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GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon 8040S

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 970

2014Core: 1050 MHzBoost: 1178 MHz
Similar parts
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VS
AMD

Radeon 8040S

2025Core: 1295 MHzBoost: 2800 MHz
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GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon 8040S Performance Spectrum

GeForce GTX 970
4 GB 150
9,640
0.0%
brand logoGeForce GTX 670
brand logoGeForce GTX 1050 Ti
brand logoGeForce GTX 980 (móvel)
brand logoGeForce GTX Titan
brand logoGeForce RTX 2070 Super with Max-Q Design
brand logoTITAN V CEO Edition
brand logoRTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation
brand logoGeForce RTX 4080 Mobile
Radeon 8040S
4 GB 55
9,756
+1.2%
brand logoRadeon 760M
brand logoRadeon RX 6300M
brand logoRadeon RX 5300
brand logoRadeon RX 480
brand logoRadeon RX 5600 XT
brand logoRadeon RX 6650M XT
brand logoRadeon RX 6800
brand logoRadeon RX 9070 GRE

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 970 vs Radeon 8040S 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

Path of Exile 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low81 FPS
medium69 FPS
high58 FPS
ultra38 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low100 FPS
medium90 FPS
high76 FPS
ultra63 FPS
Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low185 FPS
medium152 FPS
high122 FPS
ultra92 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low135 FPS
medium101 FPS
high73 FPS
ultra49 FPS
League of Legends

League of Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low405 FPS
medium347 FPS
high289 FPS
ultra217 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low320 FPS
medium274 FPS
high201 FPS
ultra165 FPS
Valorant

Valorant

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low179 FPS
medium138 FPS
high120 FPS
ultra103 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low242 FPS
medium179 FPS
high149 FPS
ultra126 FPS
Among Us

Among Us

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low60 FPS
medium60 FPS
high60 FPS
ultra60 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low60 FPS
medium60 FPS
high60 FPS
ultra60 FPS
Apex Legends

Apex Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low145 FPS
medium127 FPS
high103 FPS
ultra81 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low76 FPS
medium55 FPS
high39 FPS
ultra25 FPS
ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low82 FPS
medium64 FPS
high53 FPS
ultra37 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low122 FPS
medium95 FPS
high81 FPS
ultra51 FPS
Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low66 FPS
medium46 FPS
high38 FPS
ultra28 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low63 FPS
medium43 FPS
high35 FPS
ultra27 FPS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low79 FPS
medium62 FPS
high53 FPS
ultra44 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low102 FPS
medium85 FPS
high68 FPS
ultra46 FPS
Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone

1080P
GeForce GTX 970
low73 FPS
medium56 FPS
high45 FPS
ultra34 FPS
1080P
Radeon 8040S
low80 FPS
medium64 FPS
high56 FPS
ultra42 FPS
Check FPS with Custom Builds

GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon 8040S: 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 970

2014

Why buy it

  • ✅19.5% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • ✅Costs $71 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $400 MSRP).
  • ✅Delivers 20.1% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 29.3 vs 24.4 G3D/$ ($329 MSRP vs $400 MSRP).

Trade-offs

  • ❌2014 hardware with 4 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
  • ❌172.7% higher power demand at 150W vs 55W.

Radeon 8040S

2025

Why buy it

  • ✅Better long-term bet: RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) on 4nm gives it a newer hardware base for upcoming games.
  • ✅Draws 55W instead of 150W, a 95W reduction.
  • ✅More future proof: RDNA 3.5 (2024−2025) on 4nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

  • ❌Lower average FPS than GeForce GTX 970 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • ❌
    21.6% HIGHER MSRP
    $400 MSRPvs$329 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 24.4 vs 29.3 G3D/$ ($400 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
GeForce GTX 970 is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 19.5% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data. PassMark G3D leans toward Radeon 8040S instead at 9,756 vs 9,640, so for this question the real-game FPS result matters more than the synthetic split.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
Radeon 8040S is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: the newer upscaling stack, FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead of no meaningful modern upscaling stack, a 4nm process instead of 28nm, 16 vs 0 ray-tracing units, and a newer 2025 generation instead of 2014. That gives it the more rounded hardware package for newer games.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce GTX 970 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $71 cheaper on MSRP at $329 vs $400, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 20.1% (29.3 vs 24.4), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, GeForce GTX 970 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Radeon 8040S has the stronger long-term case.

GeForce GTX 970 vs Radeon 8040S Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 970

The GeForce GTX 970 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in September 19 2014. It features the Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1050 MHz to 1178 MHz. It has 1664 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,640 points. Launch price was $329.

AMD

Radeon 8040S

The Radeon 8040S is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 6 2025. It features the RDNA 3.5 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1295 MHz to 2800 MHz. It has 1024 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 55W. Manufactured using 4 nm process technology. It features 16 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,756 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 970 scores 9,640 and the Radeon 8040S reaches 9,756 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.2% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 970 is built on Maxwell 2.0 while the Radeon 8040S uses RDNA 3.5, both on 28 nm vs 4 nm. Shader units: 1,664 (GeForce GTX 970) vs 1,024 (Radeon 8040S). Raw compute: 3.92 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 970) vs 5.734 TFLOPS (Radeon 8040S). Boost clocks: 1178 MHz vs 2800 MHz.

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
G3D Mark Score
9,640
9,756+1%
Architecture
Maxwell 2.0
RDNA 3.5
Process Node
28 nm
4 nm
Shading Units
1664+63%
1024
Compute (TFLOPS)
3.92 TFLOPS
5.734 TFLOPS+46%
Boost Clock
1178 MHz
2800 MHz+138%
ROPs
56+75%
32
TMUs
104+63%
64
L2 Cache
2 MB
8 MB+300%
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 970 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon 8040S leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 4 GB of video memory. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce GTX 970 and System on the Radeon 8040S. L2 Cache: 2 MB (GeForce GTX 970) vs 8 MB (Radeon 8040S) — the Radeon 8040S has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
VRAM Capacity
4 GB
4 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
Shared
Memory Bandwidth
224 GB/s
System
Bus Width
256-bit
System
L2 Cache
2 MB
8 MB+300%
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (FL 12_1) (GeForce GTX 970) vs 12.2 (Radeon 8040S). Vulkan: 1.3 vs 1.4. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
DirectX
12 (FL 12_1)
12.2+2%
Vulkan
1.3
1.4+8%
OpenGL
4.6
4.6
Max Displays
4
4
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 2nd gen (GeForce GTX 970) vs VCN 4.5 (Radeon 8040S). Decoder: PureVideo VP6 vs VCN 4.5. Supported codecs: H.264,H.265/HEVC (GeForce GTX 970) vs MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9,AV1 (Radeon 8040S).

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
Encoder
NVENC 2nd gen
VCN 4.5
Decoder
PureVideo VP6
VCN 4.5
Codecs
H.264,H.265/HEVC
MPEG-2,H.264,HEVC,VP9,AV1
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 970 draws 150W versus the Radeon 8040S's 55W — a 92.7% difference. The Radeon 8040S is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 500W (GeForce GTX 970) vs 500W (Radeon 8040S). Power connectors: 2x 6-pin vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 267mm vs 0mm, occupying 2 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 85°C.

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
TDP
150W
55W-63%
Recommended PSU
500W
500W
Power Connector
2x 6-pin
PCIe-powered
Length
267mm
0mm
Height
111mm
0mm
Slots
2
0-100%
Temp (Load)
80°C-6%
85°C
Perf/Watt
64.3
177.4+176%
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce GTX 970 came in at $329, while the Radeon 8040S launched at $400. On MSRP, GeForce GTX 970 was 17.8% cheaper ($71 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 29.3 (GeForce GTX 970) vs 24.4 (Radeon 8040S) — the GeForce GTX 970 offers 20.1% better value. The newer card here is Radeon 8040S (2025 vs 2014).

FeatureGeForce GTX 970Radeon 8040S
MSRP
$329-18%
$400
Performance per Dollar
29.3+20%
24.4
Codename
GM204
Strix Halo
Release
September 19 2014
January 6 2025
Ranking
#269
#265
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