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AMD Radeon RX 580 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AMDRadeon RX 580NVIDIAGeForce GTX 970
Overview
ReleasedApril 2017September 2014
Performance
Chip makerAMDNVIDIA
ArchitectureGCN 4Maxwell
Shader cores2,304 or 2,0481,664
Boost clock1,340 MHz or –1,178 MHz
ArchitectureAMD original 8 GB reference baseline uses fourth-generation GCN (Polaris), 36 compute units, 32 ROPs and 144 texture units. Photo shows MSI's factory-overclocked ARMOR 8G OC, not a reference card. Later 2048SP configurations below identify specific Chinese-market Sapphire boards.Main figures follow NVIDIA's retained 900-series table. The photo shows MSI's GTX 970 4GD5 partner board. NVIDIA's September 18 launch release says the cards are now available; later coverage commonly dates launch September 19.
Manufacturing process14 nm–
Ray tracingNo hardware ray acceleratorsNo dedicated RT Cores
AI cores–No Tensor Cores
Upscaling and frame generation–No NVIDIA DLSS
Base clockOriginal AMD baseline is 1,257 MHz base and 1,340 MHz boost. Pictured MSI ARMOR 8G OC boosts to 1,366 MHz. Sapphire's 2048SP pages state core frequencies of 1,306 MHz (4 GB) and 1,284 MHz (8 GB V2) without a boost label, so numeric boost is omitted for those configurations.1050 MHz reference; MSI GTX 970 4GD5 lists 1051 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost.
Memory
Video memory8 GB GDDR5 or 4 GB GDDR54 GB GDDR5
Memory bus256-bit256-bit
Memory bandwidth256 GB/s or ––
Memory detailOriginal stock Sapphire Pulse 8 GB SKU 11265-06 has 8,000 MHz effective memory; original stock 4 GB SKU 11265-10 and the named 2048SP boards have 7,000 MHz. AMD publishes 256 GB/s only for the 8 GB baseline; bandwidth is omitted for the others. Sapphire's original 4 GB power is only stated as less than 225 W, so its numeric power remains unpublished.7 Gbps GDDR5. NVIDIA confirms 4 GB is usable, divided into a primary 3.5 GB segment and a slower 512 MB segment. EVGA's stock 04G-P4-1970 datasheet lists 7010 MHz effective and 224.3 GB/s; that board figure is not used as a universal main bandwidth value.
Connections and power
Board power185 W, – or 150 W145 W
InterfacePCIe 3.0PCIe 3.0
Display outputsPictured MSI ARMOR has 2 × DisplayPort, 2 × HDMI and dual-link DVI-D. Sapphire 2048SP 4 GB SKU 11265-65-18 has DVI-D only; 8 GB Pulse V2 SKU 11265-70-48 has one HDMI 2.0b, one DisplayPort 1.4 and DVI-D. AMD's reference feature table lists DVI as No; partner outputs vary.MSI GTX 970 4GD5 has 3 × DisplayPort 1.2, 1 × HDMI 1.4a/2.0 and 1 × dual-link DVI-I; up to 4 displays.
Maximum resolutionMSI ARMOR specifies 7680 × 4320 and five displays; Sapphire's named 2048SP 4 GB board is limited to 1920 × 1200 at 60 Hz over DVI-D. Its 8 GB V2 board lists DisplayPort 5120 × 2880 at 60 Hz and HDMI 4096 × 2160 at 60 Hz.7680 × 4320 (MSI GTX 970 4GD5)
Power connectorOne 8-pin on the pictured MSI ARMOR, original Sapphire Pulse and both named 2048SP boards2 × 6-pin (reference)
Recommended power supplyAMD and MSI specify 500 W for the original model; Sapphire specifies 500 W for original Pulse and 450 W for the named 2048SP boards500 W
Slot widthOriginal Sapphire Pulse and named 2048SP designs occupy two slots; pictured MSI ARMOR is 38 mm thick–
Size (reference card)Pictured MSI ARMOR is 269 × 125 × 38 mm and 653 g. Original Sapphire Pulse is 230 × 125 × 40 mm; named 2048SP 4 GB is 241 × 120 × 42 mm and 8 GB V2 is 212 × 111 × 40 mm.269 × 111 × 38 mm and 890 g (pictured MSI GTX 970 4GD5); EVGA stock 04G-P4-1970 is 241.3 × 111.15 mm, dual-slot.
Video encode and decodeAMD publishes H.264 and H.265/HEVC encoding and decoding; Sapphire specifies PCIe 3.0 for the named variants–

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