GeForce GTX 960
Radeon RX 5500M
GeForce GTX 960 vs Radeon RX 5500M Performance Spectrum
About G3D Mark
G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.
GeForce GTX 960 vs Radeon RX 5500M FPS Benchmarks
Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.
Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.
Path of Exile 2
Counter-Strike 2
League of Legends
Valorant
Among Us
Apex Legends
ARC Raiders
Baldur's Gate 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
GeForce GTX 960 vs Radeon RX 5500M: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict
See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.
GeForce GTX 960
2015Why buy it
- ✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 30.8 vs 0 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
Trade-offs
- ❌Lower average FPS than Radeon RX 5500M across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ❌No equivalent frame-generation stack like FSR Frame Generation (2023).
- ❌2015 hardware with 4 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
- ❌17.6% higher power demand at 100W vs 85W.
Radeon RX 5500M
2019Why buy it
- ✅6.5% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ✅Access to a newer frame-generation stack with FSR Frame Generation (2023).
- ✅Better long-term bet: RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020) on 7nm gives it a newer hardware base for upcoming games.
- ✅Draws 85W instead of 100W, a 15W reduction.
Trade-offs
- ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 30.8 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
Quick Answers
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GeForce GTX 960 vs Radeon RX 5500M Technical Specifications
Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.
GeForce GTX 960
The GeForce GTX 960 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in January 22 2015. It features the Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1127 MHz to 1178 MHz. It has 1024 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 6,133 points. Launch price was $199.
Radeon RX 5500M
The Radeon RX 5500M is manufactured by AMD. It was released in October 7 2019. It features the RDNA 1.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1375 MHz to 1645 MHz. It has 1408 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 85W. Manufactured using 7 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,954 points.
Graphics Performance
The GeForce GTX 960 scores 6,133 and the Radeon RX 5500M reaches 5,954 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 3% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 960 is built on Maxwell 2.0 while the Radeon RX 5500M uses RDNA 1.0, both on 28 nm vs 7 nm. Shader units: 1,024 (GeForce GTX 960) vs 1,408 (Radeon RX 5500M). Raw compute: 2.413 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 960) vs 4.632 TFLOPS (Radeon RX 5500M). Boost clocks: 1178 MHz vs 1645 MHz.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| G3D Mark Score | 6,133+3% | 5,954 |
| Architecture | Maxwell 2.0 | RDNA 1.0 |
| Process Node | 28 nm | 7 nm |
| Shading Units | 1024 | 1408+38% |
| Compute (TFLOPS) | 2.413 TFLOPS | 4.632 TFLOPS+92% |
| Boost Clock | 1178 MHz | 1645 MHz+40% |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 |
| TMUs | 64 | 88+38% |
| L2 Cache | 1 MB | 2 MB+100% |
Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)
The clearest feature edge for the Radeon RX 5500M is support for FSR Frame Generation. In games that support it, that can smooth out motion and lift perceived FPS. The GeForce GTX 960 does not have comparable native support in the same tier.The GeForce GTX 960 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon RX 5500M leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| Upscaling Tech | Upscaling support | FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 |
| Frame Generation | Not Supported | FSR Frame Generation |
| Ray Reconstruction | No | No |
| Low Latency | NVIDIA Reflex | AMD Anti-Lag |
Video Memory (VRAM)
Both cards ship with 4 GB of video memory. Memory bandwidth: 112 GB/s (GeForce GTX 960) vs 224 GB/s (Radeon RX 5500M) — a 100% advantage for the Radeon RX 5500M. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the GeForce GTX 960 and 128-bit on the Radeon RX 5500M. L2 Cache: 1 MB (GeForce GTX 960) vs 2 MB (Radeon RX 5500M) — the Radeon RX 5500M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 112 GB/s | 224 GB/s+100% |
| Bus Width | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| L2 Cache | 1 MB | 2 MB+100% |
Display & API Support
DirectX support: 12 (12_1) (GeForce GTX 960) vs 12 (Radeon RX 5500M). Vulkan: 1.3 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 3.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 |
| Vulkan | 1.3+8% | 1.2 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| Max Displays | 4+33% | 3 |
Media & Encoding
Hardware encoder: NVENC (5th Gen) (GeForce GTX 960) vs VCN 2.0 (Radeon RX 5500M). Decoder: NVDEC (2nd Gen) vs VCN 2.0. Supported codecs: HEVC,H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,VP8 (GeForce GTX 960) vs H.264,H.265/HEVC,VP9 (Radeon RX 5500M).
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| Encoder | NVENC (5th Gen) | VCN 2.0 |
| Decoder | NVDEC (2nd Gen) | VCN 2.0 |
| Codecs | HEVC,H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,VP8 | H.264,H.265/HEVC,VP9 |
Power & Dimensions
The GeForce GTX 960 draws 100W versus the Radeon RX 5500M's 85W — a 16.2% difference. The Radeon RX 5500M is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 400W (GeForce GTX 960) vs 350W (Radeon RX 5500M). Power connectors: 6-pin vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 241mm vs 0mm, occupying 2 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 75 C vs 75°C.
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| TDP | 100W | 85W-15% |
| Recommended PSU | 400W | 350W-13% |
| Power Connector | 6-pin | PCIe-powered |
| Length | 241mm | 0mm |
| Height | 111mm | — |
| Slots | 2 | 0-100% |
| Temp (Load) | 75 C | 75°C |
| Perf/Watt | 61.3 | 70.0+14% |
Value Analysis
The newer card here is Radeon RX 5500M (2019 vs 2015).
| Feature | GeForce GTX 960 | Radeon RX 5500M |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $199 | — |
| Codename | GM206 | Navi 14 |
| Release | January 22 2015 | October 7 2019 |
| Ranking | #393 | #400 |
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