NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records one direct comparison between the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M: the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark. In that test, the GTS 450 scores 4893 points, while the GTX 460M scores 4282 points. The GTS 450 wins by a margin of 14.3 percent. That is a decisive gap for a single benchmark, and it places the two cards in different performance tiers despite their shared silicon heritage.

The GTS 450’s score of 4893 places it at the 28th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals in the recorded data are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB (average score 4901, a delta of -0.2 percent), the AMD FirePro W5130M (4904, -0.2 percent), the AMD Radeon R6 M255DX (4867, +0.5 percent), and the AMD Radeon R7 M265 (4929, -0.7 percent). The GTS 450 is essentially at parity with the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB and the FirePro W5130M in this OpenCL workload, sitting within a fraction of a percent of both. It trails the Radeon R7 M265 by 0.7 percent and leads the Radeon R6 M255DX by 0.5 percent. For a card from the GeForce 400 generation, matching a modern RTX-class part on this synthetic OpenCL test is notable, though the comparison says more about the narrow scope of the test than about real-world gaming equivalence.

The GTX 460M, meanwhile, scores 4282 and sits at the 25th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest recorded rivals are the AMD FirePro W2100 (4295, -0.3 percent), the AMD Radeon Vega 3 (4268, +0.3 percent), the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (4241, +1.0 percent), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 (4335, -1.2 percent). The GTX 460M is within a point or two of the FirePro W2100 and the Radeon Vega 3, and it leads the Quadro K3000M by a full 1.0 percent. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 edges it by 1.2 percent, which again underscores how tightly clustered these scores are in this particular workload.

The head-to-head delta of 14.3 percent in favor of the GTS 450 is the largest gap in either card’s nearest-rival set. The GTX 460M’s closest competitor in the database, the FirePro W2100, is only 0.3 percent away, and the GTS 450’s closest competitor, the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, is only 0.2 percent away. The 14.3 percent spread between the two NVIDIA parts is therefore not a measurement artifact; it represents a real difference in compute throughput as captured by Geekbench OpenCL.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the recorded head-to-head benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 4893 against the GTX 460M’s 4282, a 14.3 percent advantage.

Q: How does the GTS 450 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The GTS 450’s average score of 4893 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB (4901, -0.2 percent) and the AMD FirePro W5130M (4904, -0.2 percent). It also leads the AMD Radeon R6 M255DX by 0.5 percent and trails the AMD Radeon R7 M265 by 0.7 percent.

Q: What are the closest competitors to the GTX 460M?

A: The GTX 460M’s average score of 4282 sits within 1.2 percent of all four recorded rivals: the AMD FirePro W2100 (4295, -0.3 percent), the AMD Radeon Vega 3 (4268, +0.3 percent), the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (4241, +1.0 percent), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 (4335, -1.2 percent).

Q: Do the two cards share the same chip?

A: Yes. Both the GTS 450 and the GTX 460M use the GF106 chip, built on the Fermi architecture at TSMC’s 40 nm process. Both have 1,170 million transistors and a die size of 238 mm².

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 460M has a 192-bit memory bus and 60.00 GB/s of bandwidth, while the GTS 450 has a 128-bit bus and 57.73 GB/s. The GTX 460M’s bandwidth is higher despite its lower effective memory clock of 2.5 Gbps versus 3.6 Gbps on the GTS 450.

Q: How do their compute rates compare?

A: The GTS 450 delivers 601.3 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the GTX 460M delivers 518.4 GFLOPS. The GTS 450 also posts higher pixel and texture rates: 6.264 GPixel/s and 25.06 GTexel/s versus 5.400 GPixel/s and 21.60 GTexel/s.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for raw compute performance: the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450. It wins the only recorded direct benchmark by 14.3 percent, and its 601.3 GFLOPS FP32 rate is well ahead of the GTX 460M’s 518.4 GFLOPS. Its pixel rate of 6.264 GPixel/s and texture rate of 25.06 GTexel/s also outpace the GTX 460M’s 5.400 GPixel/s and 21.60 GTexel/s. In every throughput metric recorded in the database, the GTS 450 holds the advantage.

The GTX 460M, however, is not without its own merits. It carries 1536 MB of memory versus 1024 MB on the GTS 450, and its 192-bit memory bus yields 60.00 GB/s of bandwidth, slightly higher than the GTS 450’s 57.73 GB/s. It also has 24 ROPs compared to 16 on the GTS 450, which could matter in fill-rate-bound scenarios, though the GTS 450’s higher pixel rate suggests the extra ROPs do not translate into a measured win in this test. The GTX 460M’s TDP of 50 W is less than half the GTS 450’s 106 W, and it requires no power connectors, making it the more power-efficient choice for a notebook environment.

For a desktop user prioritizing compute performance, the GTS 450 is the pick from the recorded data. For a mobile user where power draw and physical footprint matter, the GTX 460M’s 50 W envelope and MXM Module form factor are compelling. The GTS 450’s launch MSRP was 129 USD, a figure that can be stated once as historical context. The GTX 460M has no recorded launch MSRP.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several measurable fields, even though they share the same chip, architecture, process node, foundry, transistor count, and die size. The GTS 450 uses a memory clock of 902 MHz with 3.6 Gbps effective speed, while the GTX 460M runs at 625 MHz with 2.5 Gbps effective. Memory capacity differs: 1024 MB on the GTS 450 versus 1536 MB on the GTX 460M. The bus width also differs, with the GTS 450 using a 128-bit interface and the GTX 460M a 192-bit interface. Bandwidth is 57.73 GB/s on the GTS 450 and 60.00 GB/s on the GTX 460M.

Shading units and TMUs are identical at 192 and 32 respectively, but the ROP count differs: 16 on the GTS 450 versus 24 on the GTX 460M. Pixel rate favors the GTS 450 at 6.264 GPixel/s versus 5.400 GPixel/s, as does texture rate at 25.06 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 601.3 GFLOPS on the GTS 450 and 518.4 GFLOPS on the GTX 460M.

Power characteristics diverge sharply. The GTS 450 has a TDP of 106 W, a dual-slot footprint, a 1x 6-pin power connector, and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The GTX 460M has a TDP of 50 W, uses an MXM Module form factor, requires no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU listed. The GTS 450 is 210 mm long (8.3 inches) and 111 mm tall (4.4 inches), while the GTX 460M has no recorded dimensions. Display outputs also differ: the GTS 450 offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the GTX 460M’s outputs are listed as portable device dependent.

Architecture Differences

Both the GTS 450 and GTX 460M are built on the GF106 chip, part of NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture, and both are manufactured by TSMC on a 40 nm process. The transistor count is identical at 1,170 million, and the die size is the same at 238 mm², giving both a transistor density of 4.9M per mm². The GTS 450 belongs to the GeForce 400 generation, while the GTX 460M belongs to the GeForce 400M generation. Their predecessors and successors differ: the GTS 450 follows the GeForce 200 and leads to the GeForce 500, while the GTX 460M follows the GeForce 300M and leads to the GeForce 500M.

The shared GF106 design means the core architecture, including the 192 shading units and 32 texture mapping units, is identical. The differences in ROP count, memory bus width, and memory clock stem from how NVIDIA configured the two variants for their respective target platforms: a desktop card for the GTS 450 and a mobile module for the GTX 460M. Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, with no Vulkan support recorded. Neither card has RT cores or tensor cores. The GTX 460M’s lower memory clock and reduced FP32 rate suggest a power-optimized binning of the same silicon, while the GTS 450 runs at higher clocks to extract more performance at the cost of significantly higher power draw. Both cards are end-of-life products, with the GTX 460M released on September 2, 2010, and the GTS 450 on September 12, 2010.