GeForce GTX 860M SLI vs GTX 965M SLI

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 965M SLI and GeForce GTX 860M SLI, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 965M SLI
2015
2x 4 GB GDDR5
17.25
+41%

GTX 965M SLI outperforms GTX 860M SLI by a considerable 41% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking327412
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiencyno data7.05
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)Maxwell (2014−2017)
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date5 January 2015 (10 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 cores20481280
Core clock speed924 MHz1029 MHz
Boost clock speed950 MHzno data
Number of transistors2x 5200 Million2x 1870 Million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data120 Watt

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 sizelargelarge
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2x 4 GB2x 4 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit2x 128 Bit
Memory clock speed5000 MHz5000 MHz
Shared memory--

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Optimus++

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12_112 (FL 11_0)
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.

GTX 965M SLI 17.25
+41%
GTX 860M SLI 12.23

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 965M SLI 14428
+46.6%
GTX 860M SLI 9840

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.

GTX 965M SLI 10207
+71.8%
GTX 860M SLI 5941

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 965M SLI 51182
+23.5%
GTX 860M SLI 41434

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:

Full HD72
+56.5%
46
−56.5%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 40−45
+44.8%
27−30
−44.8%
Counter-Strike 2 30−33
+42.9%
21−24
−42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+41.7%
24−27
−41.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 40−45
+44.8%
27−30
−44.8%
Battlefield 5 65−70
+38%
50−55
−38%
Counter-Strike 2 30−33
+42.9%
21−24
−42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+41.7%
24−27
−41.7%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+41%
35−40
−41%
Fortnite 90−95
+32.4%
65−70
−32.4%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+36.7%
45−50
−36.7%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+50%
30−33
−50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 60−65
+46.3%
40−45
−46.3%
Valorant 120−130
+25.2%
100−110
−25.2%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 40−45
+44.8%
27−30
−44.8%
Battlefield 5 65−70
+38%
50−55
−38%
Counter-Strike 2 30−33
+42.9%
21−24
−42.9%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 210−220
+26.5%
160−170
−26.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+41.7%
24−27
−41.7%
Dota 2 95−100
+25.3%
75−80
−25.3%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+41%
35−40
−41%
Fortnite 90−95
+32.4%
65−70
−32.4%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+36.7%
45−50
−36.7%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+50%
30−33
−50%
Grand Theft Auto V 60−65
+40.9%
40−45
−40.9%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+47.8%
21−24
−47.8%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 60−65
+46.3%
40−45
−46.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45−50
+50%
30−33
−50%
Valorant 120−130
+25.2%
100−110
−25.2%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 65−70
+38%
50−55
−38%
Counter-Strike 2 30−33
+42.9%
21−24
−42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35
+41.7%
24−27
−41.7%
Dota 2 95−100
+25.3%
75−80
−25.3%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+41%
35−40
−41%
Forza Horizon 4 65−70
+36.7%
45−50
−36.7%
Forza Horizon 5 45−50
+50%
30−33
−50%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 60−65
+46.3%
40−45
−46.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 45−50
+50%
30−33
−50%
Valorant 120−130
+25.2%
100−110
−25.2%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 90−95
+32.4%
65−70
−32.4%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 18−20
+28.6%
14−16
−28.6%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 120−130
+37.9%
85−90
−37.9%
Grand Theft Auto V 27−30
+58.8%
16−18
−58.8%
Metro Exodus 20−22
+53.8%
12−14
−53.8%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 150−160
+121%
70−75
−121%
Valorant 160−170
+29.6%
120−130
−29.6%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+53.3%
30−33
−53.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16
+50%
10−11
−50%
Far Cry 5 35−40
+44%
24−27
−44%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+42.9%
27−30
−42.9%
Forza Horizon 5 27−30
+38.1%
21−24
−38.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 24−27
+44.4%
18−20
−44.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 35−40
+44%
24−27
−44%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 12−14
+44.4%
9−10
−44.4%
Counter-Strike 2 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Grand Theft Auto V 30−33
+30.4%
21−24
−30.4%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+85.7%
7−8
−85.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+64.3%
14−16
−64.3%
Valorant 90−95
+47.5%
60−65
−47.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+60%
14−16
−60%
Counter-Strike 2 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+50%
4−5
−50%
Dota 2 55−60
+35.7%
40−45
−35.7%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+41.7%
12−14
−41.7%
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
+40%
20−22
−40%
Forza Horizon 5 14−16
+55.6%
9−10
−55.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 16−18
+45.5%
10−12
−45.5%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 16−18
+45.5%
10−12
−45.5%

This is how GTX 965M SLI and GTX 860M SLI compete in popular games:

  • GTX 965M SLI is 57% faster in 1080p

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

  • in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 965M SLI is 121% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 965M SLI surpassed GTX 860M SLI in all 67 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 17.25 12.23
Recency 5 January 2015 12 March 2014

GTX 965M SLI has a 41% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 9 months.

The GeForce GTX 965M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 860M SLI in performance tests.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI
GeForce GTX 965M SLI
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M SLI
GeForce GTX 860M SLI

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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