NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a clear, if not overwhelming, split decision between these two end-of-life NVIDIA parts. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M is the definitive winner in the only direct benchmark comparison available, posting a Geekbench OpenCL score of 9745 against the GTX 460 v2's 8743. This represents a 10.3% advantage for the newer mobile chip. However, the GTX 460 v2 holds a slight edge in overall market positioning, sitting at the 44th percentile of all GPUs compared to the 950M's 42nd percentile. The GTX 460 v2's average benchmark score of 8743 places it in close contention with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746), a 0% delta, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8863), a -1.4% delta. The GTX 950M's average score of 8135 is dragged down by its Vulkan result of 6525, but its OpenCL score is its strongest asset.

For a user prioritizing raw compute performance in OpenCL workloads, the GTX 950M is the clear choice based on the head-to-head result. For a user looking at overall standing among all GPUs, the GTX 460 v2 is marginally better positioned. The GTX 460 v2 is a desktop card with a 160 W TDP and dual-slot cooler, while the GTX 950M is a mobile IGP with a 75 W TDP and no power connectors. The verdict hinges on use case: the GTX 950M wins on compute speed, while the GTX 460 v2 wins on desktop integration and a slightly higher percentile rank.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 950M wins the only head-to-head benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a score of 9745 versus 8743 for the GTX 460 v2. This is a decisive 10.3% lead. The GTX 950M also has a second benchmark result, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 6525, which the GTX 460 v2 has no direct equivalent for. This suggests the GTX 950M has broader API support, including Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 460 v2 has no listed Vulkan support.

The GTX 460 v2 wins on market standing, with a 44th percentile ranking versus the 42nd percentile for the GTX 950M. Its average benchmark score of 8743 is higher than the GTX 950M's average of 8135, which is a 7% difference in favor of the older part. This is because the GTX 950M's Vulkan score of 6525 pulls its average down, while the GTX 460 v2 has only one score, its OpenCL result, to count. The GTX 460 v2 also has a higher pixel rate of 10.91 GPixel/s compared to the GTX 950M's 17.98 GPixel/s, but that is a specification difference, not a benchmark win.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural generations. The GTX 460 v2 is based on the GF114 chip, using the Fermi 2.0 architecture, built on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 5.9 million per square millimeter. The GTX 950M uses the GM107 chip with the Maxwell architecture, built on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It fits 1,870 million transistors on a much smaller 148 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter.

The Maxwell chip is more efficient in density, but the two differ significantly in their compute configurations. The GTX 460 v2 has 336 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The GTX 950M has more shading units at 640, but fewer TMUs at 40 and fewer ROPs at 16. The GTX 460 v2 outputs a texture rate of 43.62 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 10.91 GPixel/s. The GTX 950M outputs a slightly higher texture rate of 44.96 GTexel/s and a much higher pixel rate of 17.98 GPixel/s.

Memory is a major differentiator. The GTX 460 v2 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 96.19 GB/s. The GTX 950M uses 4 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a much lower bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. The GTX 460 v2 has a memory clock of 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), while the GTX 950M runs at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). The GTX 950M has a base clock of 993 MHz and a boost clock of 1124 MHz, while the GTX 460 v2 has no listed base or boost clocks.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the head-to-head benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 9745, which is 10.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2's score of 8743.

Q: Does the GTX 460 v2 support Vulkan?

A: No. The GTX 460 v2 lists support for DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but no Vulkan version is specified. The GTX 950M supports Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The GTX 460 v2 has a bandwidth of 96.19 GB/s using GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, while the GTX 950M has a bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s using DDR3 on a 128-bit bus. The GTX 460 v2 has over three times the bandwidth.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The GTX 460 v2 has an average benchmark score of 8743, while the GTX 950M has an average of 8135. The GTX 460 v2's average is higher because the GTX 950M's Vulkan score of 6525 pulls its average down.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GTX 460 v2 has a TDP of 160 W and requires a dual-slot cooler with 2x 6-pin power connectors and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The GTX 950M has a TDP of 75 W, is an IGP with no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU listed.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GTX 460 v2?

A: The launch MSRP of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 is 199 USD. The GTX 950M has no launch MSRP listed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head comparison is the Geekbench OpenCL test. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M scores 9745, defeating the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2's 8743 by a margin of 10.3%. This is a substantial lead for the mobile Maxwell part. The GTX 950M's raw compute advantage is evident in its FP32 performance of 1,438.7 GFLOPS, which is 37.5% higher than the GTX 460 v2's 1,046.3 GFLOPS. This makes sense given the GTX 950M's 640 shading units versus the GTX 460 v2's 336.

The GTX 950M also has a second benchmark, Geekbench Vulkan, with a score of 6525. This test is not available for the GTX 460 v2, which lacks Vulkan support. The presence of this additional benchmark demonstrates the GTX 950M's architectural advancement in API support. However, this Vulkan score is significantly lower than its OpenCL score, which indicates that the GTX 950M's performance is workload-dependent.

The GTX 460 v2's wins are not in direct benchmark scores but in derived metrics. Its average benchmark score of 8743 is higher than the GTX 950M's average of 8135. This is because the GTX 460 v2 has only one benchmark result, its OpenCL score, while the GTX 950M has two, and the Vulkan result is much lower. The GTX 460 v2 also sits at the 44th percentile of all GPUs, two points higher than the GTX 950M's 42nd percentile. In terms of nearest rivals, the GTX 460 v2 is 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8686) and 1.2% behind the AMD Radeon R9 M265X (8851). The GTX 950M is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M360 (8129) and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 945M (8099). The GTX 950M's OpenCL score of 9745 is its only clear victory, but it is a decisive one.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every major specification category. The GTX 460 v2 uses the GF114 chip on a 40 nm process, while the GTX 950M uses the GM107 chip on a 28 nm process. The GTX 460 v2 has a larger die at 332 mm² and more transistors at 1,950 million, but the GTX 950M has a higher transistor density at 12.6M / mm² versus 5.9M / mm². The GTX 460 v2 has no listed base or boost clocks, while the GTX 950M has a base clock of 993 MHz and a boost clock of 1124 MHz.

The memory configurations are starkly different. The GTX 460 v2 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus with a bandwidth of 96.19 GB/s. The GTX 950M has 4 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. The GTX 460 v2's memory clock is 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), while the GTX 950M's is 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). The GTX 460 v2 has fewer shading units (336 vs 640) but more TMUs (56 vs 40) and more ROPs (24 vs 16). The GTX 460 v2 has a pixel rate of 10.91 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 43.62 GTexel/s, while the GTX 950M has a pixel rate of 17.98 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 44.96 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 1,046.3 GFLOPS for the GTX 460 v2 and 1,438.7 GFLOPS for the GTX 950M.

Power and physical characteristics are also divergent. The GTX 460 v2 has a TDP of 160 W, is dual-slot, requires 2x 6-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 450 W. The GTX 950M has a TDP of 75 W, is an IGP, has no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The GTX 460 v2 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 and has display outputs of 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The GTX 950M uses PCIe 3.0 x8 and has display outputs listed as "Portable Device Dependent". The GTX 460 v2 is 210 mm (8.3 inches) long, while the GTX 950M has no listed dimensions. In APIs, the GTX 460 v2 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but no Vulkan. The GTX 950M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 460 v2 has a launch MSRP of 199 USD, while the GTX 950M has none. The GTX 460 v2 is from the GeForce 400 generation, while the GTX 950M is from the GeForce 900M generation.