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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 vs AMD Radeon R9 390X

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 480
5,0145% of 104,937
Radeon R9 390X258% better
17,94417% of 104,937

The Radeon R9 390X has 258% better performance than the GeForce GTX 480 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 480
10.056% of 161.45
Radeon R9 390X316% better
41.8326% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 390X has 316% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 480 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 GPU

The GeForce GTX 480 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q1 2010 with a suggested retail price of $499. Its GF100 chip that powers the GPU uses the Fermi architecture and is fabricated on the 40 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 1,536 MB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 924 MHz memory clock and 384 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 177.4 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The GTX 480 is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, mini-HDMI 1.3a display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 250 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 600 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The GeForce GTX 480 has the 245th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 4.78% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 5,014 score and $499 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 10.05. This is the 99th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 390X GPU

The Radeon R9 390X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q2 2015 with a suggested retail price of $429. Its Grenada chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 2.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 8 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,500 MHz memory clock and 512 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 384 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The R9 390X is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 275 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 600 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The Radeon R9 390X has the 121st highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 17.10% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,944 score and $429 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 41.83. This is the 68th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureFermiGCN 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ1 2010Q2 2015
Launch Price (MSRP)$499$429
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3
Display FPS for BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3
GeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
Low - 720p
--
184 FPS
Medium - 768p
--
131 FPS
High - 1080p
--
76 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
41 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
29 FPS
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 480 orRadeon R9 390X

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 480 orRadeon R9 390X
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX Vega 6410.4-29%
GeForce GTX 108010.7-27%
Radeon R9 38010.76-27%
GeForce GTX 97011.31-23%
Radeon VII12.87-13%
Radeon R9 390X14.74
GeForce GTX 980 Ti14.75+0%
Radeon R9 FURY15.29+4%
Radeon R9 Nano18.54+26%
GeForce GTX 98018.93+28%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 480
5,0145% of 104,937
Radeon R9 390X258% better
17,94417% of 104,937

The Radeon R9 390X has 258% better performance than the GeForce GTX 480 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 480 is ranked 245th with a score of 5,014, and the Radeon R9 390X is ranked 121st with a score of 17,944.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 480
10.056% of 161.45
Radeon R9 390X316% better
41.8326% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 390X has 316% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 480 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 480 is ranked 99th with a performance per dollar of 10.05, and the Radeon R9 390X is ranked 68th with a performance per dollar of 41.83.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 480 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
Radeon RX 57018,967+278%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER18,218+263%
Radeon R9 390X17,944+258%
Radeon RX 48017,919+257%
Radeon RX 47017,624.5+252%
Radeon HD 7870 (GHz Edition)6,194+24%
GeForce GTX 750 Ti5,378+7%
GeForce GTX 4805,014
GeForce GT 10304,727.5-6%
GeForce GTX 4704,342-13%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 480 or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce GTX 108048.85+386%
GeForce GTX 97048.73+385%
Radeon R9 390X41.83+316%
Radeon R9 280X36.09+259%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53+254%
GeForce GTX 47012.44+24%
Radeon HD 645011.33+13%
GeForce GTX 48010.05

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
--
74,351
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
--
12,389
3DMark 11 Performance Score
4,982
14,327
(+187.58%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
--
130.9
PassMark G3D Mark
4,107
9,440
(+129.85%)
PassMark G2D Mark
439
826
(+88.15%)
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
CodenameGF100Grenada
ArchitectureFermiGCN 2.0
Process Size40 nm28 nm
Transistors3,100 million6,200 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
Memory Size1,536 MB8 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth177.4 Gb/s384 Gb/s
Memory Clock924 MHz1,500 MHz
Memory Interface384 bit512 bit
L1 Cache64 KB16 KB
L2 Cache768 KB1,024 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)250 W275 W
Suggested PSU600 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, mini-HDMI 1.3aDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,816
CUDA Cores480--
Compute Units (CU)--44
Stream Multiprocessors (SM)15--
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)60176
Render Output Units (ROP)4864
Core Clock Speed700 MHz1,050 MHz

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
Pixel Fill Rate21.03 GPixel/s67.2 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate42.06 GTexel/s184.8 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance1,345 GFLOPS5.91 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance168.1 GFLOPS739.2 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecGeForce GTX 480Radeon R9 390X
DirectX12 (11_0)12 (12_0)
OpenCL1.12.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model5.16.5

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.