NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 vs AMD Radeon RX 480

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 950
8,3518% of 104,598
Radeon RX 480115% better
17,91917% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 480 has 115% better performance than the GeForce GTX 950 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 950
52.5233% of 161.45
Radeon RX 48049% better
78.2548% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 480 has 49% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 950 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop GeForce GTX 950
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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q3 2015 with a MSRP of $159. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM206) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 950 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,653 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 105.8 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The GTX 950 includes 768 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,024 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,188 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 48 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GTX 950 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 250 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 90 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GTX 950 has the 199th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 7.98% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 8,351 score and $159 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 52.52. This is the 63rd best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon RX 480 GPU

The AMD Radeon RX 480 is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q2 2016 with a MSRP of $229. It is built on the GCN 4.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Ellesmere) and is manufactured on a 14 nm process.

Memory

The RX 480 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 2,000 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 256 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RX 480 includes 2,304 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,120 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,266 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 144 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 32 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RX 480 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 150 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RX 480 has the 124th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 17.13% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,919 score and $229 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 78.25. This is the 38th 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 950Radeon RX 480
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 4.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2015Q2 2016
Launch Price (MSRP)$159$229
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Display FPS for Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3
Display FPS for Outriders
Outriders
Display FPS for Flight Simulator 2020
Flight Simulator 2020
Display FPS for Valorant
Valorant
Display FPS for Gears Tactics
Gears Tactics
Display FPS for Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2

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 Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
GeForce GTX 950Radeon RX 480
Low - 1080p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
--
--
High - 1080p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
--
29 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
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 950 orRadeon RX 480
GPUFrames Per Second
Arc A77083.2+192%
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER47.5+67%
GeForce GTX 166043.1+51%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER35.2+24%
Radeon RX 5500 XT34.5+21%
Radeon RX 48028.5
Radeon RX 6500 XT23.5-18%

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 950 orRadeon RX 480
GPUCost Per Frame
Arc A7703.95-51%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER4.52-44%
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER4.82-40%
Radeon RX 5500 XT4.9-39%
GeForce GTX 16605.08-37%
Radeon RX 4808.04
Radeon RX 6500 XT8.47+5%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 950
8,3518% of 104,598
Radeon RX 480115% better
17,91917% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 480 has 115% better performance than the GeForce GTX 950 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 950 is ranked 199th with a score of 8,351, and the Radeon RX 480 is ranked 124th with a score of 17,919.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 950
52.5233% of 161.45
Radeon RX 48049% better
78.2548% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 480 has 49% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 950 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 950 is ranked 63rd with a performance per dollar of 52.52, and the Radeon RX 480 is ranked 38th with a performance per dollar of 78.25.

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 950 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER18,224.5+118%
Radeon R9 390X17,944+115%
Radeon RX 48017,919+115%
Radeon RX 47017,624.5+111%
GeForce GTX 98017,604.5+111%
Radeon R7 3708,518.5+2%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti8,415+1%
GeForce GTX 9508,351
GeForce GTX 7607,962-5%
Radeon HD 79707,770-7%

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 950 or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti82.05+56%
GeForce GTX 105078.63+50%
Radeon RX 48078.25+49%
GeForce RTX 206077.83+48%
Radeon RX Vega 5672.9+39%
Radeon R7 37057.17+9%
GeForce GTX 96054.11+3%
GeForce GTX 95052.52
GeForce GTX 97048.73-7%
Radeon R9 390X41.83-20%

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 950Radeon RX 480
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
3,882
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
4,001
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
37,454
72,213
(+92.8%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
6,207.5
12,186
(+96.31%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
8,520
15,476
(+81.64%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
96.6
166
(+71.84%)
PassMark G3D Mark
5,336
8,624
(+61.62%)
PassMark G2D Mark
634
786
(+23.97%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
132
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
105
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

#

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 950Radeon RX 480
CodenameGM206Ellesmere
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 4.0
Process Size28 nm14 nm
Transistors2,940 million5,700 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 950Radeon RX 480
Memory Size2 GB8 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth105.8 Gb/s256 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,653 MHz2,000 MHz
Memory Interface128 bit256 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache1,024 KB2 MB

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 950Radeon RX 480
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)90 W150 W
Suggested PSU250 W450 W
Power Connectors1x 6-pin1x 6-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a

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 950Radeon RX 480
Stream Processors (SP)--2,304
CUDA Cores768--
Compute Units (CU)--36
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)48144
Render Output Units (ROP)3232
Core Clock Speed1,024 MHz1,120 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,188 MHz1,266 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 950Radeon RX 480
Pixel Fill Rate38.02 GPixel/s40.51 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate57.02 GTexel/s182.3 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance1.83 TFLOPS5.83 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance57.02 GFLOPS364.6 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 950Radeon RX 480
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.7

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