Quadro FX 3500 vs GeForce GTX 970

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 970 with Quadro FX 3500, including specs and performance data.

GTX 970
2014
4 GB GDDR5, 148 Watt
24.97
+3627%

GTX 970 outperforms FX 3500 by a whopping 3627% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking2111175
Place by popularity57not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation13.62no data
Power efficiency11.680.58
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)Curie (2003−2013)
GPU code nameGM204G71
Market segmentDesktopWorkstation
Release date19 September 2014 (10 years ago)22 May 2006 (18 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$329 $1,599

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 970 and FX 3500 have a nearly equal value for money.

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 cores1664no data
Core clock speed1050 MHz450 MHz
Boost clock speed1178 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,200 million278 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)148 Watt80 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature98 °Cno data
Texture fill rate122.59.000
Floating-point processing power3.92 TFLOPSno data
ROPs5616
TMUs10420

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 1.0 x16
Length267 mm173 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot1-slot
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 typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount4 GB256 MB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/s660 MHz
Memory bandwidth224 GB/s42.24 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 1.22x DVI, 1x S-Video
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)9.0c (9_3)
Shader Model6.43.0
OpenGL4.42.1
OpenCL1.2N/A
Vulkan1.1.126N/A
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.

GTX 970 24.97
+3627%
FX 3500 0.67

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.

GTX 970 9636
+3620%
FX 3500 259

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 HD79
+3850%
2−3
−3850%
1440p49
+4800%
1−2
−4800%
4K40
+3900%
1−2
−3900%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.16799.50
1440p6.711599.00
4K8.231599.00

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+4000%
1−2
−4000%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 55−60
+5400%
1−2
−5400%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Battlefield 5 80−85
+4000%
2−3
−4000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 50−55
+5000%
1−2
−5000%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+4000%
1−2
−4000%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+5600%
1−2
−5600%
Far Cry New Dawn 65−70
+6400%
1−2
−6400%
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
+4767%
3−4
−4767%
Hitman 3 50−55
+4900%
1−2
−4900%
Horizon Zero Dawn 110−120
+3733%
3−4
−3733%
Metro Exodus 85−90
+4200%
2−3
−4200%
Red Dead Redemption 2 65−70
+6400%
1−2
−6400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 85−90
+4150%
2−3
−4150%
Watch Dogs: Legion 100−110
+5050%
2−3
−5050%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 55−60
+5400%
1−2
−5400%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Battlefield 5 80−85
+4000%
2−3
−4000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 52
+5100%
1−2
−5100%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+4000%
1−2
−4000%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+5600%
1−2
−5600%
Far Cry New Dawn 29 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
+4767%
3−4
−4767%
Hitman 3 50−55
+4900%
1−2
−4900%
Horizon Zero Dawn 110−120
+3733%
3−4
−3733%
Metro Exodus 35 0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2 65−70
+6400%
1−2
−6400%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 85−90
+4150%
2−3
−4150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 109
+5350%
2−3
−5350%
Watch Dogs: Legion 100−110
+5050%
2−3
−5050%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 55−60
+5400%
1−2
−5400%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 36 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+4000%
1−2
−4000%
Far Cry 5 55−60
+5600%
1−2
−5600%
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
+4767%
3−4
−4767%
Hitman 3 50−55
+4900%
1−2
−4900%
Horizon Zero Dawn 110−120
+3733%
3−4
−3733%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 85−90
+4150%
2−3
−4150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 43
+4200%
1−2
−4200%
Watch Dogs: Legion 100−110
+5050%
2−3
−5050%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 65−70
+6400%
1−2
−6400%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
+4600%
1−2
−4600%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
+3700%
1−2
−3700%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18 0−1
Far Cry 5 27−30 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
+4667%
3−4
−4667%
Hitman 3 30−33 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 50−55
+5100%
1−2
−5100%
Metro Exodus 45−50
+4600%
1−2
−4600%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60
+5400%
1−2
−5400%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 140−150
+4600%
3−4
−4600%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
+4100%
1−2
−4100%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 20 0−1
Hitman 3 20−22 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 120−130
+4167%
3−4
−4167%
Metro Exodus 23 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 29 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7 0−1
Far Cry 5 14−16 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 30−35 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 30−33 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−12 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24 0−1

This is how GTX 970 and FX 3500 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 970 is 3850% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 970 is 4800% faster in 1440p
  • GTX 970 is 3900% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 24.97 0.67
Recency 19 September 2014 22 May 2006
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 256 MB
Chip lithography 28 nm 90 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 148 Watt 80 Watt

GTX 970 has a 3626.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 1500% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 221.4% more advanced lithography process.

FX 3500, on the other hand, has 85% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Quadro FX 3500 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 970 is a desktop card while Quadro FX 3500 is a workstation one.


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

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
GeForce GTX 970
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500
Quadro FX 3500

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.2 4648 votes

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4.1 9 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.