Radeon HD 6530M vs GeForce GTX 260

Place in the ranking	747	1030
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.14	no data
Power efficiency	1.20	3.40
Architecture	Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)	TeraScale 2 (2009−2015)
GPU code name	GT200	Capilano
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	16 June 2008 (16 years ago)	26 November 2010 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$449	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 cores	192	400
Core clock speed	576 MHz	450 MHz
Number of transistors	1,400 million	627 million
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	182 Watt	26 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	105 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	36.86	9.000
Floating-point processing power	0.4769 TFLOPS	0.36 TFLOPS
ROPs	28	8
TMUs	64	20

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	no data	medium sized
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	MXM-II
Length	267 mm	no data
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	no 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 type	GDDR3	DDR3
Maximum RAM amount	896 MB	1 GB
Memory bus width	448 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	999 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	111.9 GB/s	28.8 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 Connectors	Dual Link DVIHDTV	No outputs
Multi monitor support	+	no data
HDMI	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
Audio input for HDMI	S/PDIF	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model	4.0	5.0
OpenGL	2.1	4.4
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	N/A	N/A
CUDA	+	-

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

4−5

+0%

4−5

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Hitman 3	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Hitman 3	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Far Cry 5	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Hitman 3	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +0%	10−12 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

2−3

+0%

2−3

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	0−1	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Hitman 3	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	0−1	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

4−5

+0%

4−5

+0%

4K
High Preset

Far Cry New Dawn

0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	0−1	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

3−4

+0%

3−4

+0%

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 47 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.16	1.28
Recency	16 June 2008	26 November 2010
Maximum RAM amount	896 MB	1 GB
Chip lithography	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	182 Watt	26 Watt

GTX 260 has a 146.9% higher aggregate performance score.

HD 6530M, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 14.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 62.5% more advanced lithography process, and 600% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 260 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6530M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 260 is a desktop card while Radeon HD 6530M is a notebook one.

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