Amazing SLI Scaling: Do Two GeForce GTX 460s Beat One GTX 480?

I had given up on Nvidia this gen, but somehow they have pulled off the impossible.

I'm seriously considering picking up two of these...

Wow. GTX 460 SLIs smoked the GTX 480 the whole way through... (you'd really think it'd be the other way - seeing as those GTX 480s don't exactly run 'cool' ) without breaking a sweat.

The only reason to get a GTX 480 now is if your motherboard doesn't have dual PCI-E x16 slots/support SLI or you want to SLI GTX 480s later on.

Good job nVidia - real comeback.

To buy or not to buy GTX 460 - that is the question which will be easier if you give decent review of GTX 460 boards, with one 5850 focused on noise (take a look at silentpcreview methodology) and overclocability.

welshmousepkI had given up on Nvidia this gen, but somehow they have pulled off the impossible. I'm seriously considering picking up two of these...

Or you can wait couple of months for Southern Islands that makes everything nvidia has look dated.

"With an MSRP of $250 and a Web price around $230, the GeForce GTX 460 was already known to be a great mid-priced performer"

Is that Canadian pricing I see, because in America GTX 460s go for $199!.

For $250 you get a GTX 460 factory overclocked from 675 mhz to 800MHZ! and with 1GB of ram, not 768mb! 2 of which are 90% as fast as a Ati 5970, for $200 less!

Great review.
I am amazed by the 90% performance boost over a single GTX 460.
Although it has more power consumption than 1 GTX 480,but its a great cost-effective option for those who can't afford the 480 but need similar(or better) performance

scrumworksOr you can wait couple of months for Southern Islands that makes everything nvidia has look dated.

to wait is a continous exercise you can only look at now at the time of buying...:D

great article..gotta love toms

I might be mistaken but is this sparkle card a bit more power hungry. the power requirement seems to be a bit high for 460.:(

But you lose the power to upgrade... At least I can still save up for another 480 down the road when I need an upgrade.

unfortunately gtx460s only support 2way SLI..I would like to see 460s with more than one SLI finger.

stm1185"With an MSRP of $250 and a Web price around $230, the GeForce GTX 460 was already known to be a great mid-priced performer" Is that Canadian pricing I see, because in America GTX 460s go for $199!. For $250 you get a GTX 460 factory overclocked from 675 mhz to 800MHZ! and with 1GB of ram, not 768mb! 2 of which are 90% as fast as a Ati 5970, for $200 less!

768MB cards need not apply: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-gf104-fermi,2684.html

AndrewCutterI might be mistaken but is this sparkle card a bit more power hungry. the power requirement seems to be a bit high for 460.

Do the subtraction, what is it 163W full load and 21W for the card itself? Then subtract 10% loss at the power supply.

dragonfang18But you lose the power to upgrade... At least I can still save up for another 480 down the road when I need an upgrade.

Yes, GTX 480 SLI is mentioned in the conclusion as the best reason to buy the GTX 480 right now: Most people who would like to do a future SLI upgrade have that in mind when the buy a card.

hardcore_gamerunfortunately gtx460s only support 2way SLI..I would like to see 460s with more than one SLI finger.

You think perhaps the performance we just saw might be the reason why Nvidia only wanted one SLI connection on these cards? They wouldn't want to totally kill-off GTX 480 sales.

2x 5850 > 2x 460

Pretty amazing scaling... wish there were a little more variety in SLI-capable AM3 motherboards. Obviously that's wouldn't improve AMD's graphics card sales, but it'd be great for consumers...

CrashmanYou think perhaps the performance we just saw might be the reason why Nvidia only wanted one SLI connection on these cards? They wouldn't want to totally kill-off GTX 480 sales.

yea..but 4 of these puppies in SLI can even blow away the asus ares...:D

LenoxLV2x 5850 > 2x 460

source : new egg
cheapest 5850,s http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102884 2 will cost 570 $
cheapest 460,s (1 GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333 2 will cost 460 $.
so the price diff is abt 110 $. Is the performance numbers so great that it can justify the price diff?

... they maybe should make an GTX 460 x2....

This is what I was expecting since they were released.

still uses more power than the ATI radeon 5970.

AndrewCuttersource : new eggcheapest 5850,s http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102884 2 will cost 570 $cheapest 460,s (1 GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125333 2 will cost 460 $.so the price diff is abt 110 $. Is the performance numbers so great that it can justify the price diff?

Um, thanks to SLI scaling the 460s should actually be faster than the 5850s. This is a very easy decision.

Looks like GTX480 > HD5870 for a good amount, and considering how bad crossfire is Nvidia is a winner big time.

That motherboard Looks huge to me. Anyway nice article and this has made me restore faith in nVidia and I am going to get a GTX 460 instead of a 5850 and perhaps SLI them further on down the field. Thanks Tom's.

Its very tough to value these cards vs relative competition. For example im using an HD4870 in a board with only one PCI-E x16 slot. If I want eyefinity/surround do I go

HD5870 straight
GTX460 SLI and get a new motherboard
HD5770/HD5830 crossfire and get a new motherboard

The great thing about the SLI option is it gives access to Physx and 3D (don't have 120Hz monitor so not major) but most importantly I like folding when not gaming and the new driver for 4xx series cards is suppose to be pretty good. The best option for penny saving and getting performance for folding and gaming tho is second hand GTX260 SLI. Either way SLI is needed for surround and with performance like this from dual "mid range" cards Its a hard argument to get the 470/480 unless you plan to SLI down the road.

I just want the 5850 to come down in price already, £190 WILL BE THE SWEET SPOT!