GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB vs GTX 970

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking215not rated
Place by popularity57not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation13.79no data
Power efficiency11.58no data
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameGM204GP106
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date19 September 2014 (10 years ago)27 June 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$329 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores16641280
Core clock speed1050 MHz1265 MHz
Boost clock speed1178 MHz1480 MHz
Number of transistors5,200 million4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)148 Watt80 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature98 °Cno data
Texture fill rate122.5118.4
Floating-point processing power3.92 TFLOPSno data
ROPs5648
TMUs10480

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).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length267 mmno data
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Recommended system power (PSU)500 Wattno data
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pinNone
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 amount4 GB3 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/s8008 MHz
Memory bandwidth224 GB/s192.2 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 ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2no data
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
HDMI+-
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
G-SYNC support+-
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Supported technologies

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

GameStream+-
GeForce ShadowPlay+-
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12.0
Shader Model6.45.0
OpenGL4.44.5
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.1.126-
CUDA+6.1

Pros & cons summary


Recency 19 September 2014 27 June 2017
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 3 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 16 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 148 Watt 80 Watt

GTX 970 has a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount.

GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 85% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 970 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB is a notebook one.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
GeForce GTX 970
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB
GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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4.2 4836 votes

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3.6 72 votes

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Questions & comments

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