Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GeForce GTX 480 vs Radeon HD 6990
Aggregated performance score
HD 6990
2011
2 GB GDDR5
7.78
GTX 480
2010
1536 MB GDDR5
10.59
+36.1%
GeForce GTX 480 outperforms Radeon HD 6990 by 36% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 486 | 395 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 1.56 | 1.27 |
| Architecture | TeraScale 3 (2010−2013) | Fermi (2010−2014) |
| GPU code name | Antilles | GF100 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 8 March 2011 (13 years old) | 7 December 2010 (13 years old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $699 | $499 |
| Current price | $144 (0.2x MSRP) | $15.99 (0x MSRP) |
Value for money
HD 6990 has 23% better value for money than GTX 480.
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 cores | 1536 | 480 |
| CUDA cores | no data | 480 |
| Core clock speed | 830 MHz | 700 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 2,640 million | 3,100 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 40 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 375 Watt | 295 Watt |
| Maximum GPU temperature | no data | 105 °C |
| Texture fill rate | 79.68 | 42 billion/sec |
| Floating-point performance | 2x 2,549.8 gflops | 1,345.0 gflops |
Size and 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 | no data | 16x PCI-E 2.0 |
| Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 295 mm | 10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm) |
| Height | no data | 4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm) |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 8-pin | 6-pin & 8-pin |
| SLI options | no 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 type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 1536 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 384 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 5000 MHz | 1848 MHz (3696 data rate) |
| Memory bandwidth | 160.0 GB/s | 177.4 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 Connectors | 1x DVI, 4x mini-DisplayPort | Two Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI |
| Multi monitor support | no data | + |
| HDMI | no data | + |
| HDCP | no data | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | Internal |
API support
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 12 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 5.0 | 5.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | no 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.
GeForce GTX 480 outperforms Radeon HD 6990 by 36% based on our aggregated 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%
GeForce GTX 480 outperforms Radeon HD 6990 by 36% in Passmark.
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%
Radeon HD 6990 outperforms GeForce GTX 480 by 60% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.
Gaming performance
Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 7.78 | 10.59 |
| Recency | 8 March 2011 | 7 December 2010 |
| Cost | $699 | $499 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 2 GB | 1536 MB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 375 Watt | 295 Watt |
The GeForce GTX 480 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6990 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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