GeForce GTX 480 vs 960

Place in performance ranking	318	398
Place by popularity	52	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.21	1.27
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	GM206	GF100
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	22 January 2015 (9 years ago)	7 December 2010 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$499
Current price	$440 (2.2x MSRP)	$15.99 (0x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 960 has 74% better value for money than GTX 480.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	1024	480
CUDA cores	1024	480
Core clock speed	1127 MHz	700 MHz
Boost clock speed	1178 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	2,940 million	3,100 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	295 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	105 °C
Texture fill rate	72 billion/sec	42 billion/sec
Floating-point performance	2,413 gflops	1,345.0 gflops

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	9.5" (24.1 cm)	10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	400 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pins	6-pin & 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	4 GB	1536 MB
Memory bus width	128 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	1848 MHz (3696 data rate)
Memory bandwidth	112 GB/s	177.4 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	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	Two Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor support	4 displays	+
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	+
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	+	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	Internal

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	+	no data
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	no data
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.2
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	+	N/A
CUDA	+	+

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 960 15.72
+47.9%

GTX 480 10.63

960 outperforms 480 by 48% based on our aggregate 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 960 6072
+47.9%

GTX 480 4106

960 outperforms 480 by 48% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 960 10768
+115%

GTX 480 5014

960 outperforms 480 by 115% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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 960 7916
+117%

GTX 480 3650

960 outperforms 480 by 117% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 9%

GTX 960 18247
+38.6%

GTX 480 13168

960 outperforms 480 by 39% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 960 48

GTX 480 54
+12.5%

480 outperforms 960 by 13% in Octane Render OctaneBench.

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:

Full HD	65 +62.5%	40−45 −62.5%
4K	30 +66.7%	18−21 −66.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

24−27

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Battlefield 5	50−55	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Hitman 3	30−33	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Metro Exodus	50−55	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Battlefield 5	50−55	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	40−45	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Hitman 3	30−33	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Metro Exodus	50−55	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	30−35	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27	no data
Far Cry 5	35−40	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	50−55	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30−33	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	16−18	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	18−20	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9	no data
Far Cry 5	24−27	no data
Forza Horizon 4	30−33	no data
Hitman 3	18−20	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	30−35	no data
Metro Exodus	27−30	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	16−18	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−11	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

24−27

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	12−14	no data
Hitman 3	10−12	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	9−10	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	8−9	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4	no data
Far Cry 5	8−9	no data
Forza Horizon 4	21−24	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	16−18	no data
Metro Exodus	14−16	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	6−7	no data

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

14−16

no data

This is how GTX 960 and GTX 480 compete in popular games:

GTX 960 is 63% faster in 1080p
GTX 960 is 67% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	15.72	10.63
Recency	22 January 2015	7 December 2010
Cost	$199	$499
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1536 MB
Chip lithography	28 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	295 Watt