NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

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

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GeForce GTX 1070 compared with GeForce GTX 970

	NVIDIAGeForce GTX 1070	NVIDIAGeForce GTX 970
Overview
Released
Released	June 2016	September 2014
Performance
Chip maker
Chip maker	NVIDIA	NVIDIA
Architecture
Architecture	Pascal	Maxwell
Shader cores
Shader cores	1,920	1,664
Boost clock
Boost clock	1,683 MHz (better)	1,178 MHz
Architecture
Architecture	Main figures and photo describe the Founders Edition, verified in MSI's retained datasheet. Partner boards can use different clocks, coolers and connectors.	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.
Ray tracing
Ray tracing	No dedicated RT Cores	No dedicated RT Cores
AI cores
AI cores	No Tensor Cores	No Tensor Cores
Upscaling and frame generation
Upscaling and frame generation	No NVIDIA DLSS	No NVIDIA DLSS
Base clock
Base clock	1506 MHz	1050 MHz reference; MSI GTX 970 4GD5 lists 1051 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost.
Memory
Video memory
Video memory	8 GB GDDR5 (better)	4 GB GDDR5
Memory bus
Memory bus	256-bit	256-bit
Memory detail
Memory detail	8008 MHz effective memory speed (MSI Founders Edition); numerical bandwidth omitted because the maker source used does not publish it.	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 power
Board power	150 W	145 W (better)
Interface
Interface	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Display outputs
Display outputs	3 × DisplayPort 1.4, 1 × HDMI 2.0b and 1 × dual-link DVI-D; up to 4 displays; HDCP 2.2	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 resolution
Maximum resolution	7680 × 4320	7680 × 4320 (MSI GTX 970 4GD5)
Power connector
Power connector	1 × 8-pin	2 × 6-pin (reference)
Recommended power supply
Recommended power supply	500 W	500 W
Size (reference card)
Size (reference card)	268 × 111 × 38 mm and 1096 g (MSI Founders Edition)	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.