GeForce GTX 960M vs Radeon R9 270X

Place in the ranking	394	492
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	5.82	no data
Power efficiency	4.81	8.00
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Maxwell (2014−2017)
GPU code name	Curacao	GM107
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	8 October 2013 (11 years ago)	13 March 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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	1280	640
Core clock speed	no data	1096 MHz
Boost clock speed	1050 MHz	1176 MHz
Number of transistors	2,800 million	1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	180 Watt	75 Watt
Texture fill rate	84.00	47.04
Floating-point processing power	2.688 TFLOPS	1.505 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	16
TMUs	80	40

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 3.0	PCI Express 3.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	MXM-B (3.0)
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2 x 6-pin	no data
SLI options	-	+

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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	179.2 GB/s	80 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	No outputs
Eyefinity	+	-
VGA аnalog display support	no data	+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
DisplayPort support	+	-

Supported technologies

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

AppAcceleration	+	-
CrossFire	+	-
FreeSync	+	-
HD3D	+	-
LiquidVR	+	-
TressFX	+	-
TrueAudio	+	-
UVD	+	-
DDMA audio	+	no data
GameStream	-	+
GeForce ShadowPlay	-	+
GPU Boost	no data	2.0
GameWorks	-	+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	-	+
Optimus	-	+
BatteryBoost	-	+
Ansel	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	DirectX® 12	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.5
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	+	1.1.126
CUDA	-	+

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.

R9 270X 12.64
+44.3%

GTX 960M 8.76

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.

R9 270X 4869
+44.3%

GTX 960M 3374

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.

R9 270X 6560
+51.9%

GTX 960M 4318

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:

900p	130−140 +36.8%	95 −36.8%
Full HD	45−50 +32.4%	34 −32.4%
1440p	21−24 +40%	15 −40%
4K	18−21 +28.6%	14 −28.6%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	4.42	no data
1440p	9.48	no data
4K	11.06	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

20−22
+42.9%

14−16

−42.9%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 +16%	25 −16%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22 +53.8%	12−14 −53.8%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +33.3%	30 −33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +42.9%	14−16 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +3.6%	28 −3.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +12.9%	31 −12.9%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 −1.2%	84 +1.2%
Hitman 3	24−27 +41.2%	16−18 −41.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 +32%	50−55 −32%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +35.5%	31 −35.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +45.8%	24−27 −45.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 −17.1%	48 +17.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +20.3%	55−60 −20.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 −6.9%	31 +6.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22 +53.8%	12−14 −53.8%
Battlefield 5	40−45 +73.9%	23 −73.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +42.9%	14−16 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +20.8%	24 −20.8%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +52.2%	23 −52.2%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 +16.9%	71 −16.9%
Hitman 3	24−27 +41.2%	16−18 −41.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 +32%	50−55 −32%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +61.5%	26 −61.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +45.8%	24−27 −45.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +41.4%	27−30 −41.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 −135%	73 +135%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +20.3%	55−60 −20.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 +164%	11 −164%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22 +53.8%	12−14 −53.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 +38.9%	18−20 −38.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 +42.9%	14−16 −42.9%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +61.1%	18 −61.1%
Forza Horizon 4	80−85 +232%	25 −232%
Hitman 3	24−27 +41.2%	16−18 −41.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn	65−70 +32%	50−55 −32%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +41.4%	27−30 −41.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 +121%	14 −121%
Watch Dogs: Legion	70−75 +20.3%	55−60 −20.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40
+45.8%

24−27

−45.8%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 +78.6%	14 −78.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 +26.7%	15 −26.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +50%	8 −50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +44.4%	9−10 −44.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +50%	10 −50%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +37.8%	45 −37.8%
Hitman 3	16−18 +33.3%	12−14 −33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27 +44.4%	18−20 −44.4%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +40%	15 −40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	20−22 +100%	10−11 −100%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 +62.5%	8−9 −62.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	75−80 +41.1%	55−60 −41.1%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24
+40%

14−16

−40%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +100%	6 −100%
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10 +28.6%	7 −28.6%
Hitman 3	9−10 +80%	5−6 −80%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 +71.4%	35−40 −71.4%
Metro Exodus	10−12 +37.5%	8 −37.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +10%	10 −10%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 +40%	5−6 −40%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +100%	1−2 −100%
Far Cry 5	7−8 +75%	4 −75%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 +54.5%	10−12 −54.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Watch Dogs: Legion	5−6 +66.7%	3−4 −66.7%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

12−14
+33.3%

9−10

−33.3%

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

R9 270X is 37% faster in 900p
R9 270X is 32% faster in 1080p
R9 270X is 40% faster in 1440p
R9 270X is 29% faster in 4K

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

in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 270X is 232% faster.
in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 960M is 135% faster.

All in all, in popular games: