GeForce GTX 970M vs Radeon R9 270X

Place in the ranking	397	356
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	5.87	no data
Power efficiency	4.86	12.67
Architecture	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)	Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)
GPU code name	Curacao	GM204
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Design	reference	no data
Release date	8 October 2013 (11 years ago)	7 October 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$2,560.89

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 270X and GTX 970M have a nearly equal value for money.

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	1280
Core clock speed	no data	924 MHz
Boost clock speed	1050 MHz	1038 MHz
Number of transistors	2,800 million	5,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	180 Watt	unknown
Texture fill rate	84.00	83.04
Floating-point processing power	2.688 TFLOPS	2.657 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	48
TMUs	80	80

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	large
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	None
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	3 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	no data	2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	179.2 GB/s	120 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	+	-
G-SYNC 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 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.5
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
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 12.69

GTX 970M 14.88
+17.3%

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 4877

GTX 970M 5718
+17.2%

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

GTX 970M 7463
+13.8%

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	110−120 −23.6%	136 +23.6%
Full HD	45−50 −24.4%	56 +24.4%
1440p	21−24 −19%	25 +19%
4K	18−20 −22.2%	22 +22.2%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	4.42 +934%	45.73 −934%
1440p	9.48 +981%	102.44 −981%
4K	11.06 +953%	116.40 −953%

R9 270X has 934% lower cost per frame in 1080p
R9 270X has 981% lower cost per frame in 1440p
R9 270X has 953% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −16%	27−30 +16%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 −12.2%	46 +12.2%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −16%	27−30 +16%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −19.6%	60−65 +19.6%
Forza Horizon 5	30−35 −18.2%	35−40 +18.2%
Metro Exodus	35−40 −17.1%	41 +17.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −12.5%	35−40 +12.5%
Valorant	50−55 −17.6%	60−65 +17.6%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 −12.2%	46 +12.2%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −16%	27−30 +16%
Dota 2	45−50 +39.4%	33 −39.4%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −12.2%	55−60 +12.2%
Fortnite	70−75 +22%	59 −22%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −19.6%	60−65 +19.6%
Forza Horizon 5	30−35 −18.2%	35−40 +18.2%
Grand Theft Auto V	45−50 −6.5%	49 +6.5%
Metro Exodus	35−40 +20.7%	29 −20.7%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	90−95 −58.5%	149 +58.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35 −12.5%	35−40 +12.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −15.8%	44 +15.8%
Valorant	50−55 −17.6%	60−65 +17.6%
World of Tanks	170−180 −12.2%	190−200 +12.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 +2.5%	40 −2.5%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −13.6%	24−27 +13.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 −16%	27−30 +16%
Dota 2	45−50 −17.4%	50−55 +17.4%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −12.2%	55−60 +12.2%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −19.6%	60−65 +19.6%
Forza Horizon 5	30−35 −18.2%	35−40 +18.2%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	90−95 +147%	38 −147%
Valorant	50−55 −17.6%	60−65 +17.6%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	18−20 −22.2%	21−24 +22.2%
Grand Theft Auto V	18−20 −22.2%	21−24 +22.2%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	85−90 −55.3%	130−140 +55.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−12 −18.2%	12−14 +18.2%
World of Tanks	90−95 −15.6%	100−110 +15.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 −8%	27 +8%
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 −10%	10−12 +10%
Far Cry 5	27−30 −24.1%	35−40 +24.1%
Forza Horizon 4	30−33 −23.3%	35−40 +23.3%
Forza Horizon 5	20−22 −15%	21−24 +15%
Metro Exodus	24−27 +4%	25 −4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18 −17.6%	20−22 +17.6%
Valorant	30−35 −19.4%	35−40 +19.4%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
Dota 2	21−24 −43.5%	33 +43.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	21−24 −43.5%	33 +43.5%
Metro Exodus	8−9 +14.3%	7 −14.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	35−40 −2.7%	38 +2.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 −43.5%	33 +43.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −8.3%	13 +8.3%
Counter-Strike 2	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Dota 2	21−24 −13%	24−27 +13%
Far Cry 5	16−18 −18.8%	18−20 +18.8%
Fortnite	14−16 −7.1%	15 +7.1%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −23.5%	21−24 +23.5%
Forza Horizon 5	9−10 −22.2%	10−12 +22.2%
Valorant	12−14 −23.1%	16−18 +23.1%

This is how R9 270X and GTX 970M compete in popular games:

GTX 970M is 24% faster in 900p
GTX 970M is 24% faster in 1080p
GTX 970M is 19% faster in 1440p
GTX 970M is 22% faster in 4K

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

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 270X is 147% faster.
in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 970M is 59% faster.

All in all, in popular games: