AMD Radeon R7 260X vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590

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Combined performance score

GTX 590
8.62
+5%

GeForce GTX 590 outperforms Radeon R7 260X by 5% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking460469
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.461.22
ArchitectureFermi (2010−2014)GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)
GPU code nameGF110Bonaire
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designno datareference
Release date24 March 2011 (13 years old)8 October 2013 (10 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$699 $139
Current price$600 (0.9x MSRP)$204 (1.5x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R7 260X has 165% better value for money than GTX 590.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1024896
CUDA cores1024no data
Core clock speed607 MHzno data
Boost clock speedno data1000 MHz
Number of transistors3,000 million2,080 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)365 Watt115 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature97 °Cno data
Texture fill rate77.7 billion/sec61.60
Floating-point performance2x 1,244.2 gflops1,971 gflops

Size and 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).

Bus support16x PCI-E 2.0PCIe 3.0
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length11" (280 mm) (27.9 cm)170 mm
Height4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsTwo 8-pin1 x 6-pin
SLI options+no data

Memory

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)4 GB
Memory bus width768-bit (384-bit per GPU)128 Bit
Memory clock speed1707 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth327.7 GB/s104 GB/s
Shared memory-no data

Video outputs and ports

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 ConnectorsThree Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Multi monitor support+no data
Eyefinityno data1
HDMI++
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
DisplayPort supportno data-
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

AppAccelerationno data-
Endurono data-
FreeSyncno data1
HD3Dno data-
PowerTuneno data-
TrueAudiono data-
ZeroCoreno data-
DDMA audiono data+

API support

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

DirectX12 (11_0)DirectX® 12
Shader Model5.16.3
OpenGL4.24.6
OpenCL1.12.0
VulkanN/Ano data
Mantleno data-
CUDA+no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

GTX 590 8.62
+5%
R7 260X 8.21

GeForce GTX 590 outperforms Radeon R7 260X by 5% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 590 3341
+5%
R7 260X 3182

GeForce GTX 590 outperforms Radeon R7 260X by 5% in Passmark.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 590 6680
+52.5%
R7 260X 4380

GeForce GTX 590 outperforms Radeon R7 260X by 53% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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:

900p47
+17.5%
40−45
−17.5%
Full HD109
+9%
100−110
−9%
1200p112
+12%
100−110
−12%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Battlefield 5 27−30
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+14.3%
21−24
−14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+16.7%
18−20
−16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+22.2%
18−20
−22.2%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+11.1%
27−30
−11.1%
Hitman 3 21−24
+22.2%
18−20
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
+6.3%
16−18
−6.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Battlefield 5 27−30
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27
+14.3%
21−24
−14.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+16.7%
18−20
−16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+22.2%
18−20
−22.2%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+11.1%
27−30
−11.1%
Hitman 3 21−24
+22.2%
18−20
−22.2%
Horizon Zero Dawn 16−18
+6.3%
16−18
−6.3%
Metro Exodus 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 18−20
+5.6%
18−20
−5.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%
Battlefield 5 27−30
+7.4%
27−30
−7.4%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+16.7%
18−20
−16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
+22.2%
18−20
−22.2%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+11.1%
27−30
−11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 18−20
+12.5%
16−18
−12.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Hitman 3 14−16
+16.7%
12−14
−16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
+16.7%
12−14
−16.7%
Metro Exodus 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12−14
+20%
10−11
−20%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Battlefield 5 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Far Cry 5 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 12−14
+8.3%
12−14
−8.3%
Forza Horizon 4 14−16
+7.1%
14−16
−7.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Hitman 3 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Battlefield 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Cyberpunk 2077 1−2 0−1
Far Cry 5 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Forza Horizon 4 10−11
+11.1%
9−10
−11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%

This is how GTX 590 and R7 260X compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 590 is 17.5% faster than R7 260X

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 590 is 9% faster than R7 260X

1200p resolution:

  • GTX 590 is 12% faster than R7 260X

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 8.62 8.21
Recency 24 March 2011 8 October 2013
Cost $699 $139
Maximum RAM amount 3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) 4 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 365 Watt 115 Watt

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon R7 260X. The differences in performance seem too small.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 590
AMD Radeon R7 260X
Radeon R7 260X

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