GeForce 9600 GT vs GTX 480M SLI

Place in the ranking	572	1036
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	0.06
Power efficiency	4.51	0.92
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code name	N11E-GTX-A3	G94
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	25 May 2010 (14 years ago)	21 February 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$179

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	704	64
Core clock speed	425 MHz	650 MHz
Number of transistors	6000 Million	505 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	96 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	105 °C
Texture fill rate	no data	20.80
Floating-point processing power	no data	0.208 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	16
TMUs	no data	32

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	large	no data
Bus support	no data	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	no data	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	no data	229 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width	no data	1-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 6-pin
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	GDDR5	GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	512 MB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	57.6 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	no data	HDTVTwo Dual Link DVI
Multi monitor support	no data	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	no data	S/PDIF

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11	11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model	no data	4.0
OpenGL	no data	2.1
OpenCL	no data	1.1
Vulkan	-	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.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p	61 +510%	10−12 −510%
Full HD	67 +458%	12−14 −458%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

no data

14.92

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

10−11
+900%

1−2

−900%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +467%	3−4 −467%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Battlefield 5	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +600%	2−3 −600%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%
Hitman 3	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +457%	7−8 −457%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Red Dead Redemption 2	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +450%	4−5 −450%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +467%	9−10 −467%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +467%	3−4 −467%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Battlefield 5	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +600%	2−3 −600%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%
Hitman 3	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +457%	7−8 −457%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Red Dead Redemption 2	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +450%	4−5 −450%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +567%	3−4 −567%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +467%	9−10 −467%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 +467%	3−4 −467%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Far Cry 5	14−16 +600%	2−3 −600%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 +425%	8−9 −425%
Hitman 3	12−14 +550%	2−3 −550%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 +457%	7−8 −457%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 +450%	4−5 −450%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 +567%	3−4 −567%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 +467%	9−10 −467%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20

+500%

3−4
−500%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 +500%	2−3 −500%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	0−1
Far Cry 5	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +425%	4−5 −425%
Hitman 3	10−11 +900%	1−2 −900%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 +600%	2−3 −600%
Metro Exodus	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	3−4	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 +500%	1−2 −500%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 +486%	7−8 −486%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12

+450%

2−3
−450%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	4−5	0−1
Hitman 3	3−4	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 +500%	3−4 −500%
Metro Exodus	3−4	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5	0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	3−4	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	7−8 +600%	1−2 −600%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	1−2	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

7−8
+600%

1−2

−600%

This is how GTX 480M SLI and 9600 GT compete in popular games:

GTX 480M SLI is 510% faster in 900p
GTX 480M SLI is 458% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.47	1.25
Recency	25 May 2010	21 February 2008
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	512 MB
Chip lithography	40 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	96 Watt

GTX 480M SLI has a 417.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 62.5% more advanced lithography process.

9600 GT, on the other hand, has 4.2% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 480M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 9600 GT in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 480M SLI is a notebook card while GeForce 9600 GT is a desktop one.

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