| NVIDIA GeForce GTX-460 1GB Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Sunday, 11 July 2010 | |
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB Video Card ReviewNVIDIA's GeForce GTX 460 1GB-GDDR5 graphics card empowers DirectX-11 video games to deliver unmatched geometric realism at the $200 price point. Based on the same Fermi architecture that powers their high-end GeForce GTX 480 model, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 delivers mid-range performance for gamers on a budget. The GeForce GTX 460 comes armed with NVIDIA's GF104 Fermi graphics processor, and packs seven Streaming Multiprocessors for a total of 336 CUDA Cores and 56 Texture Units. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests 3D video game frame rate performance on the 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 video card, and compare our results against the most competitive graphics products in the segment. NVIDIA's 1GB GTX 460 price tag fits in nicely between the $200 Radeon HD 5830 and $250 GeForce GTX 465, but could deliver more performance for the value. In the following pages, Benchmark Reviews demonstrates how well the GeForce GTX 460 performs against these other DirectX-11 video card products. PC video games are still the best way to experience realistic effects and immerse yourself in the battle. Consoles do their part, but only high-precision video cards offer the sharp clarity and definition needed to enjoy detailed graphics. Thanks to the new GF104 GPU, the GeForce GTX 460 has plenty of headroom for overclockers to drive out additional FPS performance, while keeping temperatures cool. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the GeForce GTX 460 against some of the best video cards within the price segment by using several of the most demanding PC video game titles and benchmark software available: Aliens vs Predator, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, BattleForge, Crysis Warhead, Far Cry 2, Resident Evil 5, and Metro 2033. It used to be that PC video games such as Crysis and Far Cry 2 were as demanding as you could get, but that was all back before DirectX-11 brought tessellation and to the forefront of graphics. DX11 now adds heavy particle and turbulence effects to video games, and titles such as Metro 2033 demand the most powerful graphics processing available. NVIDIA's GF100 GPU was their first graphics processor to support DirectX-11 features such as tessellation and DirectCompute, and the GeForce GTX 400-series offers an excellent combination of performance and value for games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or BattleForge.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 Video CardAt the center of every new technology is purpose, and NVIDIA has designed their Fermi GF104 GPU with an end-goal of redefining the video game experience through significant graphics processor innovations. Disruptive technology often changes the way users interact with computers, and the GeForce GTX-460 family of video cards are complex tools built to arrive at one simple destination: immersive entertainment, especially when paired with NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision. The experience is further improved with NVIDIA System Tools software, which includes NVIDIA Performance Group for GPU overclocking and NVIDIA System Monitor which displays real-time temperatures. These tools help gamers and overclockers get the most out of their investment. EDITOR'S NOTE: Benchmark Reviews has separately published our review of the 768MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460. About NVIDIA Corporation:
NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) is the world leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the GPU, a high-performance processor which generates breathtaking, interactive graphics on workstations, personal computers, game consoles, and mobile devices. NVIDIA serves the entertainment and consumer market with its GeForce® products, the professional design and visualization market with its Quadro products, and the high-performance computing market with its Tesla products. These products are transforming visually-rich and computationally-intensive applications such as video games, film production, broadcasting, industrial design, financial modeling, space exploration, and medical imaging. NVIDIA Product Lines
GeForce - GPUs dedicated to graphics and video.
Quadro - A complete range of professional solutions engineered to deliver breakthrough performance and quality.
Tesla - A massively-parallel multi-threaded architecture for high-performance computing problems.
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Comments
We expect to have SLI results within the next few days.
As for the bias statement, there blatent bashes at ATi about how a OVERCLOCKED card manages to beat a more expensive one at stock. That seems like the old "Apples to Oranges" test methology there.
And yes, nVidia has that habit. How many of their other retail cards performed the EXACT same as the review cards? I also never claimed to know a review where somebody said the 5830 was better, but that could also be noted as there being so few reviews out ATM. Only time will tell, so quit using the time advantage. I've always found the OverclockersClub reviews to be high quality, and after seeing this hodge-podge of results I'm believing it more.
Love how you quote the 5830's power consumption but don't bother putting it on the chart. According to what IS on there, the 460 pulls more energy then the 5850 so how is that a win?
I give up though, because there are always those people that are bull-headed and see no other way besides their own.
I myself am not strapped for cash and I dont know/cant be bothered how to overclock properly, so I am still going to purchase a 5870.
But Leon, you never did say what other reviews showed different results? What other results have you seen that say otherwise??
Also, I think if you are tech-savvy enough to install a video card (which doesn't take much brain power up there people), you should be able to download the driver, or pop in the CD (that it comes with, mind you) and move a lever over a bit to a bit under what Olin found, and you should be okay (as long as the case has sufficient air-flow so it doesn't overheat).
To justify the O.C. card vs a stock card, I would say this: if they were even CLOSE in price, it would matter, and I would cry foul. But the FACT that the 460 is so much CHEAPER, it would definitely matter to someone who is low on cash, but wants a good upgrade.
Feelings aside from this, I just bought a 480, and I'm curious how two 460s would do in SLI vs my MSI 480 (even if the 460s would be O.C.'d).
Fine. What if the features I want are CUDA, PhysX, and 3D Vision? And you can get triple-monitor support (with bezel correction) on a two-460 SLI system for less than a single 5870.
Opinions are great, but at the end of the day, empiricism rules. Olin's ran the tests. You haven't. If you think his methodology flawed, please explain why; if you think his results incorrect, point to supporting data.
My current one is HD4850, and I wonder if I would see any noticeable difference in performance when playing high-end games such as Crysis and BF:BC2.
Would it be worth the money?
And also I'm impressed by the GTX460, at least I think it's making up for its brothers GTX470 and GTX480 when they didn't quite live up to peoples' expectations.
So what would be the best bang-for-buck card out there right now?
And I don't know why you say that the HD5870 has little headroom for OC.
I helped a friend OC it and it went pretty far and seemed to do well.
As for cherry picking, I have been looking for reviews to the contrary, but in all honesty, pretty much everyone is saying the same things, Anand and Toms included. Testing methodology may differ a little but the conclusions are roughly the same.
Leon is just #-stirring and Michael must be a little delicate.
This may be my next card and I can afford better, but I won't spend ridiculous amounts of money on a graphics card anymore and it's nearly time to update my trust 260.
Good review Olin, thanks.
Was previously interested in the 5850 but considering it's relatively high price and the rate that it'll be outdated, the 460 is looking a much better bet.
Respectable results, low temps, quiet cooling and a very reasonable price seems to make this one a winner. Shame that it's still suffering from high energy consumption but considering the other bonuses I'll personally overlook that.
I enjoyed the article on the $200 460gtx mostly because of the possibilities the Fermi now offers. I would like to expand my hardware use beyond only one focus. I was originally put off by nvdia's super high price point for its stuff but this new high functioning low price point clockable unit provides me room for renewed intrest in this solid product. It was an excellent article for me only a bit confused by the 8.75 performance rating after all the raves about its great performance -even if some was potential-
I liked the way the review came out and/or how this particular product did because my bias had been toward ATI products only because it was the only one i had ever used. I kept getting it because I knew how it worked, like it or not. I never liked the software. Until recently, it was always messing up on me for unknown reasons. I still dont like some things about it , which is why I had interest in these Femi reviews.
Since its unreasonable (and not realistically possible) to grade these products solely on their hardware performance without driver optimizations, we are constantly chasing the latest driver to keep up-to-date. The real shame here is that some drivers see a 25% improvement with a game a month after launch, and it renders our rating obsolete.
You don't need to overclock the GPU to use CCC; I use it because I NEED TO KNOW what the clocks are set for. Sometimes I have to underclock a card for testing purposes.
thanks
Back to the topic: I feel the cherry picked demonstration cards issue is real considering newegg user feedbacks of a "specific" gtx460 distributer reproaching of the card not having vrm heatsinks such as some reviews stated(occ maybe?) and overclocking potential being limited as fan noise is notably higher also.
One other issue is in my opinion, power consumption under overclocking. Donanimhaber did just that and the results were interesting: gtx460 overclocked consumed just 10 watts less than an hd5970, for a mainstream card in a possibly midtower case that is a concern.
Also, most readers don't understand that NVIDIA designs the card with several different cooling options. It's up to the AIC partners to choose which solution they prefer based on price and purpose.
I'm only a day away from publishing my review of the ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP-2DI-1GD5, which is identical to the retail version at NewEgg. The temperatures and power consumption validate my previous 'reference design' tests, and the performance is, well, you'll see.
You can find most via OverclockersClub, the rest google will help you with.
I'd link them but I've written a lot in the links and it's in Swedish so it's sort of pointless here.
##guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/
Results speak for themselves
Results speak for themselves...they are inanimate machines that get measured in a controlled environment.
The 1GB version will have even better results - can't wait 'till those start trickling in.
Found one:
##techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_460_SLI