GeForce GT 520 vs GT 420M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GT 420M with GeForce GT 520, including specs and performance data.
GT 420M outperforms GT 520 by a significant 27% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1103 | 1145 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 0.01 |
| Power efficiency | 3.07 | 1.91 |
| Architecture | Fermi (2010−2014) | Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014) |
| GPU code name | GF108 | GF119 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 3 September 2010 (14 years ago) | 13 April 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $59 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 96 | 48 |
| Core clock speed | 500 MHz | 810 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 585 million | 292 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 23 Watt | 29 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | no data | 102 °C |
| Texture fill rate | 8.000 | 6.480 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.192 TFLOPS | 0.1555 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 4 | 4 |
| TMUs | 16 | 8 |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Laptop size | medium sized | no data |
| Bus support | no data | 16x PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 145 mm |
| Height | no data | 2.7" (6.9 cm) |
| Width | no data | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | None |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | 1 GB (DDR3) |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 64 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 800 MHz | 900 MHz (DDR3) |
| Memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | 14.4 GB/s |
| Shared memory | - | no data |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | No outputs | Dual Link DVI-IHDMIVGA (optional) |
| Multi monitor support | no data | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | Internal |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 API | 12 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.2 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | + | + |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
GeekBench 5 OpenCL
Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Average FPS across all PC games
Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:
| 900p | 12
+33.3%
| 9−10
−33.3%
|
| Full HD | 16
+33.3%
| 12−14
−33.3%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | no data | 4.92 |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 12−14
+30%
|
10−11
−30%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 7−8
+40%
|
5−6
−40%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+33.3%
|
24−27
−33.3%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 12−14
+30%
|
10−11
−30%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 7−8
+40%
|
5−6
−40%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
+37.5%
|
8−9
−37.5%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+33.3%
|
24−27
−33.3%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 12−14
+30%
|
10−11
−30%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 7−8
+40%
|
5−6
−40%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−12
+37.5%
|
8−9
−37.5%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+33.3%
|
24−27
−33.3%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2 | 0−1 |
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 7−8
+40%
|
5−6
−40%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
4K
High Preset
| Far Cry New Dawn | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
This is how GT 420M and GT 520 compete in popular games:
- GT 420M is 33% faster in 900p
- GT 420M is 33% faster in 1080p
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.03 | 0.81 |
| Recency | 3 September 2010 | 13 April 2011 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 23 Watt | 29 Watt |
GT 420M has a 27.2% higher aggregate performance score, and 26.1% lower power consumption.
GT 520, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 7 months.
The GeForce GT 420M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GT 520 in performance tests.
Be aware that GeForce GT 420M is a notebook card while GeForce GT 520 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
