Reviews - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB and 768MB: Fermi done right

[scaryjim]

Gah, 48 shaders per SM!! I was so close...

Definitely good to see nvidia with a competitive product, and particularly nice to see a new card in the £150 - £200 price bracket, where we've been stuck with nothing but the HD5830... it's definitely an interesting call between the 5770 and the 768MB GTX460 for a mid-range gaming system now... if the GTX460 stays at around £150 - £160 I can see it selling pretty well...

[Zhaoman]

A massive ATi price slash would really make this

[Domestic_Ginger]

They have not done a bad job on the card. I think the power/performance is looking better and the flurry of lower end parts should make this even more interesting. For the first time in a while they may be able to get a full line up based on current tech.

But why o why can't they sort out the numbering properly! A gtx460 and gts460 would go someway to make the cards more easily distinguishable.

[cptwhite_uk]

Nope, SLI is a hit and a miss. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt but a single card solution "always" works straight out of the box. With sli, some games you dont even notice a performance increase while others is just a minor increase

Josh, you should read the anandtech article, but to summerise 460 1Gb SLI vs 480 single card:

460 SLI wins 6/8 benchmarks in games at 2560x1600 max settings, often with a margin of 20% over the 480, in the 2 it looses it's about 2/3fps behind.

Dependant on the cooler of course, but the ref design (in SLI) is quieter at idle and load than the 480

At idle 460 1Gb SLI uses 17W less than 480
At load is uses more (between 13W more in Crysis, to 49W more in furmark)
On average typical useage I'd suggest the 460 in SLI uses slightly less W, depending on useage patterns...and your comments about scaling aren't really relevant these days, especially with Fermi.

...and 460 1Gb SLI is currently cheaper to boot!

[Attila the Bun]

Being new to all this hardware malarky I'm wondering how this compares with the Radeons in terms of outputs. The HD5770, which is what I have currently decided on for my first build, offers 2 DVI / HDMI / DP giving good flexibility (inc. multi-screen connectivity) at a good price. Does the GTX460 offer this? If so I may go the extra £20 or so as the 460 is the superior card in all other respects.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The GTX460 look quite a nice card for the money and it seems that the cards are good for overclocking too. The GF104 GPU also is slightly smaller than the RV870. It will be interesting to see how the lower end GF104 based cards will perform as hopefully these will need only one PCI-E power connector as the HD5770 is really overpriced ATM.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Josh, you should read the anandtech article, but to summerise 460 1Gb SLI vs 480 single card:

460 SLI wins 6/8 benchmarks in games at 2560x1600 max settings, often with a margin of 20% over the 480, in the 2 it looses it's about 2/3fps behind.

Dependant on the cooler of course, but the ref design (in SLI) is quieter at idle and load than the 480

At idle 460 1Gb SLI uses 17W less than 480
At load is uses more (between 13W more in Crysis, to 49W more in furmark)
On average typical useage I'd suggest the 460 in SLI uses slightly less W, depending on useage patterns...and your comments about scaling aren't really relevant these days, especially with Fermi.

...and 460 1Gb SLI is currently cheaper to boot!

But if you game on high AA/AF then the extra VRAM is a major benefit on the 480gtx.

[cptwhite_uk]

4xAA and 16xAF is not high AA/AF? - That's what the 460 SLI wins on....

[mercyground]

its about time NV pulled back. This looks alot more promising. Still unconvinced by nFinity. Rather take Eyefinity anyday.

Now NV just need to clear old stock/rebranded cards from market and have a clean sweep and continue executing on better cards. Die shrink and it will all come together.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

4xAA and 16xAF is not high AA/AF? - That's what the 460 SLI wins on....

Is teh stuttering on SLI mode fixed? does 99.9% games work with SLI correctly? what about noise and temps?

[jjgreenwood]

sli now tested

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...ce_GTX_460_SLI

[tickedon]

A massive ATi price slash would really make this

Indeed, it would. I keep looking back at my ATI 4850 (which seems to have been "injured" during this heat wave - its overheating now!) I paid £130 not longer after release.... the 5850 is £230, give or take. I'd be paying £130 now for a 5770 or similar, which offers similar levels of performance!

Looking for next generation or big price drops, this nvidia card brings the latter a bit closer, don't think it's enough though.

[Zhaoman]

Yeah I paid exactly £130 for my 4850 too and I'm waiting for 5850 performance to come down to below £150. A 5770 just isn't worth it and this 460 is still too expensive.

[Jimbo75]

You can pick up 5770's for £115 if you look around, and at that price they are unbeatable on any price/performance chart you are likely to see.

[Zak33]

The Good

Cooler, quieter and smaller than previous Fermi cards

that's not just good.. it's great

So many SFF cases, so little space

[mascotzel]

How did you measure rpm?