Radeon HD 6950M vs GeForce GTS 450

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTS 450 with Radeon HD 6950M, including specs and performance data.

GTS 450
2010
1 GB GDDR5, 106 Watt
3.42

HD 6950M outperforms GTS 450 by a minimal 4% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking728719
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.57no data
Power efficiency2.254.96
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code nameGF106Blackcomb
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date13 September 2010 (14 years ago)4 January 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$129 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores192960
Core clock speed783 MHz580 MHz
Number of transistors1,170 million1,700 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)106 Watt50 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature100 °Cno data
Texture fill rate25.0627.84
Floating-point processing power0.6013 TFLOPS1.114 TFLOPS
ROPs1632
TMUs3248

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 sizeno datalarge
Bus supportPCI-E 2.0 x 16no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length210 mmno data
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinno data
SLI options+-

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB1 GB
Memory bus width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed1804 (3608 data rate) MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth57.7 GB/s115.2 GB/s
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 ConnectorsMini HDMITwo Dual Link DVINo outputs
HDMI+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.0
OpenGL4.24.4
OpenCL1.11.2
VulkanN/AN/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.

GTS 450 3.42
HD 6950M 3.56
+4.1%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTS 450 1888
HD 6950M 2452
+29.9%

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.

GTS 450 9758
HD 6950M 10122
+3.7%

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:

900p30
+0%
30−35
+0%
Full HD38
+8.6%
35−40
−8.6%
1200p27
+0%
27−30
+0%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.39no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Battlefield 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
−5.3%
20−22
+5.3%
Hitman 3 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Metro Exodus 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Battlefield 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
−5.3%
20−22
+5.3%
Hitman 3 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Metro Exodus 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 18−20
−5.3%
20−22
+5.3%
Hitman 3 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Hitman 3 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
−12.5%
9−10
+12.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
−4.8%
21−24
+4.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

This is how GTS 450 and HD 6950M compete in popular games:

  • A tie in 900p
  • GTS 450 is 9% faster in 1080p
  • A tie in 1200p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 6950M is 50% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 6950M is ahead in 13 tests (21%)
  • there's a draw in 50 tests (79%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.42 3.56
Recency 13 September 2010 4 January 2011
Power consumption (TDP) 106 Watt 50 Watt

HD 6950M has a 4.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 months, and 112% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTS 450 and Radeon HD 6950M.

Be aware that GeForce GTS 450 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6950M is a notebook one.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
GeForce GTS 450
AMD Radeon HD 6950M
Radeon HD 6950M

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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3.6 2641 vote

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Questions & comments

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