NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M vs AMD Radeon HD 6520G

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Combined performance score

HD 6520G
0.77
+6.9%

Radeon HD 6520G outperforms GeForce GT 520M by 7% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking11091120
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.010.01
ArchitectureTerascale 2 (2009−2015)Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code nameLlanoN12P-GP/LV
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date15 June 2011 (12 years old)5 January 2011 (13 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$59.99
Current price$338 $237 (4x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 6520G and GT 520M have a nearly equal value for money.

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 cores32048
CUDA coresno data48
Core clock speed400 MHz740 / 600 MHz
Number of transistors1000 Million585 million
Manufacturing process technology32 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt12 Watt
Texture fill rate6.4005.9 billion/sec
Floating-point performanceno data129.02 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on Radeon HD 6520G and GeForce GT 520M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. 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.

InterfaceIGPPCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone

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 typeSystem SharedDDR3
Maximum RAM amountSystem Shared1536 MB
Memory bus widthSystem Shared64 Bit
Memory clock speedSystem Shared800 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data12.8 GB/s
Shared memory+-

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 outputsNo outputs

Technologies

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

Optimusno data+

API support

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

DirectX11.2 (11_0)12 API
Shader Model5.05.1
OpenGL4.44.5
OpenCL1.21.1
VulkanN/AN/A
CUDAno 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.

HD 6520G 0.77
+6.9%
GT 520M 0.72

Radeon HD 6520G outperforms GeForce GT 520M by 7% 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%

HD 6520G 299
+6.8%
GT 520M 280

Radeon HD 6520G outperforms GeForce GT 520M by 7% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

HD 6520G 1678
GT 520M 2280
+35.9%

GeForce GT 520M outperforms Radeon HD 6520G by 36% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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%

HD 6520G 492
GT 520M 502
+2%

GeForce GT 520M outperforms Radeon HD 6520G by 2% in 3DMark 11 Performance 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:

900p8
+14.3%
7
−14.3%
Full HD6
−100%
12
+100%
1200p7−8
+0%
7
+0%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Hitman 3 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Far Cry 5 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Hitman 3 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

This is how HD 6520G and GT 520M compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • HD 6520G is 14.3% faster than GT 520M

1080p resolution:

  • GT 520M is 100% faster than HD 6520G

1200p resolution:

  • GT 520M is 0% faster than HD 6520G

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 25 tests (100%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 0.77 0.72
Recency 15 June 2011 5 January 2011
Maximum RAM amount System Shared 1536 MB
Chip lithography 32 nm 40 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 35 Watt 12 Watt

We couldn't decide between Radeon HD 6520G and GeForce GT 520M. 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

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AMD Radeon HD 6520G
Radeon HD 6520G
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M
GeForce GT 520M

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