Apple M2 Max 30-Core GPU vs GeForce GTS 260M

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureTesla 2.0 (2007−2013)no data
GPU code nameGT215no data
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date15 June 2009 (15 years ago)17 January 2023 (1 year ago)

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 cores9630
Core clock speed550 MHzno data
Number of transistors727 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology40 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)38 Wattno data
Texture fill rate17.60no data
Floating-point processing power0.264 TFLOPSno data
Gigaflops396no data
ROPs8no data
TMUs32no data

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 sizelargemedium sized
Bus supportPCI-E 2.0no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16no data
SLI options+-
MXM TypeMXM 3.0 Type-Bno 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 typeGDDR5LPDDR5-6400
Maximum RAM amount1 GBno data
Memory bus width128 Bitno data
Memory clock speedUp to 2000 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth57.6 GB/sno 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 ConnectorsHDMIVGADual Link DVIDisplayPortSingle Link DVILVDSno data
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Power management8.0no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.1 (10_1)no data
Shader Model4.1no data
OpenGL2.1no data
OpenCL1.1no data
VulkanN/A-
CUDA+-

Pros & cons summary


Recency 15 June 2009 17 January 2023
Chip lithography 40 nm 5 nm

Apple M2 Max 30-Core GPU has an age advantage of 13 years, and a 700% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTS 260M and Apple M2 Max 30-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTS 260M
GeForce GTS 260M
Apple M2 Max 30-Core GPU
M2 Max 30-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3 1 vote

Rate GeForce GTS 260M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.4 112 votes

Rate Apple M2 Max 30-Core GPU on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.