ION 2 vs GeForce GT 520M
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GT 520M and ION 2, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GT 520M outperforms ION 2 by a whopping 124% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1158 | 1302 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.01 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.30 | 1.15 |
| Architecture | Fermi (2010−2014) | Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013) |
| GPU code name | GF108 | GT218 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 5 January 2011 (13 years ago) | 3 June 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $59.99 | no data |
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 | 48 | 16 |
| Core clock speed | 600 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 585 million | 260 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 12 Watt | 20 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 4.800 | 4.000 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.1152 TFLOPS | 0.03424 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 4 | 4 |
| TMUs | 8 | 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).
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | no data |
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 | System Shared |
| Maximum RAM amount | 1 GB | System Shared |
| Memory bus width | 64 Bit | System Shared |
| Memory clock speed | 800 MHz | System Shared |
| Memory bandwidth | 12.8 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | - | + |
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 | Portable Device Dependent | No outputs |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Optimus | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 API | 11.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | + | 1.2 |
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.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
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 | 8
+167%
| 3−4
−167%
|
| Full HD | 12
+140%
| 5−6
−140%
|
| 1200p | 7
+133%
| 3−4
−133%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 5.00 | no data |
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 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
+25%
|
4−5
−25%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
+37.5%
|
8−9
−37.5%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
+50%
|
4−5
−50%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+10.7%
|
27−30
−10.7%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
+25%
|
4−5
−25%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
+37.5%
|
8−9
−37.5%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
+50%
|
4−5
−50%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
+11.1%
|
9−10
−11.1%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+10.7%
|
27−30
−10.7%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 5−6
+66.7%
|
3−4
−66.7%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Hitman 3 | 5−6
+25%
|
4−5
−25%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 10−12
+37.5%
|
8−9
−37.5%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 6−7
+50%
|
4−5
−50%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
+11.1%
|
9−10
−11.1%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−35
+10.7%
|
27−30
−10.7%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 1−2 | 0−1 |
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 0−1 | 0−1 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Far Cry 5 | 1−2 | 0−1 |
| Hitman 3 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 2−3 | 0−1 |
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
4K
High Preset
| Far Cry New Dawn | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 0−1 | 0−1 |
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2−3
+0%
|
2−3
+0%
|
This is how GT 520M and ION 2 compete in popular games:
- GT 520M is 167% faster in 900p
- GT 520M is 140% faster in 1080p
- GT 520M is 133% faster in 1200p
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GT 520M is 67% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- GT 520M is ahead in 26 tests (90%)
- there's a draw in 3 tests (10%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.74 | 0.33 |
| Recency | 5 January 2011 | 3 June 2008 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 12 Watt | 20 Watt |
GT 520M has a 124.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and 66.7% lower power consumption.
The GeForce GT 520M is our recommended choice as it beats the ION 2 in performance tests.
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.
