NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 vs ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 and ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, Geekbench - OpenCL, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps), 3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460

Videocard is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 5 month(s) later
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 40 nm vs 55 nm
Around 3% lower typical power consumption: 160 Watt vs 165 Watt
2x more memory clock speed: 3600 MHz vs 1802 MHz
3.2x better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 2264 vs 709
Around 71% better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 383 vs 224
Around 1% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames): 3356 vs 3336
Around 1% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps): 3356 vs 3336

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	12 July 2010 vs 26 January 2008
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm vs 55 nm
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	160 Watt vs 165 Watt
Memory clock speed	3600 MHz vs 1802 MHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark	2264 vs 709
PassMark - G2D Mark	383 vs 224
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3356 vs 3336
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3356 vs 3336

Reasons to consider the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

Around 22% higher core clock speed: 825 MHz vs 675 MHz
5.6x more texture fill rate: 2x 13.2 GTexel / s billion / sec vs 37.8 GTexel / s
Around 90% higher pipelines: 2x 320 vs 336
Around 16% better floating-point performance: 2x 528.0 gflops vs 907.2 gflops
Around 33% higher maximum memory size: 2x 512 MB vs 768 MB

Core clock speed	825 MHz vs 675 MHz
Texture fill rate	2x 13.2 GTexel / s billion / sec vs 37.8 GTexel / s
Pipelines	2x 320 vs 336
Floating-point performance	2x 528.0 gflops vs 907.2 gflops
Maximum memory size	2x 512 MB vs 768 MB

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
GPU 2: ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

PassMark - G3D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

2264

709

PassMark - G2D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

383

224

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3356

3336

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3356

3336

Name	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460	ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
PassMark - G3D Mark	2264	709
PassMark - G2D Mark	383	224
Geekbench - OpenCL	7725
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	21.445
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	617.847
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	1.823
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	27.222
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	40.61
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)	3351
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	3716
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3356	3336
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)	3351
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	3716
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3356	3336
3DMark Fire Strike - Graphics Score	0

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460	ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
Essentials
Architecture	Fermi	TeraScale
Code name	GF104	R680
Launch date	12 July 2010	26 January 2008
Launch price (MSRP)	$229	$449
Place in performance rating	932	934
Price now	$89.99
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Value for money (0-100)	34.71
Technical info
Core clock speed	675 MHz	825 MHz
Floating-point performance	907.2 gflops	2x 528.0 gflops
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	55 nm
Pipelines	336	2x 320
Texture fill rate	37.8 GTexel / s	2x 13.2 GTexel / s billion / sec
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	160 Watt	165 Watt
Transistor count	1,950 million	666 million
Video outputs and ports
Audio input for HDMI	Internal
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI, Two Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
HDCP
HDMI
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536
Multi monitor support
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Bus support	16x PCI-E 2.0
Height	4.376"(111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	8.25"(210 mm) (21 cm)	267 mm
SLI options	2-way
Supplementary power connectors	6-pin & 6-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
API support
DirectX	12.0 (11_0)	10.1
OpenGL	4.1	3.3
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	768 MB	2x 512 MB
Memory bandwidth	86.4 GB / s	2x 57.7 GB / s
Memory bus width	192 Bit	2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed	3600 MHz	1802 MHz
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR3
Technologies
3D Vision
CUDA
SLI