NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly between these two Fermi-era flagships. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 wins the only recorded head-to-head test, the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, with a score of 15,283 against the GTX 480's 13,300. That is a 14.9% advantage for the newer card. The GTX 480 does not win any recorded benchmark in this comparison. So, in terms of pure compute throughput as measured by OpenCL, the GTX 580 is the clear victor.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, the GTX 580 sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the GTX 480 sits at the 53rd percentile. This five-point gap in percentile ranking reflects the GTX 580's higher average benchmark score of 15,283 versus 13,300 for the GTX 480. The GTX 580's nearest rivals in the database are modern cards: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (score 15,290, a 0% delta), the AMD Radeon 680M (score 15,270, a 0.1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (score 15,199, a 0.6% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (score 15,171, a 0.7% delta). The GTX 580 essentially trades blows with these much newer parts, trailing the RTX 2060 by only 7 points and beating the RX 7600 by 112 points.

The GTX 480's nearest rivals are a different set: the AMD Radeon Pro 555X (score 13,321, a -0.2% delta), the AMD FirePro M6100 (score 13,354, a -0.4% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (score 13,356, a -0.4% delta), and the AMD Radeon HD 8950M (score 13,376, a -0.6% delta). The GTX 480 trails all four of these by small margins, meaning it is slightly below its immediate competitive cluster in the database. This suggests the GTX 580 is not just faster than the GTX 480; it is positioned in a higher performance tier altogether.

The use case split is straightforward. For any workload that scales with raw compute throughput, such as OpenCL-accelerated applications, the GTX 580 is the recommended choice. The GTX 480, while still functional and historically significant, falls behind in every measured category. There is no workload in this data where the GTX 480 comes out ahead of the GTX 580.

Architecture Differences

The two cards share a common design lineage but differ in key architectural details. Both are built on TSMC's 40 nm process node, and both are dual-slot cards with PCIe 2.0 x16 interfaces. The GTX 580 uses the GF110 chip, while the GTX 480 uses the GF100 chip. The architecture names differ accordingly: the GTX 580 is classified as Fermi 2.0, whereas the GTX 480 is the original Fermi.

The transistor counts are nearly identical, with the GTX 580 featuring 3,000 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, and the GTX 480 featuring 3,100 million transistors on a slightly larger 529 mm² die. This results in a marginally higher transistor density for the GTX 480 at 5.9M per mm² versus 5.8M per mm² for the GTX 580. The extra die area and transistors on the GTX 480 did not translate into higher performance, as the GTX 580's architectural refinements proved more effective.

The shading and texture resources differ notably. The GTX 580 has 512 shading units and 64 texture mapping units (TMUs), while the GTX 480 has 480 shading units and 60 TMUs. Both cards have 48 raster operation units (ROPs). This means the GTX 580 has a 6.7% advantage in shading units and a 6.7% advantage in TMUs, which directly contributes to its higher texture and pixel fill rates. The GTX 580 achieves a texture rate of 49.41 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 24.70 GPixel/s, versus 42.06 GTexel/s and 21.03 GPixel/s for the GTX 480.

Memory configurations are similar in capacity and bus width, with both cards featuring 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus. However, the GTX 580 runs its memory at 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective) versus 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective) on the GTX 480. This yields a memory bandwidth of 192.4 GB/s for the GTX 580 versus 177.4 GB/s for the GTX 480, an 8.5% advantage.

Power requirements differ slightly. The GTX 580 has a TDP of 244 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the GTX 480 has a TDP of 250 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W. Both use the same power connector configuration: one 6-pin and one 8-pin. The GTX 580 achieves higher performance while consuming less power and requiring a smaller PSU, a clear efficiency gain from the Fermi 2.0 revisions.

Both cards support DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and have identical display outputs: two DVI ports and one mini-HDMI 1.3a. No Vulkan support is listed for either card.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the GTX 580 wins decisively. The GTX 580 scores 15,283 points, while the GTX 480 scores 13,300 points. The delta is 14.9% in favor of the GTX 580. This is a substantial margin in a compute-oriented benchmark, indicating that the GTX 580's additional shading units, higher clocked memory, and architectural refinements deliver real-world gains.

To put this in context, the GTX 580's score of 15,283 places it just 7 points below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060's 15,290, a difference of 0%. The GTX 580 is also ahead of the AMD Radeon 680M by 13 points (0.1% delta), ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM by 84 points (0.6% delta), and ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 by 112 points (0.7% delta). The GTX 580 is competitive with a much newer generation of hardware, which is remarkable for a 2010-era card.

The GTX 480's score of 13,300 puts it 21 points behind the AMD Radeon Pro 555X's 13,321, a -0.2% delta. It trails the AMD FirePro M6100 by 54 points (-0.4%), the AMD Radeon RX 5500M by 56 points (-0.4%), and the AMD Radeon HD 8950M by 76 points (-0.6%). The GTX 480 is at the bottom of its nearest-rival cluster, meaning it is the weakest performer in its immediate competitive set.

The 14.9% gap between the GTX 580 and GTX 480 is larger than any of the deltas between either card and its nearest rivals. This shows that the performance difference between these two cards is not marginal; it is a significant generational leap within the same product family.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 is the superior card. It wins the only recorded benchmark by 14.9%, sits at a higher percentile among all GPUs (58 versus 53), and has a higher average benchmark score (15,283 versus 13,300). The GTX 580 also achieves this with a lower TDP (244 W versus 250 W) and a lower suggested PSU rating (550 W versus 600 W), making it the more efficient choice.

Buyers should choose the GTX 580 if they want the highest OpenCL compute performance available in this comparison. Its score of 15,283 positions it alongside much newer cards like the RTX 2060 and RX 7600, making it a surprisingly capable option for legacy systems. The GTX 580's higher shading unit count (512 versus 480), higher texture rate (49.41 GTexel/s versus 42.06 GTexel/s), and higher memory bandwidth (192.4 GB/s versus 177.4 GB/s) all contribute to its advantage.

The GTX 480 is not without merit as a historical part, but the data shows no scenario where it outperforms the GTX 580. Its score of 13,300 places it below all four of its nearest rivals, whereas the GTX 580 is above or equal to all four of its nearest rivals. If both cards are available at the same price, the GTX 580 is the only rational choice.

For users with workloads that rely on OpenCL acceleration, the GTX 580 delivers 14.9% more performance than the GTX 480. This is a substantial margin that would be noticeable in compute-heavy tasks. The GTX 480's only advantages are its slightly larger die size and marginally higher transistor count, neither of which translates into performance benefits in the recorded data.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 scores 15,283 versus 13,300 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, a 14.9% advantage for the GTX 580.

Q: How does the GTX 580 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060?

A: The GTX 580 scores 15,283 and the RTX 2060 scores 15,290, a 0% delta. The two cards are effectively tied in this benchmark.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: Both cards have 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus. The GTX 580 runs at 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective) for 192.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the GTX 480 runs at 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective) for 177.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The GTX 580 has 512 shading units, while the GTX 480 has 480 shading units. The GTX 580 also has 64 TMUs versus 60 TMUs on the GTX 480.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GTX 580 has a TDP of 244 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The GTX 480 has a TDP of 250 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W. Both use one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 580 is at the 58th percentile, while the GTX 480 is at the 53rd percentile.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 |

|----------------|------------------------|------------------------|

| Chip | GF110 | GF100 |

| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 | Fermi |

| Generation | GeForce 500 | GeForce 400 |

| Transistors | 3,000 million | 3,100 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 529 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 5.8M / mm² | 5.9M / mm² |

| Memory Clock | 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective) | 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bandwidth | 192.4 GB/s | 177.4 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 480 |

| TMUs | 64 | 60 |

| Pixel Rate | 24.70 GPixel/s | 21.03 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 49.41 GTexel/s | 42.06 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1.581 TFLOPS | 1,345.0 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 244 W | 250 W |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 600 W |

| Release Date | 2010-11-08 | 2010-03-25 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 400 | GeForce 200 |

| Successor | GeForce 600 | GeForce 500 |

| Launch MSRP | 499 USD | 499 USD |

| Percentile | 58 | 53 |

| Average Benchmark Score | 15283 | 13300 |