NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 OEM

Benchmark Performance

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 OEM occupies a peculiar position in the benchmark database. With an average benchmark score of zero and a percentile ranking of 50 against all GPUs, the data places this card squarely at the median of the entire spectrum—neither a standout performer nor a laggard in aggregate terms. However, that percentile figure must be read with caution: the zero score indicates that no standardized benchmark submissions exist for this specific OEM variant, so the percentile likely reflects its architectural lineage rather than direct measurements.

The GTX 460 OEM's computational throughput is defined by its Fermi architecture, built on TSMC's 40 nm process with 1,950 million transistors packed into a 332 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 5.9 million per square millimeter, a figure that was competitive for its era but now appears modest. The card delivers 873.6 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, which translates to roughly 0.87 teraflops of single-precision performance. In practical terms, this places it below the threshold where modern titles can leverage high-resolution shading or complex physics simulations without compromise.

Memory bandwidth is a more telling metric. The 1024 MB GDDR5 frame buffer operates across a 256-bit bus at 3.4 Gbps effective, producing 108.8 GB/s of bandwidth. That figure is adequate for 1080p gaming at the time of release, but the capacity—just 1 GB—becomes a bottleneck in texture-heavy scenes or when running multiple applications concurrently. The fill rates reinforce this: 9.100 GPixel/s pixel throughput and 36.40 GTexel/s texture rate. These numbers suggest the card can handle 1080p at medium settings in older titles, but will struggle with modern geometry and shader complexity.

The shading infrastructure consists of 336 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The ratio of TMUs to ROPs (56:32) is unusual—favoring texture work over pixel output—which means the card excels at filtered, multi-textured scenes but lags when pushed to high resolutions with heavy post-processing. The FP32 rate of 873.6 GFLOPS is roughly one-third of what a mid-range card from two generations later would offer, and the absence of any FP16 support means no accelerated half-precision workloads.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The GTX 460 OEM does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores. This is a fundamental architectural limitation of the Fermi generation. The API support reflects this: DirectX 12 (11_0) is the highest Direct3D feature level, which means the card can run DX12 titles only through the 11_0 compatibility path—no mesh shaders, no variable rate shading, no direct ray tracing APIs. OpenGL 4.6 is supported, which allows modern OpenGL applications to run, but without hardware acceleration for path tracing or denoising.

The absence of tensor cores also eliminates any AI-accelerated features such as DLSS or neural network-based upscaling. For users seeking ray-traced effects, the card's 9.100 GPixel/s fill rate and 873.6 GFLOPS compute would be wholly insufficient even if the API layer permitted it. The feature set is strictly rasterization-based, with the 336 shading units handling all pixel and vertex work in a traditional pipeline.

Display outputs are limited to 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The HDMI 1.3a standard caps 4K output at 30 Hz and lacks support for HDR or high refresh rates above 60 Hz at 1440p. This makes the card unsuitable for modern display connectivity, though it remains functional for older monitors with DVI inputs. The PCIe 2.0 x16 bus interface provides 8 GB/s of bidirectional bandwidth—sufficient for the card's memory architecture but half the throughput of PCIe 3.0 and a quarter of PCIe 4.0.

How It Compares

The GTX 460 OEM has no nearest rivals listed in the database, which complicates direct comparison. In the absence of benchmark scores and delta percentages, the analysis must rely on architectural positioning. Against its predecessor, the GeForce 200 series, the GTX 460 OEM offers a generational leap in transistor count (1,950 million versus roughly 1,400 million on the GT200) and a more efficient memory subsystem. The 256-bit bus and GDDR5 memory represent a significant upgrade over the older GDDR3 configurations.

Relative to its successor, the GeForce 500 series, the GTX 460 OEM's Fermi architecture shares the same fundamental design but lacks the refinements in clock scaling and power management that the 500 series introduced. The 40 nm process node is identical, but the 500 series achieved higher clock speeds and better performance-per-watt through design tweaks. The GTX 460 OEM's 150 W TDP is higher than what a comparable 500-series card would draw for similar performance.

The card's 50th percentile ranking against all GPUs suggests it sits at the midpoint of all GPUs ever benchmarked—but that is a misleading statistic given the zero score. A more honest interpretation is that the card occupies a historical niche: powerful enough for 2010-era gaming at 1080p, but obsolete by modern standards. The 336 shading units and 32 ROPs are roughly half of what a mid-range card from 2015 offered, and the 1 GB memory capacity limits texture detail and resolution scaling.

Power and Cooling

The GTX 460 OEM carries a thermal design power of 150 W. This is a moderate figure for its generation, but it still requires dedicated power delivery: two 6-pin PCIe power connectors are mandatory. The suggested power supply rating is 450 W, which means any modern system with a 450 W or higher PSU can accommodate this card, provided the PSU has two available 6-pin connectors. The dual-slot cooler is a standard design for this TDP, using a blower or axial fan to exhaust heat from the chassis.

The card's physical dimensions are 210 mm in length (8.3 inches), which fits most mid-tower cases but may conflict with large CPU coolers or front-mounted radiators in compact enclosures. The cooling solution must dissipate 150 W of heat, and the dual-slot design provides adequate surface area for that thermal load, though noise levels will be audible under sustained load. The 40 nm process is not particularly efficient by modern standards, so the card will run warmer than a comparable modern GPU at the same TDP.

Power consumption is directly tied to the FP32 throughput: 873.6 GFLOPS at 150 W yields roughly 5.8 GFLOPS per watt. That efficiency figure is low by today's standards—modern GPUs achieve 40-60 GFLOPS per watt—but was acceptable for 2010 hardware. The memory subsystem draws additional power; 108.8 GB/s of bandwidth from GDDR5 requires more power than modern GDDR6 or HBM, though the 256-bit bus keeps the memory power draw within reason.

FAQ

Q: Does the GTX 460 OEM support DirectX 12 Ultimate features like ray tracing or mesh shaders?

A: No. The card's maximum DirectX feature level is 12 (11_0), which means it can only run DX12 games via the legacy compatibility path. There are no ray tracing cores or tensor cores, and the API support does not include DXR or VRS.

Q: What is the memory capacity and bandwidth of this card?

A: It has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with an effective clock of 3.4 Gbps. This yields a memory bandwidth of 108.8 GB/s, which is sufficient for 1080p gaming but limited for higher resolutions or large textures.

Q: What power supply is recommended for the GTX 460 OEM?

A: The suggested PSU rating is 450 W. The card itself consumes 150 W under load and requires two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Ensure your power supply has both connectors available.

Q: What display outputs are available on this card?

A: The GTX 460 OEM offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. This supports dual-monitor setups via DVI and a single HDMI connection, but HDMI 1.3a limits 4K output to 30 Hz and lacks HDR support.

Q: What is the manufacturing process and transistor count?

A: The chip is fabricated on TSMC's 40 nm process, containing 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die. The transistor density is 5.9 million per square millimeter, which was typical for high-end GPUs of its generation.

Q: Is the GTX 460 OEM still supported by modern drivers?

A: The production status is end-of-life, and the architecture is Fermi from the GeForce 400 generation. While OpenGL 4.6 is supported, modern game drivers may not optimize for this older architecture, and performance in recent titles will be limited by the 1 GB memory and 873.6 GFLOPS compute capacity.