AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison available between these two GPUs is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is emphatic. The AMD Radeon RX 760M XT scores 74,869 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 manages 13,300 points. That translates to an 82.2% deficit for the older card, meaning the RX 760M XT is roughly 5.6 times faster in this compute workload. It is not a close contest by any measure; the modern mobile GPU simply overwhelms the Fermi-era flagship.

Looking at broader benchmark context, the GTX 480’s average benchmark score is 13,300, placing it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 555X at 13,321 (0.2% ahead), the AMD FirePro M6100 at 13,354 (0.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 5500M at 13,356 (0.4% ahead). The GTX 480 is effectively neck-and-neck with these mid-range mobile parts from a much later era, which underscores how far behind it has fallen.

The RX 760M XT, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 12,710 across all its tested workloads, which places it at the 52nd percentile. That average is dragged down by its varied test suite, including low DirectX 9 and 10 scores, but its OpenCL result is the outlier that shows its true compute potential. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 at 12,773 (0.5% ahead), the NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm at 12,625 (0.7% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 at 12,830 (0.9% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro 455 at 12,831 (0.9% ahead). The RX 760M XT sits in a tight cluster with these older desktop and workstation cards in aggregate scoring, but the Geekbench OpenCL gap to the GTX 480 is the headline number.

The GTX 480 has zero benchmark wins in the head-to-head comparison, while the RX 760M XT claims one. That single win is decisive, but it is notably the Geekbench OpenCL test is heavily compute-oriented and favors the RX 760M XT’s vastly higher shader count and newer architecture. The GTX 480’s 480 shading units and 42.06 GTexel/s texture rate are dwarfed by the RX 760M XT’s 2,048 shading units and 316.0 GTexel/s. Pixel rate tells a similar story: 21.03 GPixel/s versus 158.0 GPixel/s, a 7.5x advantage for the AMD part.

In terms of raw floating-point performance, the gap is even more stark. The GTX 480 delivers 1,345.0 GFLOPS FP32, while the RX 760M XT delivers 20.23 TFLOPS, which is over 15 times higher. The RX 760M XT also supports FP16 at 40.45 TFLOPS (2:1), a capability the GTX 480 lacks entirely. These numbers explain why the OpenCL score disparity is so large, and they also hint at the architectural gulf between a 2010 flagship and a 2023 mobile part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 760M XT wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 74,869 versus 13,300 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, a delta of -82.2% from the AMD card’s perspective.

Q: How does the GTX 480 compare to its nearest rivals in average score?

A: The GTX 480’s average score of 13,300 is 0.2% below the AMD Radeon Pro 555X (13,321), 0.4% below the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354), and 0.4% below the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (13,356). It is essentially tied with all three.

Q: What is the RX 760M XT’s aggregate benchmark position?

A: The RX 760M XT has an average benchmark score of 12,710 across all tested workloads, placing it at the 52nd percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670, scores 12,773, which is 0.5% higher.

Q: Does the GTX 480 have any benchmark wins against the RX 760M XT?

A: No. In the head-to-head comparison, the GTX 480 records zero wins, while the RX 760M XT records one win.

Q: What does the RX 760M XT’s test suite cover that the GTX 480 lacks?

A: The RX 760M XT has results for 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2,048), Geekbench Vulkan (27,793), and multiple Passmark tests including DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, G3D, and compute. The GTX 480 only has a Geekbench OpenCL result.

Q: How do the percentile rankings compare between the two cards?

A: The GTX 480 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 760M XT sits at the 52nd percentile. Despite the massive OpenCL gap, their aggregate percentile positions are nearly identical.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 760M XT wins in every measurable performance category available in the data. The Geekbench OpenCL score is the clearest victory, with the AMD part at 74,869 versus 13,300 for the GTX 480. The RX 760M XT also wins on raw throughput metrics: its FP32 of 20.23 TFLOPS crushes the GTX 480’s 1,345.0 GFLOPS, and its pixel rate of 158.0 GPixel/s is over seven times higher than 21.03 GPixel/s. Texture rate follows suit at 316.0 GTexel/s versus 42.06 GTexel/s.

The GTX 480’s only “win” is in the context of its era. It was a top-tier desktop card at launch, and its 1,536 MB GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 177.4 GB/s bandwidth was impressive for 2010. However, in the modern benchmark landscape, it is competitive only with low-end mobile parts from years later, as shown by its nearest rivals (AMD Radeon Pro 555X, FirePro M6100, RX 5500M) all scoring within 0.6% of it.

For real-world use cases, the RX 760M XT is the clear choice for compute-heavy tasks like OpenCL workloads, given its 15x FP32 advantage and support for FP16. The GTX 480 might still be relevant for legacy DirectX 11 applications, but even there the RX 760M XT has Passmark DirectX 11 score of 137, though no comparable GTX 480 number exists for that test. The RX 760M XT also supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 480 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and has no Vulkan support listed.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every specification category. Memory size is a major gap: the GTX 480 has 1,536 MB of GDDR5, while the RX 760M XT has 8 GB of GDDR6. Bus width differs as well, with the GTX 480 using a 384-bit interface versus 128-bit for the RX 760M XT, yet the AMD card still achieves higher bandwidth at 288.0 GB/s versus 177.4 GB/s thanks to faster memory clocks (18 Gbps effective versus 3.7 Gbps effective).

Shading units, texture mapping units, and ROPs all favor the RX 760M XT: 2,048 versus 480 shading units, 128 versus 60 TMUs, and 64 versus 48 ROPs. The RX 760M XT also has 32 ray tracing cores, which the GTX 480 lacks entirely. Clock speeds are only listed for the AMD part (base 1280 MHz, boost 2469 MHz, game 2023 MHz), while the GTX 480 has no base or boost clocks in the data.

Power and physical specifications diverge sharply. The GTX 480 has a TDP of 250 W, requires a 600 W suggested PSU, uses dual-slot cooling with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin connectors, and measures 267 mm in length. The RX 760M XT has a 120 W TDP, is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, and has no listed dimensions. Bus interface also differs: PCIe 2.0 x16 for the GTX 480 versus PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RX 760M XT.

Display outputs are another point of contrast. The GTX 480 offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the RX 760M XT’s outputs are “Portable Device Dependent.” Production status differs as well: the GTX 480 is end-of-life, while the RX 760M XT is active. The GTX 480 has a launch MSRP of 499 USD; the RX 760M XT has no listed launch MSRP.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans over a decade of evolution. The GTX 480 uses the GF100 chip built on Fermi architecture, manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 5.9 million per mm². The RX 760M XT uses the Navi 33 chip on RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 6 nm process at the same foundry. It contains 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die, achieving a density of 65.2 million per mm² — over 11 times denser than Fermi.

The RX 760M XT belongs to the Radeon RX 7000 series and the Navi Mobile generation, with the codename “Hotpink Bonefish.” Its predecessor is listed as Polaris Mobile. The GTX 480 belongs to the GeForce 400 generation, with its predecessor being GeForce 200 and successor GeForce 500. The GTX 480’s architecture lacks ray tracing cores entirely, while the RX 760M XT includes 32 RT cores — a fundamental capability difference for modern workloads.

API support highlights the architectural evolution. The RX 760M XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 480 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) with no Vulkan support listed. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RX 760M XT also offers FP16 compute at 40.45 TFLOPS (2:1), a feature absent from the GTX 480’s specification sheet.

Manufacturing and design philosophy differ as well. The GTX 480 is a massive, power-hungry desktop card requiring external power and a beefy PSU, while the RX 760M XT is an IGP designed for portability with no external power connectors and a 120 W TDP — less than half the GTX 480’s 250 W. This reflects the shift from monolithic desktop flagships to efficient mobile-first designs, enabled by the dramatic improvement in process node density from 40 nm to 6 nm.