Arc A310 vs GeForce GTX 960
Performance-wise the Arc A310 is out front, significantly faster, roughly 33% up on the GeForce GTX 960. It is also the stronger value pick here, so it's the easy recommendation if your budget allows.
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Arc A310 vs GeForce GTX 960: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Arc A310 vs GeForce GTX 960
The Arc A310 is significantly faster, around 33% ahead of the GeForce GTX 960. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Right now the Arc A310 starts at $100 USD against $199 USD for the GeForce GTX 960. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the Arc A310 wins on performance-per-dollar by about 165%. The Arc A310 is trading below its $130 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
The Arc A310 sips power at 30W next to the GeForce GTX 960's 120W, and still leads on performance-per-watt — quieter, cooler, and gentler on your PSU. Its more modern Alchemist architecture on a TSMC N6 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Arc A310's 4GB (vs 2GB on the GeForce GTX 960) gives it more room for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative or AI workloads.
Generation & Longevity
The Arc A310 is roughly 7 years newer than the GeForce GTX 960 (Alchemist vs Maxwell), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the Arc A310 brings Intel XeSS upscaling and AV1 encoding, while the GeForce GTX 960 offers NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: Arc A310 or GeForce GTX 960?
The Arc A310 is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the GeForce GTX 960 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Arc A310 better than the GeForce GTX 960?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the Arc A310 or the GeForce GTX 960?
Is the GeForce GTX 960 worth the extra $99 USD over the Arc A310?
Does the Arc A310 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: Arc A310 or GeForce GTX 960?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | Arc A310 | GeForce GTX 960 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Alchemist | Maxwell |
| Process Node | TSMC N6 | TSMC 28nm |
| CUDA Cores (Shading Units / CUDA Cores) | 768 | 1,024✓ |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 6 | — |
| Tensor / AI Cores | 96 | — |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | Arc A310 | GeForce GTX 960 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 2,000 MHz✓ | 1,127 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2,000 MHz✓ | 1,178 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | Arc A310 | GeForce GTX 960 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 4 GB✓ | 2 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 64-bit | 128-bit✓ |
| Memory Speed | 15.5 Gbps✓ | 7 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 124 GB/s✓ | 112 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | Arc A310 | GeForce GTX 960 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 30 W✓ | 120 W |
| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin |
| Released | Oct 2022 | Jan 2015 |
