UserBenchmark: Nvidia GTX 960 vs 980

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 607,389 user samples

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167,107 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 66% MSI(1462 3170)
Worst Bench: 53% MSI(1462 3170)

Poor: 53% Great: 66%

SPEED RANK: 112^th / 713

440,282 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 36% EVGA(3842 2966)
Worst Bench: 30% HP(103C 2B4D) 2GB

Poor: 30% Great: 36%

SPEED RANK: 166^th / 713


Effective 3D Speed Effective 3D Gaming GPU Speed		59.3 %	Much faster effective speed. +80%		32.9 %


Lighting Avg. Locally-deformable PRT (Bat)	73.7 fps	Much better lighting effects. +75%	42.1 fps
Reflection Avg. High dynamic range lighting (Teapot)	86.4 fps	Hugely better reflection handling. +90%	45.5 fps
MRender Avg. Render target array GShader (Sphere)	75.9 fps	Hugely faster multi rendering. +109%	36.3 fps
Gravity Avg. NBody particle system (Galaxy)	72.8 fps	Hugely faster NBody calculation. +81%	40.2 fps


Lighting Locally-deformable PRT (Bat)	83.9 fps	Hugely better peak lighting effects. +81%	46.4 fps
Reflection High dynamic range lighting (Teapot)	113 fps	Hugely better peak reflection handling. +99%	56.8 fps
MRender Render target array GShader (Sphere)	80.6 fps	Hugely faster peak multi rendering. +111%	38.2 fps
Gravity NBody particle system (Galaxy)	80.9 fps	Hugely faster peak NBody calculation. +87%	43.3 fps


CSGO Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	183 Fps	Much Better CSGO Fps. +32%	138 Fps
Fortnite Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	105 Fps	Much Better Fortnite Fps. +44%	73 Fps
PUBG Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	70 Fps	Much Better PUBG Fps. +68%	42 Fps
GTAV Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	61 Fps	Much Better GTAV Fps. +46%	42 Fps
LoL Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	191 Fps	Much Better LoL Fps. +55%	123 Fps
Overwatch Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	104 Fps	Much Better Overwatch Fps. +48%	70 Fps
BF1 Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	74 Fps	Much Better BF1 Fps. +52%	49 Fps
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	60 Fps	Much Better The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Fps. +65%	37 Fps
Minecraft Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	207 Fps	Better Minecraft Fps. +15%	181 Fps
DOTA 2 Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	136 Fps	Much Better DOTA 2 Fps. +67%	81 Fps
WoW Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	75 Fps	Much Better WoW Fps. +49%	51 Fps
WoT Avg. Fps @ 1080p on Max	111 Fps	Much Better WoT Fps. +74%	64 Fps

Market Share

Based on 68,743,021 GPUs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.16 %		0.52 %	Hugely higher market share. +225%
Value Value For Money	28.1 %		39.3 %	Much better value. +40%
User Rating UBM User Rating	65 %	+5%	62 %
Price Price (score)	$500		$198	Much cheaper. +60%


Age Newest	122 Months		118 Months	+3%
Parallax Parallax occlusion mapping (Stones)	83 fps	Hugely better peak texture detail. +90%	43.7 fps
Splatting Force Splatted Flocking (Swarm)	72.3 fps	Hugely faster peak complex splatting. +91%	37.9 fps
Parallax Avg. Parallax occlusion mapping (Stones)	74.8 fps	Hugely better texture detail. +88%	39.8 fps
Splatting Avg. Force Splatted Flocking (Swarm)	65.3 fps	Hugely faster complex splatting. +86%	35.1 fps

The Nvidia GTX 980 is the new top end Maxwell based Nvidia GPU. The Maxwell architecture offers significantly higher clock for clock performance when compared to Kepler based cards from the previous generation. Comparing the GTX 980 and GTX 970 shows that the 970 only lags by around 17% in terms of performance but it's priced nearly 40% lower making the GTX 970 far better value for money card. Even though the GTX 970 beats the 980 in terms of value, the 980 still destroys previous generation cards. Comparing the GTX 980 and 780 Ti shows that the Newer 980 offers around 14% better performance at a 25% price discount. Nvidia have changed the price/performance landscape with their new Maxwell architecture and now pose a serious threat to AMDs high end GPU market share. The new GTX 980/970 cards replace the now discontinued GTX 780 Ti, 780 and 770. ^{[Sep '14 GPUPro]}

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The new GTX 960 is the third graphics card to feature Nvidia's Maxwell architecture. When the first two Maxwell cards were released back in September 2014 they completely re-shaped the GPU price/performance spectrum not only from Nvidia, but also AMD who were forced to slash prices by around 30%. Unfortunately the new GTX 960 isn't the game changer its predecessors were, and it's actually the weakest of the three Maxwell cards. Comparing the GTX 960 and 970 shows that the 970 is around 70% faster and a comparison of the GTX 960 and 980 shows that GTX 980 is almost exactly twice as fast as the 960. Of the three cards the GTX 970 offers the best bang for your buck, in-fact the GTX 970 is still one of best value cards available. That said, for gaming at 1080p or lower, the GTX 960 will allow decent frame rates at maximum settings for most games. ^{[Jan '15 GPUPro]}

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Graphics Card Rankings (Price vs Performance) November 2024 GPU Rankings

We calculate effective 3D speed which estimates gaming performance for the top 12 games. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield value for money. Our figures are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top GPUs. ^[GPUPro]

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Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $210	Nvidia RTX 4060 $280	WD Black SN850X M.2 2TB $135
Intel Core i5-12600K $167	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $389	WD Black SN850X M.2 1TB $84
Intel Core i5-12400F $111	Nvidia RTX 4070 $500	Crucial T700 M.2 4TB $400

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