NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Review

Performance Per Dollar

To calculate performance per dollar (or dollar per FPS in this case) we took things one step further than in the wattage calculations and broke things down into DX9 / DX10 and DX11 graphs with and without AA enabled. To determine framerates we once again averaged out the average scores within the games (no Unigine results were included). This number was then divided by the price to result in a price (in USD) per 1 FPS. In order to decrease any abnormalities, the highest and lowest score attained by each card was eliminated.

The prices we used were the MSRP for the NVIDIA cards and the average price of 12 in-stock listings for the ATI cards at Newegg.com, Amazon.com and Zipzoomfly.com. The prices for the ATI cards were based off of actual retail prices before rebates or instant savings. All prices are as follows:

GTX 480: $499
GTX 470: $349
HD 5870: $425
HD 5850: $325


While the GTX 480 doesn’t exactly represent the best value when AA isn’t enabled, it is definitely interesting to see it almost draw even with the HD 5870 when IQ settings are increased. Basically, this means you are getting about the same value with either card even though the GTX 480 does tend to have much better minimum framerates, which didn't factor into these charts.

There is however one huge unknown: this is a fluid market and retailers can increase or decrease prices any number of ways so you should just take the charts above as a guide instead of God’s Own truth.