NVIDIA GPU Performance Evolution Compared | Generated by AI
NVIDIA GPUs: 2010 DirectX 11 Flagships vs. Modern RTX Cards
Around 2010, NVIDIA’s top consumer graphics cards supporting DirectX 11 were the GeForce GTX 480 (launched March 2010, first DX11 card) and GTX 580 (November 2010, fastest of the era). These were based on the Fermi architecture, with 480–512 CUDA cores, 1.5 GB GDDR5 memory, and ~250W TDP.
Modern comparisons: RTX 3090 (Ampere, 2020), RTX 4070 (Ada Lovelace, 2023), and RTX 4090 (Ada Lovelace, 2022). No RTX 4090 Ti was ever released—it was rumored in 2023 but canceled, with no updates even into 2025.
FP32 TFLOPS (Theoretical Peak Single-Precision Performance)
This measures raw shader compute power (higher = better theoretical FLOPS).
| GPU | Architecture | FP32 TFLOPS | Multiplier vs. GTX 480 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 480 | Fermi | 1.345 | 1x |
| GTX 580 | Fermi 2.0 | 1.581 | 1.18x |
| RTX 4070 | Ada | 29.15 | 21.7x |
| RTX 3090 | Ampere | 35.58 | 26.5x |
| RTX 4090 | Ada | 82.58 | 61.4x |
Modern cards deliver 20–60x the raw FLOPS, thanks to massive core counts (5,888–16,384 shaders), higher clocks, and architectural efficiency.
Real-World Performance (Relative to RTX 4090 = 100%)
- TechPowerUp Relative Performance: Average across 1,000+ games/benchmarks (1080p/1440p rasterization-focused). Newer architectures excel more in real workloads due to better scheduling, caching, and features like DLSS/RT.
- PassMark G3D Mark: Aggregate synthetic benchmark (average user-submitted scores).
| GPU | TechPowerUp Relative (RTX 4090 = 100%) | PassMark G3D Mark (Avg) | Multiplier vs. GTX 480 (PassMark) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 480 | 6% | ~4,075 | 1x |
| GTX 580 | ~7% | ~4,500 | ~1.1x |
| RTX 4070 | 53% | ~26,900 | ~6.6x |
| RTX 3090 | 58% | ~26,600 | ~6.5x |
| RTX 4090 | 100% | ~38,400 | ~9.4x |
- Key Insights:
- Theoretical FLOPS overstates gains: Real performance is “only” 10–17x faster for RTX 4090 vs. 2010 cards, due to Fermi’s inefficiencies (poor caching, high power/heat).
- In modern games (1440p/4K, DX12 Ultimate, ray tracing): Multipliers are 20–50x+ higher, as old cards struggle with VRAM limits (1.5 GB vs. 12–24 GB) and lack RT/DLSS.
- Power efficiency: RTX 4090 (450W) is ~4x more perf/W than GTX 480 (250W).
- Gaming example: In 2010 titles, GTX 480 hit ~60 FPS 1080p high. RTX 4090 does 4K ultra + RT at 200+ FPS today.
References:
- TechPowerUp GTX 480 Specs
- TechPowerUp GTX 580 Specs
- TechPowerUp RTX 3090 Specs
- TechPowerUp RTX 4070 Specs
- TechPowerUp RTX 4090 Specs
- PassMark Video Card Benchmarks