GeForce GTX 960M vs GeForce GTX 860M – benchmarks and gaming tests with the latest drivers (350.12)
Both GTX 960M and GTX 860M GPUs are tested in the ASUS ROG G501 (detailed review), Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition (detailed review) and V17 Nitro Black Edition for quite some time now, but what about the difference in driver versions? In order to be a fair test, we used the latest NVIDIA drivers (350.12) on both machines.
As you can see below, results aren’t stunning and the GTX 960M shows little performance leap over its predecessor. While both video cards use the same GPU (GM107) and are part of the Maxwell family, the GTX 960M delivers slightly higher clock rates – 1097MHz – 1176MHz as for the GTX 860M, clock rates are – 1020MHz – 1085MHz. So we can expect a bit more out of the new GPU. You can see the results listed below.
Benchmark tests
Gaming tests
| Tomb Raider (1080p, Low) | Tomb Raider (1080p, Medium) | Tomb Raider (1080p, Max) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro (860M) | 141 fps | 64 fps | 30 fps |
| Acer Aspire V15 Nitro (960M) | 154 fps (+9%) | 68 fps (+6%) | 31 fps (+4%) |
| F1 2014 (1080p, Low) | F1 2014 (1080p, Medium) | F1 2014 (1080p, Max) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro (860M) | 118 fps | 91 fps | 82 fps |
| Acer Aspire V15 Nitro (960M) | 119 fps (+1%) | 107 fps (+15%) | 89 fps (+8%) |
| Thief (1080p, Low) | Thief (1080p, Medium) | Thief (1080p, Max) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Aspire V17 Nitro (860M) | 51 fps | 42 fps | 26 fps |
| Acer Aspire V15 Nitro (960M) | 49 fps (-4%) | 41 fps (-3%) | 28 fps (+8%) |
Author: Rossen Pandev
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Not a huge difference, i was thinking in waiting for the lenovo y50 with the 960 but looking at this i think i am going to get the 860 and save 100 €
But u will miss new IPS panel and other optimisations too
No IPS version in my region (spain)…
I will miss the new i7 4720, but for the 900 € i can get the 860 4Gb and install a new screen. That, plus a SSD, i think i will not miss the new processor and GPU
I think we can help you with the IPS version, though. We’ll be contacting you soon enough. (:
come on!!! don’t leave like that! hahaha I’ve been looking for it during the last month! I’ve even called lenovo 3 times. At first they even didn’t know which screen was mounted on the 4720 HQ model, finally the found out that it was still the TN version, i asked if they kwen if the model with IPS was going arrive to spain and he just didn’t have a clue.
What is your stance on the Lenovo Y50 vs the ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS74 with 128 GB SSD and IPS. (960m).
so should we go for the non ips version in europe or wait? is it coming anytime soon?
I need to buy a laptop as soon as possible
Bravo,you started to make a comparison with more games and different settings including 1080p-continue like this.
Can try with GTA 5 ,please ?
Oh, for sure! We are working on the GTA V as well (:
Hey could you test the power consumption of both chips while in game, and maybe do a slight overall my on the 860m to match the clock of the 960 and see if there is a performance difference? I would be really interested to see that if its not too difficult
Overclock on the 860m***
Sorry, but we are unable to do so at the moment, but this actually is a good idea. We will try and implement this in future tests. Thanks for the feedback. (:
GTX 960M and GTX 860M both give an amazing performance during playing the game.