NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 Graphics Card
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Performance tests
Testbed:
- Intel Core i7-975 (3340 MHz) CPU
- ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard with the Intel X58 chipset
- 6GB of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM from Corsair
- WD Caviar SE WD1600JD 160GB SATA HDD
- Tagan TG900-BZ 900W PSU
- Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit, DirectX 11
- Dell 3007WFP 30-inch monitor
- ATI CATALYST 10.6; NVIDIA Drivers 257.21/258.80.
- VSync disabled
Benchmarks:
- Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft) -- DirectX 10.0, Shaders 4.0 (HDR), built-in benchmarking utility (the Middle level), maximum settings.
- CRYSIS Warhead (Crytek/EA) -- Cargo, DirectX 10.0, Shaders 4.0, Very High settings, batch file, timedemo available by e-mail request.
- Colin McRae: DiRT 2 (Codemasters) -- DirectX 10.0/11.0, Ultra High settings, run the benchmark as follows: "dirt2.exe -benchmark example_benchmark.xml".
- Warhammer 40.000: Dawn Of War II (Relic Entertainment/THQ) -- DirectX 10.0, Super High settings, run the benchmark from the in-game menu.
- Just Cause 2 (Avalanche Studios/Eidos Interactive) -- DirectX 11.0, Super High settings, run the benchmark from the in-game menu.
- Aliens vs. Predator (Rebellion/SEGA) -- DirectX 11.0, Shaders 5.0, Very High settings, run the benchmark from the in-game menu.
- Tropics Benchmark 1.3 (Unigine) -- DirectX 10.0, High settings.
- Heaven Benchmark 2.0 (Unigine) -- DirectX 10.0, High settings.
- Heaven Benchmark 2.0 (Unigine) -- DirectX 11.0, High settings.
- 3DMark Vantage 1.02 (FutureMark) -- DirectX 10.0, Shaders 4.0, multitexturing, Extreme settings.
- RightMark3D (iXBT.com) -- DirectX, a synthetic benchmark, Shaders 2.0/2.0b/3.0.
We'd like to thank Unigine for helping us set up their benchmarks.
Long ago we proved how unreliable were test results obtained with the FRAPS utility. Sadly, this only leaves us benchmarks built into games. For this reason we prefer to use a small number of tests, but all of those are transparent and precise. What's more important, they accurately show the correlation of graphics card performance.
Far Cry 2
Crysis Warhead, Cargo
Colin McRae: DiRT 2
Warhammer 40.000: Dawn Of War II
Just Cause 2
Aliens vs. Predator DirectX 11.0
Unigine Tropics Benchmark
Unigine Heaven Benchmark DirectX 10.0
Unigine Heaven Benchmark DirectX 11.0
3DMark Vantage Graphics Marks
Conclusions
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB is quite a success, considering the MSRP. It outperforms the cheaper ATI Radeon HD 5770 and performs on a par with (and in some tests outperforms) the similarly priced ATI Radeon HD 5830. Fast tessellation, the advantage of the Fermi architecture, remains in this product as well.
Strangely enough, GeForce GTX 460 sometimes outperforms the higher-end and more expensive GeForce GTX 465 in DX10 tests. The DX11 performance was adequate to our expectations, though. It'll be interesting to see how GeForce GTX 460 1GB will do in these tests, because it should be 5-10% faster. Does this mean that GeForce GTX 465 is already finished?
Anyway, the reference cards have a good cooling system, unlike their higher-end counterparts. Many NVIDIA partners will make custom coolers, though. As for power consumption GeForce GTX 460 consumes 180W ~ 250W at standard clock rates, depending on load, so it requires a decent power supply unit.
The novelty supports all NVIDIA's innovations in the physical calculations area. Using a couple of such cards in a SLI configuration (we'll examine it, as well as the overclocking potential, in future reviews) will allow you to use three monitors at once, the stereo mode included.
On the downside, it's kind of strange to see two different products sharing one name. Now you have to remember that GeForce GTX 460 768MB considerably differs from GeForce GTX 460 1GB, because they have different memory buses.
As for the actual graphics cards from AFOX and EVGA, both are copies of the reference design, so you may choose whichever you want.
We express gratitude to NVIDIA, AFOX and EVGA for the provided graphics cards. The PSU is provided by TAGAN, the monitor is provided by NVIDIA.
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