Shootouts

GeForce GTX 460 Roundup Part 2 - Mainstream Bonanza

By Kenny Yeo - 7 Sep 2010

Conclusion

Conclusion

All in all, our selection of five GeForce GTX 460 cards performed commendably. But before we offer our analysis of the cards, here’s a quick summary of their clock speeds and prices, followed by the breakdown of scores.  

Cards Core Clock Speed Shader Clock Speed Memory Clock Speed Price (USD)
ECS GeForce GTX 460 Black 765MHz 1530MHz 3700MHz DDR $260
Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample GLH 800MHz 1600MHz 4000MHz DDR ~£180
Manli GeForce GTX 460 675MHz 1350MHz 3600MHz DDR $229
MSI N460GTX Hawk 780MHz 1560MHz 3600MHz DDR $250
Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum 800MHz 1600MHz 4000MHz DDR $230

 

 


Detailed Ratings Breakdown
Cards Performance Features Value Overall
ECS GeForce GTX 460 Black 8.5 8.5 8.0 8.5
Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample GLH 8.5 8.0 7.0 8.0
Manli GeForce GTX 460 8.0 7.0 7.5 7.5
MSI N460GTX Hawk 9.5 9.5 8.5 9.0
Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum 9.0 8.0 9.0

9.0

 

When raw performance is concerned, the Gainward and Palit duo are unrivaled thanks to their aggressive clock speeds. Both cards are super quick out of the box and are fast enough to outperform the Radeon HD 5850 and even challenge the more powerful and costly GeForce GTX 470.

However, its outstanding graphics performance has come at the price of increased heat and power consumption, because despite their custom coolers, both cards ran even hotter than NVIDIA’s own reference version. Also, we noted that their maximum power draw figure is noticeably higher than its competitors.

The cards all their own good points, but for us, the MSI N460GTX Hawk stands out as the best all-round performer, whereas the Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum offers good performance at a cut price.

Considering that both cards are identically specced, the Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum is the one we would go for because of its attractive price. At US$230, it is only a tad more costly than reference versions and is markedly more affordable than the Gainward card which costs around £180, which translates to around US$270, thus making it very costly. As such, bearing in mind the Palit’s performance and price, the card also gets our Most Value for Money award.

Performance-wise, the MSI N460GTX Hawk was equally capable, but was unable to keep up with the Gainward and Palit cards because of its lower clock speeds. However, it makes up with its outstanding overclocking performance, achieving an incredible 950MHz at the core and 4000MHz DDR at the memory, and so it gets our Most Overclockable Award. This is testament to the technologies that MSI have implemented on this card to make it so efficient. We were also very impressed with its Twin Frozr II cooler, which managed to keep the card running at only 51 degrees Celsius at load, a tremendous improvement over a reference card’s 67 degrees Celsius.

But if a super cool card is your priority then look no further than ECS’ GeForce GTX 460 Black. The dual-fan, triple-slot custom cooler from Arctic was able to maintain the card at a breezy 49 degrees Celsius at load, which is certainly jaw-dropping. And although the card was no match for the Gainward, Palit and MSI cards, it is no slouch in the performance department either, as it could comfortably outpace a reference GeForce GTX 460. However, the massive cooler on the ECS card comes at a price, as it is one of the more costly cards at US$260.

The Manli GeForce GTX 460 is as plain as vanilla and with its reference clock speeds, it doesn’t offer anything extra on the performance front. However, it is cooler to run and it offers decent overclocking potential.

In the end, it was a close fight between the value for money Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum and the technologically-advanced MSI N460GTX Hawk, and it was difficult to determine which is a better card.

If you don’t mind spending more, you cannot go wrong with the MSI N460GTX Hawk. Out of the box, it might not be as quick as the Palit card, but it will certainly overclock beyond the Palit’s capabilities. What’s more, it is also markedly cooler to run, and therefore, is the better all-rounder.

On the other hand, buyers on a tight budget will definitely appreciate what the Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum offers - no fuss, blistering performance right out of the box.

Final Ratings


The Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic Platinum


The Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample GLH

 

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