GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB vs GTX 480M SLI

Place in the ranking	572	236
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Power efficiency	4.51	13.70
Architecture	Fermi (2010−2014)	Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code name	N11E-GTX-A3	GP106
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	25 May 2010 (14 years ago)	26 December 2017 (6 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	704	1280
Core clock speed	425 MHz	1506 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1709 MHz
Number of transistors	6000 Million	4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	40 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	120 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	136.7
Floating-point processing power	no data	4.375 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	40
TMUs	no data	80

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	large	no data
Interface	no data	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	250 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 6-pin

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	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	5 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	160 Bit
Memory clock speed	1200 MHz	2002 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	160.2 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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 data	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	11	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	no data	6.4
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	1.2
Vulkan	-	1.2.131
CUDA	-	6.1

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	61 −261%	220−230 +261%
Full HD	67 −258%	240−250 +258%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

10−11

−250%

35−40
+250%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 −253%	60−65 +253%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 −238%	27−30 +238%
Battlefield 5	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 −246%	45−50 +246%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 −250%	35−40 +250%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −257%	150−160 +257%
Hitman 3	12−14 −246%	45−50 +246%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −259%	140−150 +259%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Red Dead Redemption 2	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −264%	80−85 +264%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 −253%	180−190 +253%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 −253%	60−65 +253%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 −238%	27−30 +238%
Battlefield 5	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 −246%	45−50 +246%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 −250%	35−40 +250%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −257%	150−160 +257%
Hitman 3	12−14 −246%	45−50 +246%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −259%	140−150 +259%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Red Dead Redemption 2	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −264%	80−85 +264%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 −250%	70−75 +250%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 −253%	180−190 +253%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18 −253%	60−65 +253%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 −238%	27−30 +238%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	12−14 −246%	45−50 +246%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 −250%	35−40 +250%
Far Cry 5	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Forza Horizon 4	40−45 −257%	150−160 +257%
Hitman 3	12−14 −246%	45−50 +246%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −259%	140−150 +259%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	21−24 −264%	80−85 +264%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	20−22 −250%	70−75 +250%
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55 −253%	180−190 +253%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20

−261%

65−70
+261%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	12−14 −233%	40−45 +233%
Far Cry New Dawn	10−11 −250%	35−40 +250%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	6−7 −250%	21−24 +250%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	2−3 −250%	7−8 +250%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 −250%	21−24 +250%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
Far Cry 5	7−8 −243%	24−27 +243%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 −257%	75−80 +257%
Hitman 3	10−11 −250%	35−40 +250%
Horizon Zero Dawn	14−16 −257%	50−55 +257%
Metro Exodus	6−7 −250%	21−24 +250%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 −250%	21−24 +250%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 −241%	140−150 +241%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

10−12

−264%

40−45
+264%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 −260%	18−20 +260%
Far Cry New Dawn	4−5 −250%	14−16 +250%
Hitman 3	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 −261%	65−70 +261%
Metro Exodus	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	4−5 −250%	14−16 +250%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
Cyberpunk 2077	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	3−4 −233%	10−11 +233%
Forza Horizon 4	7−8 −243%	24−27 +243%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	1−2 −200%	3−4 +200%
Watch Dogs: Legion	2−3 −250%	7−8 +250%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

7−8
−243%

24−27

+243%

This is how GTX 480M SLI and GTX 1060 5 GB compete in popular games:

GTX 1060 5 GB is 261% faster in 900p
GTX 1060 5 GB is 258% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	6.47	23.58
Recency	25 May 2010	26 December 2017
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	5 GB
Chip lithography	40 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	120 Watt

GTX 480M SLI has 20% lower power consumption.

GTX 1060 5 GB, on the other hand, has a 264.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 25% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 150% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 480M SLI in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 480M SLI is a notebook card while GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB is a desktop one.

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