−35
−21.2%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+28.1%
30−35
−28.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+22.2%
45−50
−22.2%
Hitman 3 40−45
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+26.3%
18−20
−26.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 24−27
+23.8%
21−24
−23.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−35
+26.9%
24−27
−26.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 50
+92.3%
24−27
−92.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−33
+30.4%
21−24
−30.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 30−35
+22.2%
27−30
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
+28.6%
21−24
−28.6%
Battlefield 5 50−55
+23.3%
40−45
−23.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+20%
20−22
−20%
Far Cry 5 40−45
+28.1%
30−35
−28.1%
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+22.2%
45−50
−22.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 28
+7.7%
24−27
−7.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion 30−33
+30.4%
21−24
−30.4%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 21−24
+27.8%
18−20
−27.8%
Hitman 3 24−27
+25%
20−22
−25%
Horizon Zero Dawn 21−24
+22.2%
18−20
−22.2%
Metro Exodus 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 20−22
+25%
16−18
−25%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 16−18
+23.1%
12−14
−23.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Battlefield 5 30−35
+32%
24−27
−32%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+30%
20−22
−30%
Far Cry New Dawn 27−30
+31.8%
21−24
−31.8%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+33.3%
12−14
−33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Hitman 3 14−16
+16.7%
12−14
−16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+36.4%
10−12
−36.4%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Battlefield 5 16−18
+41.7%
12−14
−41.7%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Far Cry New Dawn 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
+29.4%
16−18
−29.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%

This is how GTX 960 and R9 270X compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 960 is 30% faster than R9 270X

4K resolution:

  • GTX 960 is 38.1% faster than R9 270X

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960 is 92.3% faster than the R9 270X.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 960 surpassed R9 270X in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 15.65 12.62
Recency 22 January 2015 8 October 2013
Power consumption (TDP) 120 Watt 180 Watt

The GeForce GTX 960 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 270X 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 960
GeForce GTX 960
AMD Radeon R9 270X
Radeon R9 270X

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