GeForce GTS 450 vs Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)

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Combined performance score

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)
3.64
+6.7%

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) outperforms GeForce GTS 450 by 7% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking673688
Place by popularitynot in top-10097
Value for moneyno data0.31
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameSurface BookGF106
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date1 October 2015 (8 years old)13 September 2010 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$129
Current priceno data$127 (1x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores384192
CUDA coresno data192
Core clock speed954 MHz783 MHz
Boost clock speed993 MHzno data
Number of transistorsno data1,170 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data106 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data100 °C
Texture fill rateno data25.1 billion/sec
Floating-point performanceno data601.3 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) and GeForce GTS 450 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Bus supportno dataPCI-E 2.0 x 16
Interfaceno dataPCIe 2.0 x16
Lengthno data8.25" (210 mm) (21 cm)
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno data6-pin
SLI optionsno 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 amount1 GB1 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed5012 MHz1804 (3608 data rate) MHz
Memory bandwidthno data57.7 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 Connectorsno dataMini HDMITwo Dual Link DVI
HDMIno data+
Maximum VGA resolutionno data2048x1536
Audio input for HDMIno dataInternal

Technologies

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

Optimus+no data

API support

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

DirectXDirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.012 (11_0)
Shader Modelno data5.1
OpenGLno data4.2
OpenCLno data1.1
Vulkanno dataN/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.

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) 3.64
+6.7%
GTS 450 3.41

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) outperforms GeForce GTS 450 by 7% in our combined benchmark results.


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%

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) 2577
+36.5%
GTS 450 1888

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) outperforms GeForce GTS 450 by 37% 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%

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) 2076
+34.3%
GTS 450 1545

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) outperforms GeForce GTS 450 by 34% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) 11380
GTS 450 12447
+9.4%

GeForce GTS 450 outperforms Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) by 9% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

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:

900p27−30
−3.7%
28
+3.7%
Full HD28
−35.7%
38
+35.7%
1200p27−30
+0%
27
+0%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+7.7%
12−14
−7.7%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
+7.7%
12−14
−7.7%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
Metro Exodus 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 10−12
+10%
10−11
−10%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Metro Exodus 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%
Far Cry New Dawn 1−2 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 0−1 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 1−2 0−1

This is how Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) and GTS 450 compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTS 450 is 3.7% faster than Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)

1080p resolution:

  • GTS 450 is 35.7% faster than Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)

1200p resolution:

  • GTS 450 is 0% faster than Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) is 20% faster than the GTS 450.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) is ahead in 12 tests (33%)
  • there's a draw in 24 tests (67%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 3.64 3.41
Recency 1 October 2015 13 September 2010
Chip lithography 28 nm 40 nm

We couldn't decide between Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) and GeForce GTS 450. The differences in performance seem too small.

Be aware that Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5) is a notebook card while GeForce GTS 450 is a desktop one.


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 Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)
Maxwell GPU Surface Book (940M, GDDR5)
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
GeForce GTS 450

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