GeForce 6500 vs GT 420M

Place in the ranking	1102	1449
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	3.09	no data
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	Curie (2003−2013)
GPU code name	GF108	NV44 A2
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	3 September 2010 (14 years ago)	1 October 2005 (19 years ago)

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 cores	96	no data
Core clock speed	500 MHz	400 MHz
Number of transistors	585 million	75 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	110 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	23 Watt	no data
Texture fill rate	8.000	1.600
Floating-point processing power	0.192 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	4	2
TMUs	16	4

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).

Laptop size	medium sized	no data
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 1.0 x16
Width	no data	1-slot

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	DDR3	DDR2
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	128 MB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	266 MHz
Memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	8.512 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

No outputs

1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 API	9.0c (9_3)
Shader Model	5.1	3.0
OpenGL	4.5	2.1
OpenCL	1.1	N/A
Vulkan	N/A	N/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.

GT 420M 1.03
+930%

GeForce 6500 0.10

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.

GT 420M 396
+942%

GeForce 6500 38

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	12 +1100%	1−2 −1100%
Full HD	16 +1500%	1−2 −1500%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

3−4

0−1

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	0−1
Far Cry 5	1−2	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	5−6	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +1200%	1−2 −1200%
Red Dead Redemption 2	1−2	0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +967%	3−4 −967%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	0−1
Far Cry 5	1−2	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	5−6	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +1200%	1−2 −1200%
Red Dead Redemption 2	1−2	0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +967%	3−4 −967%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	5−6	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	4−5	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	0−1
Far Cry 5	1−2	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Hitman 3	5−6	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	12−14 +1200%	1−2 −1200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +1000%	1−2 −1000%
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35 +967%	3−4 −967%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

1−2

0−1

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	1−2	0−1
Far Cry New Dawn	1−2	0−1

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2	0−1
Far Cry 5	1−2	0−1
Hitman 3	7−8	0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn	4−5	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	0−1	0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion	4−5	0−1

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

4−5

0−1

4K
High Preset

Far Cry New Dawn

0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	1−2	0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	0−1	0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	0−1	0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

2−3

0−1

This is how GT 420M and GeForce 6500 compete in popular games:

GT 420M is 1100% faster in 900p
GT 420M is 1500% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.03	0.10
Recency	3 September 2010	1 October 2005
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	128 MB
Chip lithography	40 nm	110 nm

GT 420M has a 930% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 175% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GT 420M is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce 6500 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GT 420M is a notebook card while GeForce 6500 is a desktop one.

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