13 specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

On paper, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 carries more memory (4 GB against 2 GB), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 has more shading units, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 has a wider memory bus. Specifications describe what each card is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

10 specifications · 4 with a higher side

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

NVIDIA · GeForce GTX 900 · Desktop

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

NVIDIA · GeForce GTX 900 · Desktop

Compute

Architecture

Maxwell

Shading units

1,024

1,664

Base clock

1127 MHz

1050 MHz

Boost clock

1178 MHz

Memory

2 GB

4 GB

Memory type

GDDR5

Memory bus

128-bit

256-bit

Power and platform

TDP

120 W

145 W

Process

Not verified

Launched

Not verified

2014-09-18

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

The same architecture

Both are Maxwell cards from NVIDIA, so their figures can be read against each other directly, and the features are the same on both. The differences in the table are the whole difference.

Video memory

The GTX 970 has 4 GB of video memory against 2 GB. Memory does not make a card faster until it runs out, and then the drop is sharp: textures spill into system memory and frame times stutter. High resolutions, high texture settings, heavy mods and running AI models locally are what fill it. 2 GB is already the limit in some recent games at high settings.

Memory bus

The GTX 970 moves data over a 256-bit bus of GDDR5; the GTX 960 uses 128-bit GDDR5. The bus width and the memory type together set how fast the chip can reach its own memory, which shows at high resolutions where every frame moves more data. A narrow bus with fast memory can match a wide one with slow memory, so neither figure settles it alone.

Shading units

The GTX 970 has 1,664 shading units against 1,024, 63 percent more of the same kind of core. Within one architecture that is the clearest single guide to how much more work the chip can do, provided it is given the power and cooling to use them.

Board power

The GTX 970 draws up to 145 W against 120 W. That is heat the case has to exhaust and current the power supply has to deliver: allow a supply of about 550 W for the GTX 970 with a typical processor, and check the card's power connectors against the supply's. A card that cannot shed its heat does not fail. It lowers its clocks after a few minutes, which is the frame rate that falls the longer you play.

Which to pick, on paper

High resolutions, heavy textures, local AI: GTX 970; 4 GB against 2 GB. Memory is the wall these workloads hit first.
A small case or a modest power supply: GTX 960; 120 W against 145 W: less heat, fewer power connectors, quieter fans.

What no table says

How much of its speed a graphics card keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

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Questions

Is the GTX 960 better than the GTX 970?: By need, on the specifications: high resolutions, heavy textures, local ai: the GTX 970; a small case or a modest power supply: the GTX 960. They share an architecture, so the table is a fair guide. Frame rates depend on the game and its settings, and how much speed either card keeps after ten minutes depends on its cooling, which is what a sustained test measures.
Is 2 GB of video memory enough?: For 1080p at sensible settings, only in older or lighter games. At 1440p and above, with high texture settings, or for running AI models, 4 GB gives real headroom. When memory runs out the symptom is stutter, not a lower average.
What power supply does the GTX 970 need?: Allow about 550 W with a typical processor, and make sure the supply has the power connectors the card uses. The GTX 960 at 120 W is easier on both.
Do the GTX 960 and the GTX 970 have the same features?: Yes. Both are Maxwell designs from NVIDIA, so they share the same generation of video encoders and decoders, upscaling and driver support. What separates them is in the table: how much of the chip each one has, and how much power it is given.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a graphics card behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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