GeForce GTX 950 vs 580

Place in performance ranking	378	351
Place by popularity	not in top-100	95
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	8.17	6.03
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	Maxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code name	GF110	GM206
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	9 November 2010 (13 years ago)	20 August 2015 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$499	$159
Current price	$14.89 (0x MSRP)	$12.88 (0.1x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 580 has 35% better value for money than GTX 950.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	512	768
CUDA cores	512	768
Core clock speed	772 MHz	1024 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1188 MHz
Number of transistors	3,000 million	2,940 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	244 Watt	90 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	97 °C	no data
Texture fill rate	49.4 billion/sec	49.2 billion/sec
Floating-point performance	1,581.1 gflops	1,825 gflops

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).

Bus support	PCI-E 2.0 x 16	PCI Express 3.0
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)	7.938" (20.2 cm)
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)	4.376" (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	no data	350 Watt
Supplementary power connectors	One 6-pin and One 8-pin	1x 6-pins
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	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	1536 MB	2 GB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	2004 MHz (4008 data rate)	6.6 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	192.4 GB/s	105.6 GB/s
Shared memory	no data	-

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	Mini HDMITwo Dual Link DVI	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2
Multi monitor support	+	4 displays
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	no data	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	no data	+
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	Internal

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	no data	+
GeForce ShadowPlay	no data	+
GPU Boost	no data	2.0
GameWorks	no data	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.2	4.5
OpenCL	1.1	1.2
Vulkan	+	1.1.126
CUDA	+	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

GTX 580 11.82

GTX 950 13.82
+16.9%

950 outperforms 580 by 17% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 580 4564

GTX 950 5338
+17%

950 outperforms 580 by 17% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 580 6065

GTX 950 8351
+37.7%

950 outperforms 580 by 38% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 580 4970

GTX 950 6208
+24.9%

950 outperforms 580 by 25% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

Benchmark coverage: 9%

GTX 580 15523

GTX 950 16084
+3.6%

950 outperforms 580 by 4% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 580 67
+63.4%

GTX 950 41

580 outperforms 950 by 63% in Octane Render OctaneBench.

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	53 −13.2%	60−65 +13.2%
Full HD	96 +88.2%	51 −88.2%
1200p	78 −15.4%	90−95 +15.4%
4K	16−18 −31.3%	21 +31.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

18−20

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20	no data
Battlefield 5	35−40	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20	no data
Far Cry 5	27−30	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35	no data
Forza Horizon 4	55−60	no data
Hitman 3	21−24	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50	no data
Metro Exodus	35−40	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20	no data
Battlefield 5	35−40	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20	no data
Far Cry 5	27−30	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35	no data
Forza Horizon 4	55−60	no data
Hitman 3	21−24	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50	no data
Metro Exodus	35−40	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	30−35	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	18−20	no data
Far Cry 5	27−30	no data
Forza Horizon 4	55−60	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	45−50	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	35−40	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	20−22	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7	no data
Far Cry 5	18−20	no data
Forza Horizon 4	21−24	no data
Hitman 3	14−16	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	24−27	no data
Metro Exodus	18−20	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	18−20	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	7−8	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	10−12	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10	no data
Hitman 3	8−9	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−11	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	5−6	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3	no data
Far Cry 5	6−7	no data
Forza Horizon 4	14−16	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14	no data
Metro Exodus	12−14	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12

no data

This is how GTX 580 and GTX 950 compete in popular games:

GTX 950 is 13% faster in 900p
GTX 580 is 88% faster in 1080p
GTX 950 is 15% faster in 1200p
GTX 950 is 31% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	11.82	13.82
Recency	9 November 2010	20 August 2015
Cost	$499	$159
Maximum RAM amount	1536 MB	2 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	244 Watt	90 Watt