Radeon Sky 500 vs GeForce 9600M GT

Place in the ranking	1277	401
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	1.09	5.68
Architecture	Tesla (2006−2010)	GCN 1.0 (2011−2020)
GPU code name	G96C	Pitcairn
Market segment	Laptop	Workstation
Release date	4 June 2008 (16 years ago)	27 March 2013 (11 years ago)

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	32	1280
Core clock speed	120 MHz	950 MHz
Number of transistors	314 million	2,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	150 Watt
Texture fill rate	8.000	76.00
Floating-point processing power	0.08 TFLOPS	2.432 TFLOPS
ROPs	8	32
TMUs	16	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	medium sized	no data
Bus support	no data	PCIe 3.0
Interface	MXM-II	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	242 mm
Width	no data	1-slot
Form factor	no data	full height / full length
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 6-pin

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	GDDR3	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	4 GB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	1200 MHz
Memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	154 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	No outputs	1x DisplayPort
DisplayPort count	no data	1
Dual-link DVI support	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 (11_1)
Shader Model	4.0	5.1
OpenGL	3.3	4.6
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	N/A	1.2.131
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.

9600M GT 0.36

Sky 500 12.21
+3292%

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.

9600M GT 139

Sky 500 4709
+3288%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

2−3

−3150%

65−70
+3150%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −3233%	100−105 +3233%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%
Hitman 3	4−5 −3150%	130−140 +3150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 −3275%	270−280 +3275%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	4−5 −3150%	130−140 +3150%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 −3114%	900−950 +3114%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −3233%	100−105 +3233%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%
Hitman 3	4−5 −3150%	130−140 +3150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 −3275%	270−280 +3275%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	4−5 −3150%	130−140 +3150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 −3233%	300−310 +3233%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 −3114%	900−950 +3114%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −3233%	100−105 +3233%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%
Hitman 3	4−5 −3150%	130−140 +3150%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 −3275%	270−280 +3275%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	4−5 −3150%	130−140 +3150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	9−10 −3233%	300−310 +3233%
Watch Dogs: Legion	27−30 −3114%	900−950 +3114%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	6−7 −3233%	200−210 +3233%
Horizon Zero Dawn	2−3 −3150%	65−70 +3150%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

2−3

−3150%

65−70
+3150%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2 −2900%	30−33 +2900%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

2−3

−3150%

65−70
+3150%

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.36	12.21
Recency	4 June 2008	27 March 2013
Maximum RAM amount	512 MB	4 GB
Chip lithography	55 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	150 Watt

9600M GT has 552.2% lower power consumption.

Sky 500, on the other hand, has a 3291.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 96.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon Sky 500 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600M GT in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce 9600M GT is a notebook card while Radeon Sky 500 is a workstation one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.