GeForce GTX 590 vs GTX 680

Place in the ranking	365	501
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.86	0.73
Power efficiency	5.12	1.64
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code name	GK104	GF110
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 March 2012 (12 years ago)	24 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$499	$699

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

GTX 680 has 292% better value for money than GTX 590.

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	1536	1024
Core clock speed	1006 MHz	607 MHz
Boost clock speed	1058 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	3,540 million	3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	195 Watt	365 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	97 °C
Texture fill rate	135.4	38.91
Floating-point processing power	3.25 TFLOPS	1.244 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	48
TMUs	128	64

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).

Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	254 mm	279 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pin	2x 8-pin
SLI options	+	+

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	2048 MB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Memory bus width	256-bit GDDR5	768-bit (384-bit per GPU)
Memory clock speed	1502 MHz	1707 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.2 GB/s	327.7 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	One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort	Three Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	4 displays	+
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	Internal

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	5.1	5.1
OpenGL	4.2	4.2
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	1.1.126	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.

GTX 680 13.54
+67%

GTX 590 8.11

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.

GTX 680 5582
+67.1%

GTX 590 3341

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 680 10217
+11.5%

GTX 590 9167

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 680 29702
+15.5%

GTX 590 25720

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.

GTX 680 7587
+13.6%

GTX 590 6680

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

GTX 680 18388
+43.5%

GTX 590 12811

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	45 −4.4%	47 +4.4%
Full HD	75 −44%	108 +44%
1200p	180−190 +60.7%	112 −60.7%
4K	26 +85.7%	14−16 −85.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.65 −2.8%	6.47 +2.8%
4K	19.19 +160%	49.93 −160%

GTX 680 and GTX 590 have nearly equal cost per frame in 1080p
GTX 680 has 160% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +56.3%	16−18 −56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +70.6%	16−18 −70.6%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +67.9%	27−30 −67.9%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +56.3%	16−18 −56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +70.6%	16−18 −70.6%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +68.6%	35−40 −68.6%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 +81%	21−24 −81%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +73.9%	21−24 −73.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +50%	24−27 −50%
Valorant	55−60 +81.3%	30−35 −81.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +67.9%	27−30 −67.9%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +56.3%	16−18 −56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +70.6%	16−18 −70.6%
Dota 2	37 +19.4%	30−35 −19.4%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +47.2%	35−40 −47.2%
Fortnite	80−85 +58.8%	50−55 −58.8%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +68.6%	35−40 −68.6%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 +81%	21−24 −81%
Grand Theft Auto V	56 +80.6%	30−35 −80.6%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +73.9%	21−24 −73.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−110 +54.4%	65−70 −54.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +50%	24−27 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	47 +80.8%	24−27 −80.8%
Valorant	55−60 +81.3%	30−35 −81.3%
World of Tanks	224 +73.6%	120−130 −73.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +67.9%	27−30 −67.9%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +56.3%	16−18 −56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30 +70.6%	16−18 −70.6%
Dota 2	50−55 +67.7%	30−35 −67.7%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +47.2%	35−40 −47.2%
Forza Horizon 4	55−60 +68.6%	35−40 −68.6%
Forza Horizon 5	35−40 +81%	21−24 −81%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	100−110 +54.4%	65−70 −54.4%
Valorant	55−60 +81.3%	30−35 −81.3%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	21−24 +90.9%	10−12 −90.9%
Grand Theft Auto V	21−24 +100%	10−12 −100%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	130−140 +217%	40−45 −217%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +85.7%	7−8 −85.7%
World of Tanks	100−110 +61.9%	60−65 −61.9%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	27−30 +81.3%	16−18 −81.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12 +57.1%	7−8 −57.1%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +94.4%	18−20 −94.4%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +89.5%	18−20 −89.5%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 +76.9%	12−14 −76.9%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +107%	14−16 −107%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	18−20 +58.3%	12−14 −58.3%
Valorant	35−40 +63.6%	21−24 −63.6%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
Dota 2	21 +10.5%	18−20 −10.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	21 +10.5%	18−20 −10.5%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	40−45 +72%	24−27 −72%
Red Dead Redemption 2	9−10 +50%	6−7 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21 +10.5%	18−20 −10.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 +100%	7−8 −100%
Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +60%	5−6 −60%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Dota 2	24−27 +36.8%	18−20 −36.8%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +80%	10−11 −80%
Fortnite	16−18 +77.8%	9−10 −77.8%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +90.9%	10−12 −90.9%
Forza Horizon 5	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Valorant	16−18 +100%	8−9 −100%

This is how GTX 680 and GTX 590 compete in popular games:

GTX 590 is 4% faster in 900p
GTX 590 is 44% faster in 1080p
GTX 680 is 61% faster in 1200p
GTX 680 is 86% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 680 is 217% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, GTX 680 surpassed GTX 590 in all 63 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	13.54	8.11
Recency	22 March 2012	24 March 2011
Maximum RAM amount	2048 MB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	195 Watt	365 Watt

GTX 680 has a 67% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 months, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 87.2% lower power consumption.

GTX 590, on the other hand, has a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The GeForce GTX 680 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 590 in performance tests.

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