NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 vs AMD Radeon HD 8970M

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 and AMD Radeon HD 8970M videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, Geekbench - OpenCL, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps), 3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950

AMD Radeon HD 8970M

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950

Videocard is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 3 month(s) later
Around 20% higher core clock speed: 1024 MHz vs 850 MHz
Around 40% higher boost clock speed: 1188 MHz vs 850 MHz
Around 11% lower typical power consumption: 90 Watt vs 100 Watt
Around 38% better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 5347 vs 3876
Around 6% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s): 60.473 vs 57.241
2.7x better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames): 6803 vs 2521
Around 29% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames): 3356 vs 2595
2.7x better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps): 6803 vs 2521
Around 29% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps): 3356 vs 2595

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	20 August 2015 vs 14 May 2013
Core clock speed	1024 MHz vs 850 MHz
Boost clock speed	1188 MHz vs 850 MHz
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	90 Watt vs 100 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark	5347 vs 3876
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	60.473 vs 57.241
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)	6803 vs 2521
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	3697 vs 3688
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3356 vs 2595
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)	6803 vs 2521
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	3697 vs 3688
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3356 vs 2595

Reasons to consider the AMD Radeon HD 8970M

Around 46% higher texture fill rate: 72 GTexel / s vs 49.2 billion / sec
Around 67% higher pipelines: 1280 vs 768
Around 26% better floating-point performance: 2,304 gflops vs 1,825 gflops
2x more maximum memory size: 4 GB vs 2 GB
800x more memory clock speed: 4800 MHz vs 6.6 GB/s
Around 26% better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 807 vs 642
Around 25% better performance in Geekbench - OpenCL: 20899 vs 16715
Around 61% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s): 1223.742 vs 758.865
Around 35% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s): 5.78 vs 4.279
3x better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s): 89.306 vs 29.738
Around 16% better performance in CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s): 268.643 vs 231.508

Specifications (specs)
Texture fill rate	72 GTexel / s vs 49.2 billion / sec
Pipelines	1280 vs 768
Floating-point performance	2,304 gflops vs 1,825 gflops
Maximum memory size	4 GB vs 2 GB
Memory clock speed	4800 MHz vs 6.6 GB/s
Benchmarks
PassMark - G2D Mark	807 vs 642
Geekbench - OpenCL	20899 vs 16715
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	1223.742 vs 758.865
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	5.78 vs 4.279
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	89.306 vs 29.738
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	268.643 vs 231.508

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
GPU 2: AMD Radeon HD 8970M

PassMark - G3D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

5347

3876

PassMark - G2D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

642

807

Geekbench - OpenCL

GPU 1

GPU 2

16715

20899

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

60.473

57.241

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

758.865

1223.742

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

4.279

5.78

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

29.738

89.306

CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)

GPU 1

GPU 2

231.508

268.643

GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

6803

2521

GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3697

3688

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3356

2595

GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

6803

2521

GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3697

3688

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3356

2595

Name	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950	AMD Radeon HD 8970M
PassMark - G3D Mark	5347	3876
PassMark - G2D Mark	642	807
Geekbench - OpenCL	16715	20899
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	60.473	57.241
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	758.865	1223.742
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	4.279	5.78
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	29.738	89.306
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	231.508	268.643
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)	6803	2521
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	3697	3688
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3356	2595
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)	6803	2521
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	3697	3688
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3356	2595
3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score	104	0

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950	AMD Radeon HD 8970M
Essentials
Architecture	Maxwell 2.0	GCN 1.0
Code name	GM206	Neptune
Launch date	20 August 2015	14 May 2013
Launch price (MSRP)	$159
Place in performance rating	553	554
Price now	$194.44
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Value for money (0-100)	30.06
Design		AMD Radeon HD 8000M Series
Technical info
Boost clock speed	1188 MHz	850 MHz
Core clock speed	1024 MHz	850 MHz
CUDA cores	768
Floating-point performance	1,825 gflops	2,304 gflops
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	28 nm
Pipelines	768	1280
Texture fill rate	49.2 billion / sec	72 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	90 Watt	100 Watt
Transistor count	2,940 million	2,800 million
Compute units		20
Video outputs and ports
Audio input for HDMI	Internal
Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort, Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	No outputs
G-SYNC support
HDCP
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536
Multi monitor support
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	7.938" (20.2 cm)
Recommended system power (PSU)	350 Watt
SLI options	2x
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pins
Laptop size		large
API support
DirectX	12.0 (12_1)	11
OpenGL	4.5	4.5
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Memory bandwidth	105.6 GB / s	153.6 GB/s
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	6.6 GB/s	4800 MHz
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Shared memory	0	0
Technologies
3D Vision
Adaptive Vertical Sync
CUDA
GameStream
GameWorks
GeForce Experience
GeForce ShadowPlay
GPU Boost
SLI
Surround
AMD Eyefinity
PowerTune
ZeroCore