NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 performance review

Posted on Monday, July 12 2010 @ 13:04 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Now that NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 460 cards have been officially released it's time to take a look at a couple of reviews to see whether these new GF104-based DX11 cards offers compelling value.

Our first stop is AnandTech, they conclude the GeForce GTX 460 768MB beats the ATI Radeon HD 5830 on nearly all fronts, but point out that it's worth it to spend the extra $30 to get the 1GB version because 768MB may end up short in tomorrow's games.
At the end of the day NVIDIA has created a very powerful card for a market that has been overlooked for most of this year, and right now they’re setup to benefit from it. The GTX 460 is well priced, well performing, and cool running - 3 qualities we haven’t been able to attribute all at once to an NVIDIA card in quite some time. With launches and pricing like the GTX 460, the competitive landscape that we enjoyed through 2008 and 2009 is finally taking shape once more, and we couldn’t be happier.
A similar conclusion can be read at The Tech Report, they're thrilled to see strong competition at the $200 mark again, and write the GeForce GTX 460 768MB is a narrow but sure win for NVIDIA when compared to ATI's Radeon HD 5830 because the GeForce GTX 460 is not only faster, but also more power efficient and pretty quiet.
Boy, is it refreshing to have strong competition at the $200 mark again. The contest between the Radeon HD 5830 and the GeForce GTX 768MB is a narrow but sure win for Nvidia. The GTX 460 768MB is noticeably faster in several games, and it's more power efficient than the 5830, too. Nvidia's stock cooler for the GTX 460 is blessedly quiet (unlike the Zotac one, sadly), and this much shorter board design should fit into even the most painfully cramped cases from the likes of Dell and HP.
For a third view we head over to Legit Reviews, they also conclude NVIDIA has released a very competitive product with the GeForce GTX 460 series.
After using both the GeForce GTX 460 768MB and GeForce GTX 460 1GB the GeForce GTX 460 1GB is clearly the way to go for gamers. With most gamers running 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 resolutions the extra memory and increased bus speed is well worth the extra $30 MSRP. The GeForce GTX 460 1GB is also faster, cooler and less power hungry than the GeForce GTX 465 in our testing. This makes it the card of choice for anyone looking for an NVIDIA card under $300. After looking back at the benchmark performance numbers, we wouldn't understand why anyone would want the GeForce GTX 465 over the GeForce GTX 460 from the gaming perspective. The GeForce GTX 460 1GB also soundly beat the ATI Radeon HD 5830, which is less expensive at $199. ATI has some competition now at the $200-$250 price point as NVIDIA has released a very competitive product here with the GTX 460!
Those still not tired of reading can read another in-depth report at HardOCP, but it's pretty clear that NVIDIA finally has another winner on its hands with the GeForce GTX 460.
To put it simply, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 is a fantastic product. It is priced right; it performs admirably; it is dead quiet; it sips power; it runs cool, and it overclocks like a monster without voltage modification. Even when overclocked, its fan kept it cooler than AMD’s competitor. In three out of the five games we tested, we had a markedly superior gaming experience. In the other two, the GTX easily matched the competition. There was no time in this evaluation whence the GeForce GTX 460 did not set itself apart as a superior product. Even when performance was merely equaled, it was quieter and using less power!


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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