GeForce GTX 460 vs ATI Radeon HD 5970

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 5970 and GeForce GTX 460, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

ATI HD 5970
2009
1 GB GDDR5, 294 Watt
5.92
+0.9%

ATI HD 5970 outperforms GTX 460 by a minimal 1% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking589595
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.361.25
Power efficiency1.382.52
ArchitectureTeraScale 2 (2009−2015)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameHemlockGF104
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date18 November 2009 (15 years ago)12 July 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$699 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 460 has 247% better value for money than ATI HD 5970.

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 cores1600336
Core clock speed725 MHz675 MHz
Number of transistors2,154 million1,950 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)294 Watt160 Watt
Texture fill rate58.0037.80
Floating-point processing power2.32 TFLOPS0.9072 TFLOPS
ROPs3224
TMUs8056

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 supportno data16x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length305 mm210 mm
Heightno data4.376"(111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin2x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount1 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed1000 MHz900 MHz
Memory bandwidth128.0 GB/s86.4 GB/s

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 Connectors2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPortTwo Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor supportno data+
HDMI-+
HDCP-+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

API compatibility

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)12 (11_0)
Shader Model5.05.1
OpenGL4.44.1
OpenCL1.21.1
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.

ATI HD 5970 5.92
+0.9%
GTX 460 5.87

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

ATI HD 5970 2282
+0.9%
GTX 460 2262

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.

ATI HD 5970 3690
+43.6%
GTX 460 2570

Gaming performance

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

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.92 5.87
Recency 18 November 2009 12 July 2010
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 2 GB
Power consumption (TDP) 294 Watt 160 Watt

ATI HD 5970 has a 0.9% higher aggregate performance score.

GTX 460, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 7 months, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 83.8% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 5970 and GeForce GTX 460.


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

Vote for your favorite

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ATI Radeon HD 5970
Radeon HD 5970
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
GeForce GTX 460

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.


3.6 43 votes

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3.4 1016 votes

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Questions & comments

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