NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
NVIDIA graphics card specifications and benchmark scores
At a Glance
NVIDIANVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 Specifications
GeForce GTX 590 GPU Core
Shader units and compute resources
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 GPU core specifications define its raw processing power for graphics and compute workloads. Shading units (also called CUDA cores, stream processors, or execution units depending on manufacturer) handle the parallel calculations required for rendering. TMUs (Texture Mapping Units) process texture data, while ROPs (Render Output Units) handle final pixel output. Higher shader counts generally translate to better GPU benchmark performance, especially in demanding games and 3D applications.
GTX 590 Clock Speeds
GPU and memory frequencies
Clock speeds directly impact the GeForce GTX 590's performance in GPU benchmarks and real-world gaming. The base clock represents the minimum guaranteed frequency, while the boost clock indicates peak performance under optimal thermal conditions. Memory clock speed affects texture loading and frame buffer operations. The GeForce GTX 590 by NVIDIA dynamically adjusts frequencies based on workload, temperature, and power limits to maximize performance while maintaining stability.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 590 Memory
VRAM capacity and bandwidth
VRAM (Video RAM) is dedicated memory for storing textures, frame buffers, and shader data. The GeForce GTX 590's memory capacity determines how well it handles high-resolution textures and multiple displays. Memory bandwidth, measured in GB/s, affects how quickly data moves between the GPU and VRAM. Higher bandwidth improves performance in memory-intensive scenarios like 4K gaming. The memory bus width and type (GDDR6, GDDR6X, HBM) significantly influence overall GPU benchmark scores.
GeForce GTX 590 by NVIDIA Cache
On-chip cache hierarchy
On-chip cache provides ultra-fast data access for the GTX 590, reducing the need to fetch data from slower VRAM. L1 and L2 caches store frequently accessed data close to the compute units. AMD's Infinity Cache (L3) dramatically increases effective bandwidth, improving GPU benchmark performance without requiring wider memory buses. Larger cache sizes help maintain high frame rates in memory-bound scenarios and reduce power consumption by minimizing VRAM accesses.
GTX 590 Theoretical Performance
Compute and fill rates
Theoretical performance metrics provide a baseline for comparing the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 against other graphics cards. FP32 (single-precision) performance, measured in TFLOPS, indicates compute capability for gaming and general GPU workloads. FP64 (double-precision) matters for scientific computing. Pixel and texture fill rates determine how quickly the GPU can render complex scenes. While real-world GPU benchmark results depend on many factors, these specifications help predict relative performance levels.
Fermi 2.0 Architecture & Process
Manufacturing and design details
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 is built on NVIDIA's Fermi 2.0 architecture, which defines how the GPU processes graphics and compute workloads. The manufacturing process node affects power efficiency, thermal characteristics, and maximum clock speeds. Smaller process nodes pack more transistors into the same die area, enabling higher performance per watt. Understanding the architecture helps predict how the GTX 590 will perform in GPU benchmarks compared to previous generations.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 590 Power & Thermal
TDP and power requirements
Power specifications for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 determine PSU requirements and thermal management needs. TDP (Thermal Design Power) indicates the heat output under typical loads, guiding cooler selection. Power connector requirements ensure adequate power delivery for stable operation during demanding GPU benchmarks. The suggested PSU wattage accounts for the entire system, not just the graphics card. Efficient power delivery enables the GeForce GTX 590 to maintain boost clocks without throttling.
GeForce GTX 590 by NVIDIA Physical & Connectivity
Dimensions and outputs
Physical dimensions of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 are critical for case compatibility. Card length, height, and slot width determine whether it fits in your chassis. The PCIe interface version affects bandwidth for communication with the CPU. Display outputs define monitor connectivity options, with modern cards supporting multiple high-resolution displays simultaneously. Verify these specifications against your case and motherboard before purchasing to ensure a proper fit.
NVIDIA API Support
Graphics and compute APIs
API support determines which games and applications can fully utilize the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590. DirectX 12 Ultimate enables advanced features like ray tracing and variable rate shading. Vulkan provides cross-platform graphics capabilities with low-level hardware access. OpenGL remains important for professional applications and older games. CUDA (NVIDIA) and OpenCL enable GPU compute for video editing, 3D rendering, and scientific applications. Higher API versions unlock newer graphical features in GPU benchmarks and games.
GeForce GTX 590 Product Information
Release and pricing details
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 is manufactured by NVIDIA as part of their graphics card lineup. Release date and launch pricing provide context for comparing GPU benchmark results with competing products from the same era. Understanding the product lifecycle helps evaluate whether the GeForce GTX 590 by NVIDIA represents good value at current market prices. Predecessor and successor information aids in tracking generational improvements and planning future upgrades.
GeForce GTX 590 Benchmark Scores
geekbench_openclSource
Geekbench OpenCL tests GPU compute performance using the cross-platform OpenCL API. This shows how NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 handles parallel computing tasks like video encoding and scientific simulations.
Top 5 Performers
Top 5 PerformersNearby Performers
Nearby PerformersAbout NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
Launched in March 2011, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 is an end-of-life, dual-GPU flagship built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture and the GF110 chip. It pairs two 40 nm dies, totaling 3,000 million transistors across a 520 mm² footprint, on a single dual-slot card with a 365 W TDP and two 8-pin power connectors. The card ships with 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 164.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and its 512 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs drive a peak FP32 throughput of 1,244.2 GFLOPS.
Benchmark Performance
The GTX 590’s sole recorded benchmark result is a Geekbench OpenCL score of 12,830, which places it at the 51st percentile of all GPUs in the database. This position is remarkably tight against its closest rivals, with the entire competitive cluster spanning less than one percent in either direction. The data shows a performance delta of just -0.3% against the AMD Radeon 740M, meaning the GTX 590 trails that integrated solution by a razor-thin margin. Conversely, it edges out the AMD FirePro W5100 by 0.3%, a negligible advantage in real-world terms but a measurable one in the rankings.
Against NVIDIA’s own Quadro P5000, the GTX 590 falls behind by 0.4%, while the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile leads it by 0.8%. These sub-1% differences indicate that, in OpenCL compute workloads, the GTX 590 performs essentially on par with a modern entry-level mobile GPU and a mid-range workstation card from a much later generation. The absolute score of 12,830 is the card’s average benchmark score, and since only one test is recorded, that figure also serves as its peak and floor. The pixel rate of 19.46 GPixel/s and texture rate of 38.91 GTexel/s, derived from the dual-chip configuration, suggest that the card’s rasterization throughput is competitive for its era, yet the benchmark data indicates that its compute efficiency has aged less gracefully relative to contemporary parts.
Interpreting the percentile placement, the GTX 590 sits squarely in the middle of the database’s performance distribution. It is neither a top-tier performer nor a laggard; rather, it anchors a dense pack of GPUs that all score within a narrow window. The 0.8% gap to the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the largest delta among its nearest rivals, yet it remains statistically small. In practical terms, benchmark results indicate that the GTX 590 delivers compute performance comparable to a 2021-era mobile GPU, which is a testament to its dual-chip design but also a sign of how far efficiency has advanced since its release.
Ray Tracing and Feature Set
The GTX 590 predates dedicated ray tracing hardware, as it lacks both RT cores and tensor cores entirely. Its feature set is rooted in the Fermi 2.0 architecture, which provides DirectX 12 (11_0) API support, alongside OpenGL 4.6. The DirectX 12 (11_0) designation means the card can run DirectX 12 titles in their 11_0 feature-level mode, but it cannot leverage the higher-tier features of DirectX 12 Ultimate, such as hardware-accelerated ray tracing or mesh shaders. There is no Vulkan support listed, which limits its compatibility with modern cross-platform titles that rely on that API.
The absence of tensor cores also means no DLSS or AI-accelerated features, and without RT cores, any ray-traced effects would have to be handled by the 512 shading units, which would be prohibitively slow given the FP32 throughput of 1,244.2 GFLOPS. The memory subsystem, with 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, provides 164.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the card’s era but restrictive for modern high-resolution textures and compute-heavy workloads. Display outputs include three DVI ports and one mini-DisplayPort, reflecting the standards of its launch period rather than modern HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4a connectivity.
For API-level capabilities, the card’s DirectX 12 (11_0) support is a functional but limited entry point into modern gaming. It will run older DirectX 11 titles natively and can execute some DirectX 12 games at the 11_0 feature level, but it lacks the hardware features that define contemporary graphics cards. The 40 nm process node and 3,000 million transistor count are historical footnotes that explain its 365 W TDP and dual-slot cooler, but they do not translate into modern feature support. In summary, the GTX 590 is a rasterization-focused GPU with no ray tracing, no tensor-based AI acceleration, and a legacy API set that caps its relevance to older software.
Who Should Consider It
Given the benchmark data, the GTX 590 is a candidate only for users running legacy software, particularly DirectX 11-era games or OpenGL 4.6 applications that do not stress modern API requirements. Its OpenCL score of 12,830, which is 0.8% behind the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, suggests that in compute tasks it performs comparably to a modern entry-level laptop GPU. However, that comparison flatters the GTX 590 because the mobile part consumes a fraction of the power and supports far newer features. For gaming at 1080p with low to medium settings in titles from its launch era, the card’s 19.46 GPixel/s fill rate and 38.91 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate, but the 1536 MB memory capacity will severely bottleneck modern games that require more than 2 GB of VRAM.
Users with a 750 W power supply and a motherboard with PCIe 2.0 x16 support can physically install this dual-slot card, which measures 279 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. The 2x 8-pin power connectors are mandatory, and the 365 W TDP demands robust cooling. Benchmark results indicate that the card is not suitable for high-refresh-rate or high-resolution gaming in current titles; its 51st percentile ranking places it below the median of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all integrated or mobile solutions. For compute workloads, the OpenCL score is competitive with the AMD FirePro W5100, which it beats by 0.3%, making it a marginal choice for older OpenCL-based applications that do not require modern driver optimizations.
The card’s end-of-life production status means no ongoing driver support for new game releases, so it is best suited for retro builds or as a collector’s item. Its launch MSRP was 699 USD, a figure that is now purely historical. In essence, the GTX 590 is for enthusiasts of early-2010s hardware who need a functional, if power-hungry, piece of that era, not for anyone seeking competitive performance in 2025. The absence of Vulkan support and the DirectX 12 (11_0) ceiling further restrict its utility to a narrow slice of the software ecosystem.
FAQ
Q: How does the GTX 590’s OpenCL performance compare to the AMD Radeon 740M?
A: The GTX 590 scores 12,830, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon 740M’s 12,870. The difference is negligible in practical terms.
Q: Does the GTX 590 support hardware ray tracing?
A: No. The card has no RT cores and no tensor cores, so it lacks dedicated hardware for ray tracing or AI-accelerated features like DLSS.
Q: What is the memory configuration of the GTX 590?
A: It has 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 164.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 854 MHz, or 3.4 Gbps effective.
Q: What API level does the GTX 590 support?
A: It supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. No Vulkan support is listed.
Q: How does the GTX 590 compare to the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 in benchmarks?
A: The GTX 590 scores 0.4% lower than the Quadro P5000, with respective scores of 12,830 and 12,880. The GTX 590 is slightly slower.
Q: What power connectors does the GTX 590 require?
A: It requires two 8-pin power connectors and has a TDP of 365 W, with a suggested power supply of 750 W.
How It Compares
AMD Radeon 740M: The GTX 590 trails this integrated GPU by 0.3%, with scores of 12,830 versus 12,870. The Radeon 740M accomplishes this in a fraction of the power envelope, making the GTX 590’s dual-chip design inefficient by modern standards, though the raw compute output is nearly identical.
AMD FirePro W5100: The GTX 590 leads this workstation card by 0.3%, scoring 12,830 against 12,789. The margin is tiny, but it shows that the Fermi-based card can still match a mid-range professional GPU from a later generation in OpenCL workloads, despite its age.
NVIDIA Quadro P5000: The Quadro P5000 outperforms the GTX 590 by 0.4%, with scores of 12,880 versus 12,830. The Quadro’s advantage is minimal, yet it arrives with far more modern features, including support for newer DirectX versions and lower power consumption, which the GTX 590 cannot match.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile: This mobile GPU leads the GTX 590 by 0.8%, posting 12,940 versus 12,830. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile achieves this with a fraction of the power draw and includes RT and tensor cores, making it a vastly more capable and efficient part despite the small benchmark gap.
The AMD Equivalent of GeForce GTX 590
Looking for a similar graphics card from AMD? The AMD Radeon RX 480 offers comparable performance and features in the AMD lineup.
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