G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

FirePro W600

2012

Why buy it

✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 2.8 vs 0 G3D/$ ($599 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
✅Draws 75W instead of 100W, a 25W reduction.
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2012-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

GeForce GTX 480M

2010

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2010-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 2.8 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $599 MSRP).
❌33.3% higher power demand at 100W vs 75W.

FirePro W600

2012

GeForce GTX 480M

2010

Why buy it

✅Delivers 100+% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 2.8 vs 0 G3D/$ ($599 MSRP vs Unknown MSRP).
✅Draws 75W instead of 100W, a 25W reduction.
✅More future proof: GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) on 28nm with a newer platform for upcoming games.

Why buy it

✅Competitive enough if your priority is price, power, or specific feature preference.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2012-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.

Trade-offs

❌Very weak future-proofing: 2010-era hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already obsolete for modern gaming and is hard to recommend today.
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 0 vs 2.8 G3D/$ (Unknown MSRP vs $599 MSRP).
❌33.3% higher power demand at 100W vs 75W.

Quick Answers

So, is FirePro W600 better than GeForce GTX 480M?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 1,695 vs 1,653 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer FirePro W600 is the overall package: you are getting a newer generation, no meaningful modern upscaling stack, plus much lower power draw (75W vs 100W).

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

FirePro W600 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2012 generation instead of 2010 and a 28nm process instead of 40nm. That makes it the safer long-run choice for modern games.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

FirePro W600 can still make sense if you find it at the right price, especially around $599 MSRP. FirePro W600 is still the smarter buy for most people, though, because the raw performance is close while the overall package is cleaner. FirePro W600 is priced in an unclear MSRP range at $599 MSRP versus an unclear MSRP, and you are getting 2.5% higher G3D Mark. Moving to $599 MSRP gets you newer hardware, lower power draw (75W vs 100W), and no meaningful modern upscaling stack.

Is GeForce GTX 480M still worth buying for gaming in 2026?

Yes. GeForce GTX 480M is still a strong gaming card in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. Price is really the swing factor here. If you find it at or below an unclear MSRP, it remains a very sensible buy. FirePro W600 is still the safer recommendation for most fresh builds because it offers a cleaner overall package with newer hardware and no meaningful modern upscaling stack.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

FirePro W600 Benchmark Check

GeForce GTX 480M Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
1080p
low	22 FPS	66 FPS
medium	13 FPS	54 FPS
high	8 FPS	38 FPS
ultra	4 FPS	26 FPS
1440p
low	13 FPS	52 FPS
medium	7 FPS	43 FPS
high	3 FPS	27 FPS
ultra	2 FPS	18 FPS
4K
low	5 FPS	20 FPS
medium	3 FPS	19 FPS
high	2 FPS	12 FPS
ultra	1 FPS	10 FPS

Open FirePro W600 Open GeForce GTX 480M

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
1080p
low	39 FPS	74 FPS
medium	20 FPS	58 FPS
high	14 FPS	47 FPS
ultra	10 FPS	36 FPS
1440p
low	12 FPS	44 FPS
medium	6 FPS	31 FPS
high	5 FPS	22 FPS
ultra	4 FPS	17 FPS
4K
low	3 FPS	22 FPS
medium	2 FPS	15 FPS
high	2 FPS	11 FPS
ultra	1 FPS	8 FPS

Open FirePro W600 Open GeForce GTX 480M

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
1080p
low	76 FPS	74 FPS
medium	61 FPS	60 FPS
high	51 FPS	50 FPS
ultra	38 FPS	37 FPS
1440p
low	57 FPS	56 FPS
medium	46 FPS	45 FPS
high	38 FPS	37 FPS
ultra	29 FPS	28 FPS
4K
low	38 FPS	37 FPS
medium	31 FPS	30 FPS
high	25 FPS	25 FPS
ultra	19 FPS	19 FPS

Open FirePro W600 Open GeForce GTX 480M

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
1080p
low	74 FPS	74 FPS
medium	58 FPS	60 FPS
high	42 FPS	49 FPS
ultra	32 FPS	37 FPS
1440p
low	10 FPS	14 FPS
medium	8 FPS	11 FPS
high	7 FPS	10 FPS
ultra	5 FPS	8 FPS
4K
low	7 FPS	10 FPS
medium	5 FPS	7 FPS
high	4 FPS	6 FPS
ultra	3 FPS	5 FPS

Open FirePro W600 Open GeForce GTX 480M

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of FirePro W600 and GeForce GTX 480M

FirePro W600

The FirePro W600 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 13 2012. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 750 MHz. It has 512 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,695 points. Launch price was $599.

GeForce GTX 480M

The GeForce GTX 480M is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 25 2010. It features the Fermi architecture. The core clock speed is 425 MHz. It has 352 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 100W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 1,653 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The FirePro W600 scores 1,695 and the GeForce GTX 480M reaches 1,653 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.5% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The FirePro W600 is built on GCN 1.0 while the GeForce GTX 480M uses Fermi, both on 28 nm vs 40 nm. Shader units: 512 (FirePro W600) vs 352 (GeForce GTX 480M). Raw compute: 0.768 TFLOPS (FirePro W600) vs 0.5984 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 480M).

Feature	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
G3D Mark Score	1,695+3%	1,653
Architecture	GCN 1.0	Fermi
Process Node	28 nm	40 nm
Shading Units	512+45%	352
Compute (TFLOPS)	0.768 TFLOPS+28%	0.5984 TFLOPS
ROPs	16	32+100%
TMUs	32	44+38%
L1 Cache	128 KB	704 KB+450%
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 480M gives access to NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), widely regarding as the superior upscaling method for image quality. The FirePro W600 relies on FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which is capable but generally slightly noisier than DLSS in motion.

Feature	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	Upscaling support
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	Standard	NVIDIA Reflex

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 2 GB of GDDR5. Bus width: 64-bit vs 128-bit. L2 Cache: 256 KB (FirePro W600) vs 512 KB (GeForce GTX 480M) — the GeForce GTX 480M has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
VRAM Capacity	2 GB	2 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Bus Width	64-bit	128-bit+100%
L2 Cache	256 KB	512 KB+100%

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (FirePro W600) vs 12 (11_0) (GeForce GTX 480M). Vulkan: 1.2 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.0. Maximum simultaneous displays: 6 vs 2.

Feature	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
DirectX	12	12 (11_0)
Vulkan	1.2	1.2
OpenGL	4.6+15%	4.0
Max Displays	6+200%	2

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: VCE 1.0 (FirePro W600) vs PureVideo HD VP4 (GeForce GTX 480M). Decoder: UVD 4.0 vs PureVideo HD VP4. Supported codecs: H.264 (FirePro W600) vs H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 ASP (GeForce GTX 480M).

Feature	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
Encoder	VCE 1.0	PureVideo HD VP4
Decoder	UVD 4.0	PureVideo HD VP4
Codecs	H.264	H.264,VC-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 ASP

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The FirePro W600 draws 75W versus the GeForce GTX 480M's 100W — a 28.6% difference. The FirePro W600 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (FirePro W600) vs 350W (GeForce GTX 480M). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 1x 6-pin. Typical load temperature: Unknown vs 95°C.

Feature	FirePro W600	GeForce GTX 480M
TDP	75W-25%	100W
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	1x 6-pin
Length	168mm	—
Height	111mm	—
Slots	1	0-100%
Temp (Load)	Unknown-100%	95°C
Perf/Watt	22.6+37%	16.5