GeForce GTX 480 vs Radeon RX 470

Place in the ranking	261	433
Place by popularity	47	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	17.88	1.65
Power efficiency	11.99	2.92
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	Ellesmere	GF100
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	4 August 2016 (8 years ago)	26 March 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$179	$499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 470 has 984% better value for money than GTX 480.

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 cores	2048	480
Core clock speed	926 MHz	700 MHz
Boost clock speed	1206 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	5,700 million	3,100 million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	250 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	no data	105 °C
Texture fill rate	154.4	42.06
Floating-point processing power	4.94 TFLOPS	1.345 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	48
TMUs	128	60

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	no data	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	241 mm	267 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 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	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1650 MHz	1848 MHz (3696 data rate)
Memory bandwidth	211.2 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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	Two Dual Link DVI, Mini HDMI
Multi monitor support	no data	+
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	-	+
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI	no data	Internal

Supported technologies

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

FreeSync

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.2
OpenCL	2.0	1.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/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. 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.

RX 470 21.01
+97.1%

GTX 480 10.66

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.

RX 470 8096
+97.2%

GTX 480 4106

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.

RX 470 17625
+252%

GTX 480 5014

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.

RX 470 11885
+226%

GTX 480 3650

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	72 +106%	35−40 −106%
1440p	38 +111%	18−20 −111%
4K	35 +119%	16−18 −119%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.49	14.26
1440p	4.71	27.72
4K	5.11	31.19

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−35
+106%

16−18

−106%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +84%	24−27 −84%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +119%	16−18 −119%
Battlefield 5	65−70 +109%	30−35 −109%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +105%	21−24 −105%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +106%	16−18 −106%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +96%	24−27 −96%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 +86.7%	30−33 −86.7%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +80.3%	70−75 −80.3%
Hitman 3	40−45 +105%	20−22 −105%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−105 +72.4%	55−60 −72.4%
Metro Exodus	70−75 +112%	30−35 −112%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 +86.7%	30−33 −86.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	102 +191%	35−40 −191%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +44.6%	65−70 −44.6%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +84%	24−27 −84%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +119%	16−18 −119%
Battlefield 5	65−70 +109%	30−35 −109%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +105%	21−24 −105%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +106%	16−18 −106%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +96%	24−27 −96%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 +86.7%	30−33 −86.7%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +80.3%	70−75 −80.3%
Hitman 3	40−45 +105%	20−22 −105%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−105 +72.4%	55−60 −72.4%
Metro Exodus	70−75 +112%	30−35 −112%
Red Dead Redemption 2	55−60 +86.7%	30−33 −86.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	88 +151%	35−40 −151%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 +67.9%	27−30 −67.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +44.6%	65−70 −44.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +84%	24−27 −84%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +119%	16−18 −119%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +105%	21−24 −105%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 +106%	16−18 −106%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +96%	24−27 −96%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 +80.3%	70−75 −80.3%
Hitman 3	40−45 +105%	20−22 −105%
Horizon Zero Dawn	74 +27.6%	55−60 −27.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	67 +91.4%	35−40 −91.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40 +42.9%	27−30 −42.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95 +44.6%	65−70 −44.6%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

55−60
+86.7%

30−33

−86.7%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 +90.5%	21−24 −90.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +100%	16−18 −100%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 +110%	10−11 −110%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	18−20 +171%	7−8 −171%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +109%	10−12 −109%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +140%	5−6 −140%
Far Cry 5	24−27 +100%	12−14 −100%
Forza Horizon 4	110−120 +141%	45−50 −141%
Hitman 3	24−27 +78.6%	14−16 −78.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	53 +141%	21−24 −141%
Metro Exodus	46 +188%	16−18 −188%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	51 +240%	14−16 −240%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +140%	10−11 −140%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +83.6%	65−70 −83.6%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40
+94.4%

18−20

−94.4%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 +110%	10−11 −110%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 +100%	8−9 −100%
Hitman 3	16−18 +129%	7−8 −129%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 +130%	45−50 −130%
Metro Exodus	21−24 +156%	9−10 −156%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +175%	8−9 −175%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 +100%	6−7 −100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Far Cry 5	10−12 +83.3%	6−7 −83.3%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 +123%	12−14 −123%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	25 +213%	8−9 −213%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

18−20
+80%

10−11

−80%

This is how RX 470 and GTX 480 compete in popular games:

RX 470 is 106% faster in 1080p
RX 470 is 111% faster in 1440p
RX 470 is 119% faster in 4K

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

in Cyberpunk 2077, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 470 is 300% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RX 470 surpassed GTX 480 in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	21.01	10.66
Recency	4 August 2016	26 March 2010
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	1536 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	250 Watt

RX 470 has a 97.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 166.7% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 108.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 470 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 480 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.