| NVIDIA GeForce GTX-460 1GB Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Monday, 12 July 2010 | |
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Page 21 of 22
Editor's Opinion: NVIDIA FermiMy opinion of NVIDIA's Fermi architecture has changed over the past several months, as they've developed their graphics processor to fully embody the originally unclear long-term plan. Testing with NVIDIA's GF100 GPU held its own set of challenges, and many times the video cards based on this graphics processor seemed condemned by the inherited legacy of problems. From the flagship GeForce GTX 480 down to the GTX 465, Fermi impressed gamers with strong FPS performance... and that was about it. Thermal output and power consumption were unfashionably high, to which ATI constantly and consistently focused their marketing attacks. Then along comes GF104 on the GeForce GTX 460. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 460 not only changes the collective opinion of their Fermi architecture, it also changes the GPU landscape. ATI held the upper hand by releasing a DirectX-11 video card first, but they've painted themselves into a corner with their Evergreen GPU. Unlike NVIDIA's Fermi architecture, which can shape-shift as desired, ATI's Cedar, Redwood, and Juniper GPUs are all simply slices of the same processor: Cypress. This is where intelligent consumers will spot the flaw: ATI came to the (video) card game and showed their entire hand from the first deal, while NVIDIA had a few spare aces up their sleeves. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 is only 15/16 of the complete GF100 package, and we're just beginning to see what's possible with a 7/8-whole GF104 GPU. It's unknown what NVIDIA has planned for the GF102, GF106, and GF108... although the speculation is rampant. So now ATI and NVIDIA are even-Steven in the running for DirectX-11, and all that they need are video games to increase demand for their product. This becomes a real problem (for them both) because very few existing games demand any more graphical processing power than games demanded back in 2006. Video cards have certainly gotten bigger and faster, but video games has lacked fresh development. DirectX-10 helped the industry, but every step forward received two steps back because of the dislike for Microsoft's Windows Vista O/S. Introduced with Windows 7 (and also available for Windows Vista with an update), enthusiasts now have DirectX-11 detail and special effects in their video games.
NVIDIA GeForce Fermi Graphics Card FamilyEven if you're only after raw gaming performance and have no real-world interest in CUDA, there's reason to appreciate the GF100 GPU. New enhancement products, such as the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision Gaming Kit, double the demands on frame rate output and hence require more powerful graphics processing. This is where products like the GeForce GTX470 and GTX480 deliver the performance necessary to enjoy the extended gaming experience. I'm a huge fan of GeForce 3D-Vision, which is why it's earned our Editor's Choice Award, and Fermi delivers the power necessary to drive up to three monitors. The newly dubbed NVIDIA 3D-Vision Surround (stereo) requires three 3D-Vision capable LCD, projector, or DLP devices and offers bezel correction support. Alternatively, NVIDIA Surround (non-stereo) supports mixed displays with common resolution/timing. Even some older game titles benefit by the Fermi architecture, beyond just an increase in frame rates. For example, Far Cry 2 will receive 32x CSAA functionality native to the game, but future NVIDIA Forceware driver updates could also further add new features into existing co-developed video games. Additionally, NVIDIA NEXUS technology brings CPU and GPU code development together in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 for a shared process timeline. NEXUS also introduces the first hardware-based shader debugger. NVIDIA's GF100 is the first GPU to ever offer full C++ support, the programming language of choice among game developers. Fermi is also the first GPU to support Error Correcting Code (ECC) based protection of data in memory. ECC was requested by GPU computing users to enhance data integrity in high performance computing environments. ECC is a highly desired feature in areas such as medical imaging and large-scale cluster computing. Naturally occurring radiation can cause a bit stored in memory to be altered, resulting in a soft error. ECC technology detects and corrects single-bit soft errors before they affect the system. Fermi's register files, shared memories, L1 caches, L2 cache, and DRAM memory are ECC protected, making it not only the most powerful GPU for HPC applications, but also the most reliable. In addition, Fermi supports industry standards for checking of data during transmission from chip to chip. All NVIDIA GPUs include support for the PCI Express standard for CRC check with retry at the data link layer. Fermi also supports the similar GDDR5 standard for CRC check with retry (aka "EDC") during transmission of data across the memory bus. The true potential of NVIDIA's Fermi architecture has still yet to be seen. Sure, we've already poked around at the inner workings for our NVIDIA GF100 GPU Fermi Graphics Architecture article, but there's so much more that goes untested. Well into 2010, only a beta version of the Folding@Home client is available. The difference between work unit performance on the GeForce GTX 400-series is going to surpass ATI's Radeon HD 5000 series equivalents without much struggle, but it's uncertain how much better the performance will be compared to the previous-generations.
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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
Battlefield Bad company 2 however, does not.
I happen to have a 2.80ghz core 2 duo(ancient, I want to know if it affects card performance) and 4gb of ram, but max settings on 1280x1024 resolution and 4x anti-aliasing give me poor fps, around a humble 20-40.
Need your replies as soon as possible.
problem still persists :(
PCI-Express 16x MSI R5770 Hawk 1G D5 VGA/DVI/HDMI/DP (ATI)
PCI-Express 16x MSI N460GTX Twin Frozr II 768M V/2xD/mH (NVidia)
Please I need help since I am not very understood of plates and me gustaria to buy the best of the two
All of the data and charts are correct, but the GPU-Z image is displays inaccurate specifications.
The gf-104 only activates 224 shaders unit and only activats the rest "when needed".
I have both the asus engtx 465 and 460 dirct CU and one thing I'd noticed that games on the 465 are looking much better,like in the new need for speed hot pursiut,the road looks much more sharper on the 465 while in the 460 it looks kinda blend.
I think that the 460 gets good frame rate by downgrading the "far away" graphic and both are 1 gig 256 .
Spec:i3 530 2.93Ghz,4gb,500HD seagate barracuda(if I recall right).
Except low temps(23 idle,48 at load)I wasn't impressed at all with the 460,the 465 performs way better and all those reviews that favor the 460 over the 465 are just missleading the readers to think the 460 is betterr while its the opposite!