GeForce GTX 590 vs GTX 680

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 680 and GeForce GTX 590, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 680
2012
2048 MB GDDR5, 195 Watt
14.20
+67.3%

GTX 680 outperforms GTX 590 by an impressive 67% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking367504
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.010.77
Power efficiency5.111.63
ArchitectureKepler (2012−2018)Fermi 2.0 (2010−2014)
GPU code nameGK104GF110
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date22 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 291% 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 cores15361024 ×2
Core clock speed1006 MHz607 MHz
Boost clock speed1058 MHzno data
Number of transistors3,540 million3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)195 Watt365 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data97 °C
Texture fill rate135.438.91 ×2
Floating-point processing power3.25 TFLOPS1.244 TFLOPS ×2
ROPs3248 ×2
TMUs12864 ×2

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 supportPCI Express 3.016x PCI-E 2.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 2.0 x16
Length254 mm279 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin2x 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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2048 MB3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU) ×2
Memory bus width256-bit GDDR5768-bit (384-bit per GPU) ×2
Memory clock speed1502 MHz1707 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.2 GB/s327.7 GB/s ×2
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 ConnectorsOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPortThree Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort
Multi monitor support4 displays+
HDMI++
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x15362048x1536
Audio input for HDMIInternalInternal

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (11_0)
Shader Model5.15.1
OpenGL4.24.2
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.1.126N/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.

GTX 680 14.20
+67.3%
GTX 590 8.49

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 5587
+67.2%
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 18386
+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:

900p45
−4.4%
47
+4.4%
Full HD75
−48%
111
+48%
1200p180−190
+60.7%
112
−60.7%
4K25
+78.6%
14−16
−78.6%

Cost per frame, $

1080p6.65
−5.7%
6.30
+5.7%
4K19.96
+150%
49.93
−150%
  • GTX 590 has 6% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 680 has 150% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+75%
20−22
−75%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+64.7%
16−18
−64.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+75%
20−22
−75%
Battlefield 5 55−60
+63.9%
35−40
−63.9%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+64.7%
16−18
−64.7%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+76.9%
24−27
−76.9%
Fortnite 75−80
+59.2%
45−50
−59.2%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+58.3%
35−40
−58.3%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+85%
20−22
−85%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+69%
27−30
−69%
Valorant 110−120
+38.6%
80−85
−38.6%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 35−40
+75%
20−22
−75%
Battlefield 5 55−60
+63.9%
35−40
−63.9%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 224
+75%
120−130
−75%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+64.7%
16−18
−64.7%
Dota 2 85−90
+44.3%
60−65
−44.3%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+76.9%
24−27
−76.9%
Fortnite 75−80
+59.2%
45−50
−59.2%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+58.3%
35−40
−58.3%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+85%
20−22
−85%
Grand Theft Auto V 56
+86.7%
30−33
−86.7%
Metro Exodus 27−30
+75%
16−18
−75%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+69%
27−30
−69%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 42
+100%
21−24
−100%
Valorant 110−120
+38.6%
80−85
−38.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 55−60
+63.9%
35−40
−63.9%
Counter-Strike 2 24−27
+56.3%
16−18
−56.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 27−30
+64.7%
16−18
−64.7%
Dota 2 85−90
+44.3%
60−65
−44.3%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+76.9%
24−27
−76.9%
Forza Horizon 4 55−60
+58.3%
35−40
−58.3%
Forza Horizon 5 35−40
+85%
20−22
−85%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 45−50
+69%
27−30
−69%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 22
+4.8%
21−24
−4.8%
Valorant 110−120
+38.6%
80−85
−38.6%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 75−80
+59.2%
45−50
−59.2%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 16−18
+54.5%
10−12
−54.5%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 100−110
+61.9%
60−65
−61.9%
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+100%
10−12
−100%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+113%
8−9
−113%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 120−130
+195%
40−45
−195%
Valorant 140−150
+55.4%
90−95
−55.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+111%
18−20
−111%
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
+71.4%
7−8
−71.4%
Far Cry 5 30−33
+76.5%
16−18
−76.5%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
+73.7%
18−20
−73.7%
Forza Horizon 5 24−27
+71.4%
14−16
−71.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+61.5%
12−14
−61.5%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 30−33
+76.5%
16−18
−76.5%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 10−12
+57.1%
7−8
−57.1%
Counter-Strike 2 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Grand Theft Auto V 21
+10.5%
18−20
−10.5%
Metro Exodus 10−11
+233%
3−4
−233%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16
+100%
8−9
−100%
Valorant 70−75
+76.2%
40−45
−76.2%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 18−20
+111%
9−10
−111%
Counter-Strike 2 6−7
+200%
2−3
−200%
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Dota 2 45−50
+63.3%
30−33
−63.3%
Far Cry 5 14−16
+75%
8−9
−75%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+84.6%
12−14
−84.6%
Forza Horizon 5 10−12
+83.3%
6−7
−83.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 12−14
+62.5%
8−9
−62.5%

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

  • GTX 590 is 4% faster in 900p
  • GTX 590 is 48% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 680 is 61% faster in 1200p
  • GTX 680 is 79% faster in 4K

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

  • in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 680 is 233% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 680 surpassed GTX 590 in all 67 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.20 8.49
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 67.3% 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.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
GeForce GTX 680
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 590

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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