Today is January 22nd, which means NVIDIA launches GeForce GTX 960.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

The new GeForce GTX 960 is equipped with Maxwell GM206-300 GPU, which is in fact, the full chip. The GM206 is pretty much GM204 cut in half, thus it has only two Graphics Processing Clusters (GPCs), each with four Streaming Multiprocessors Maxwell (SMMs). Most importantly I can now confirm GM206 has 64 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) and 32 Raster Operations Pipelines (ROPs).

GeForce GTX 960 features 2GB GDDR5 memory across 128-bit interface. The reference card is equipped with one 6-pin power connector and the TDP is measured at 120W. Now let me remind you, TDP is not maximum power consumption, but thermal power design. These cards can easily reach higher consumption, especially with non-reference with 8pin or dual 6pin connectors.

GeForce GTX 960 power consumption is somewhat disappointing. We have a new card with 640 CUDA cores less than GTX 970 and TDP rated just 25W lower.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 will be available with reference design as well. However due to the cost of NVTTM cooler, GTX 960 will feature older GTX 670-style plastic blower-type cooler. It’s nothing special, but GTX 960 will be compatible with some of the previous GeForce GTX models, so those who already bought aftermarket coolers, can easily upgrade to newer card at lower cost.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 is priced at 199 USD. Custom models are available starting from 209 USD.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Specifications GeForce GTX 960 GeForce GTX 970 GeForce GTX 980 Picture GPU 28nm GM206-300 28nm GM204-200 28nm GM204-400 CUDA Cores 1024 1664 2048 TMUs 64 104 128 ROPs 32 64 64 Core clock 1127 MHz 1050 MHz 1127 MHz Boost Clock 1178 MHz 1178 MHz 1216 MHz Memory Clock 1753 MHz 1753 MHz 1753 MHz Memory Bus 128-bit 256-bit 256-bit Memory Size 2GB 4GB 4GB Bandwidth 112 GB/s 224 GB/s 224 GB/s DirectX 11.3/12 11.3/12 11.3/12 TDP 120W 145W 165W Power Connectors 1x 6-pin 2x 6-pin 2x 6pin Display Outputs 2x DL-DVI,HDMI 2.0, DP 1x DVI-I, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DP 1x DVI-I, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DP MSRP 199 USD 329 USD 549 USD

NVIDIA GTX 960 is overclockers dream

While this statement may come as a surprise to some of you, it is actually true. Of course not all sample will clock at 1.5 GHz, but for models like MSI GTX 960 GAMING can reach 1558/1800 MHz (core/mem) without much trouble.

Maxwell GM206 block diagram

Here is GM206 block diagram, which confirms our predictions about TMUs and ROPs.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 performance preview

Testing platform configuration:

Intel Core i7 3960X @ 4.5 GHz, ASUS X79, Kingston 16GB @ 2400 MHz

MSI GTX 960 GAMING (non-reference clocks 1216 / 1279 / 7010 MHz)





NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 graphics cards roundup

This roundup will also cover few cards you have not seen so far, including: Gigabyte GTX 960 WF2, Gigabyte GTX 960 Mini-ITX, MSI GTX 960 (ref.), POV GTX 960 (ref.), POV GTX 960 AMMO and some others.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Roundup Picture Name Clocks Comments ASL ASL GeForce GTX 960 – / – / 7010 MHz 1x 6pin (GTX 960 2G D5) ASUS ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX 1253 / 1317 / 7010 MHz 1x 6pin, backplate,

DVI 2x, HDMI 1x, DP 1x (STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5, 90YV07N0-M0NA00) ASUS GeForce GTX 960 (GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5-PRO) COLORFUL Colorful iGame GeForce GTX 960 Colorful GeForce GTX 960 (GTX960 CH-2GD5) EVGA EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SSC 1279 / 1342 / 7010 MHz 1x 8pin (02G-P4-2966-KR) EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SC Mini 1216 / 1279 / 7010 MHz 1x 6pin (02G-P4-2962-KR) EVGA GeForce GTX 960 FTW 1304 / 1367 / 7010 MHz 1x 8pin (02G-P4-2968-KR) EVGA GeForce GTX 960 (Ref.) 1127 / 1178 / 7010 MHz 1x 8pin (02G-P4-2963-KR) GAINWARD Gainward GTX 960 Gainward GeForce GTX 960 Phantom GALAX/KFA2 Galax GeForce GTX 960 NVTTM cooler (GTX 960-2GD5) Galax GeForce GTX 960 SOC (GAMER) (GTX 960-2GD5 OC), backplate KFA2 GeForce GTX 960 (Ref.) – / – / 7010 MHz KFA2 GeForce GTX 960 OC – / – / 7010 MHz KFA2 GeForce GTX 960 EXOC – / – / 7010 MHz Backplate Gigabyte Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 Mini-ITX 1165 / 1228 / 7010 MHz The first GTX960 Mini-ITX model (GV-N960IXOC-2GD) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1.Gaming 1241 / 1307 / 7010 MHz 2x 6-pin, backplate (GV-N960G1 GAMING-2GD) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 WindForce 2X OC 1216 / 1279 / 7010 MHz New WindForce 2X cooler (GV-N960WF2OC-2GD) INNO3D Inno3D Geforce GTX 960 HerculeZ X2 OC 1178 / – / 7010 MHz Herculez 3X AIR Boss (no 40mm fan) (N960-1DDV-E5CNX) Inno3D Geforce GTX 960 HerculeZ X1 1127 / 1178 / 7010 MHz (N960-1SDV-E5CN) Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 960 Ultra 1329 / 1393 / 7010 MHz (C960-2SDN-E5CNX) MSI MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 2G 1216 / 1279 / 7010 MHz 1x 8pin, 4+1 phase VRM, Twin Frozr V MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 100ME 1216 / 1279 / 7010 MHz 1x 8pin, 4+1 phase VRM, backplate, Twin Frozr V MSI GeForce GTX 960 OC (Armor 2X) 1178 / 1241 / 7010 MHz 1x 6pin, 3+1 phase PWM, Armor 2X MSI GeForce GTX 960 (Ref.) 1127 / 1178 / 7010 MHz PALIT/MAXSUN Palit GeForce GTX 960 OC Palit GeForce GTX 960 JetStream 1203 / – / 7200 MHz Palit GeForce GTX 960 Super JetStream 1279 / 1343 / 7200 MHz MAXSUN GeForce GTX 960 JetStream 1203 / – / 7200 MHz MAXSUN GeForce GTX 960 Super JetStream 2G 1279 / 1343 / 7200 MHz PNY PNY GeForce GTX 960 (GF960GTX2GEPB) Point-of-View POV GeForce GTX 960 – / – / 7010 MHz POV GeForce GTX 960 AMMO – / – / 7010 MHz ZOTAC ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 1177 / 1240 / 7010 MHz (ZT-90301-10M) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 OC 1177 / 1240 / 7010 MHz (ZT-90302-10M) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 AMP! 1266 / 1329 / 7010 MHz (ZT-90303-10M) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 AMP! 1266 / 1329 / 7010 MHz (ZT-90304-10M) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 AMP! 1266 / 1329 / 7010 MHz Free Metal Gear Solid V (ZT-90307-10M) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 960 1177 / 1240 / 7010 MHz Free Metal Gear Solid V (ZT-90306-10M)