GeForce GTX 850M vs GTX 960A
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 960A and GeForce GTX 850M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 960A outperforms GTX 850M by a substantial 38% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 494 | 581 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 8.27 | 10.02 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2017) | Maxwell (2014−2017) |
| GPU code name | GM107 | GM107 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 13 March 2015 (9 years ago) | 12 March 2014 (10 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 | 640 | 640 |
| Core clock speed | 1029 MHz | Up to 936 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1085 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 1,870 million | 1,870 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 45 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 43.40 | 36.08 |
| Floating-point processing power | 1.389 TFLOPS | 1.155 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 16 | 16 |
| TMUs | 40 | 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 | no data | PCI Express 2.0, PCI Express 3.0 |
| Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| 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 | DDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| Standard memory configuration | no data | DDR3 or GDDR5 |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 1253 MHz | Up to 2500 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 80.19 GB/s | 80.0 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 | No outputs |
| eDP 1.2 signal support | no data | Up to 3840x2160 |
| LVDS signal support | no data | Up to 1920x1200 |
| VGA аnalog display support | no data | Up to 2048x1536 |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | no data | Up to 3840x2160 |
| HDMI | - | + |
| HDCP content protection | - | + |
| 7.1 channel HD audio on HDMI | - | + |
| TrueHD and DTS-HD audio bitstreaming | - | + |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder | - | + |
| Optimus | - | + |
| Ansel | no data | + |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | 1.1.126 |
| CUDA | 5.0 | + |
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.
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.
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
+31%
| 84
−31%
|
| Full HD | 40−45
+25%
| 32
−25%
|
| 4K | 12−14
+20%
| 10
−20%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Valorant | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 13
+0%
|
13
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−33
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 20
+0%
|
20
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 12
+0%
|
12
+0%
|
| Valorant | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| World of Tanks | 99
+0%
|
99
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 30−33
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Valorant | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Dota 2 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| World of Tanks | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 9−10
+0%
|
9−10
+0%
|
| Valorant | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Dota 2 | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Valorant | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
This is how GTX 960A and GTX 850M compete in popular games:
- GTX 960A is 31% faster in 900p
- GTX 960A is 25% faster in 1080p
- GTX 960A is 20% faster in 4K
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 61 test (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 8.86 | 6.44 |
| Recency | 13 March 2015 | 12 March 2014 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 75 Watt | 45 Watt |
GTX 960A has a 37.6% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 1 year.
GTX 850M, on the other hand, has 66.7% lower power consumption.
The GeForce GTX 960A is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 850M in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
