Nvidia GeForce GTS 450: Hello GF106, Farewell G92

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After dutifully serving the mainstream gaming community for three years, Nvidia's G92 is finally being played out. Meet GF106, the little engine behind GeForce GTS 450. Is this 192-core part still potent, or did Nvidia cut too much from G92's replacement?

Benchmark Results: Crysis (DX10)

This is the only other game that’s old enough to let us fairly include Nvidia’s GeForce GTS 250 and AMD’s Radeon HD 4850. Surprisingly, both aging cards slip past the GeForce GTS 450 (as does the Radeon HD 5750 that Nvidia’s latest was supposed to oust).

As the launch of Crysis 2 looms, this title becomes less and less important to the overall performance picture. However, it is nice that we have a demanding DirectX 10-class game that can demonstrate how viable last generation’s DirectX 10 architectures still are today, especially in the face of few DirectX 11 effects requiring new cards.

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
138 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Poisoner
    Man, G92 still holds it own. What an amazing piece of technology.
    Reply
  • welshmousepk
    Slightly underwhelming to be honest. the GTX 460 seems like a way better choice. or a 5770.
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    Well now that it is competing with the 5750 maybe they will push both down to $100 and we wouldn't need to buy old G92 or R700's :D
    Reply
  • teeoneimme
    anyone else NOT so excited about this card?
    Reply
  • skora
    As Chris pointed out with Tessellation, DX11 isn't going anywhere fast with the programmers. I'd say still go for a 1gb 4850 or CF two and really have a powerful GPU subsystem for the $200-$220 price point. By the time they are aged, you'll have 2nd gen DX11 GPUs out and the software will finally be available to use them.
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    im still chuggin along on my hd 4850... and if i ever needed to, i can crossfire another one for a mere $90, these cards have been overpriced for a year

    its a shame that ati's cards didn't drop in MSRP. hell, the hd 5850 is finally approaching it;s MSRP of $250 from a year ago. I was hopign last year by around this time, hd 5870 would be ~$200... it's not even close =
    Reply
  • Jzcaesar
    Man, I was hoping to see some overclocking; hopefully, they'll be included in another article. But I agree with Chris: the 450 is a bit disappointing at $130.
    Reply
  • one-shot
    YAWWWWNN....This card is putting me to sleep. I'm going to bed.
    Reply
  • duk3
    I'd like a gtx 460 maxcore.
    Perhaps a gtx 485 aka gtx 460 X2 would be nice as well.
    Reply
  • sandypants
    Just bought a second 4870 1 GB to complete my CF setup which was planned 1.5 years ago. Only $130 from Newegg. 4870 vs 450 is not a tough choice if you are buying for a dedicated gaming rig. The 4000 series are still very adequate.
    Reply