GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT

NVIDIA

GeForce GT 120

2017Core: 1228 MHzBoost: 1468 MHz
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VS
AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT

2009Core: 550 MHz
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GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT Performance Spectrum

About G3D Mark

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.

GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GT 120

2017

Why buy it

  • Costs $99 less on MSRP ($100 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
  • Delivers 94.9% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 1.9 vs 1.0 G3D/$ ($100 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
  • 100% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (512 MB vs 256 MB).

Trade-offs

  • 2017 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.

Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT

2009

Why buy it

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

Trade-offs

  • Less VRAM, with 256 MB vs 512 MB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
  • 2009 hardware with 256 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • 99% HIGHER MSRP
    $199 MSRPvs$100 MSRP
  • Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 1.0 vs 1.9 G3D/$ ($199 MSRP vs $100 MSRP).

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 2.1% in PassMark G3D (192 vs 188), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce GT 120 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: 512 MB vs 256 MB of VRAM, a 14nm process instead of 55nm, and a newer 2017 generation instead of 2009. That gives it more room for heavier textures and higher settings over time.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce GT 120 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $99 cheaper on MSRP at $100 vs $199, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 94.9% (1.9 vs 1.0), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

GeForce GT 120 vs Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GT 120

The GeForce GT 120 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 17 2017. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 1228 MHz to 1468 MHz. It has 384 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 188 points. Launch price was $79.

AMD

Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT

The Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 9 2009. It features the TeraScale architecture. The core clock speed is 550 MHz. It has 800 ×2 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 55 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 192 points.

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GT 120 scores 188 and the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT reaches 192 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.1% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GT 120 is built on Pascal while the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT uses TeraScale, both on 14 nm vs 55 nm. Shader units: 384 (GeForce GT 120) vs 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT). Raw compute: 1.127 TFLOPS (GeForce GT 120) vs 0.88 TFLOPS ×2 (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT).

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
G3D Mark Score
188
192+2%
Architecture
Pascal
TeraScale
Process Node
14 nm
55 nm
Shading Units
384
800 ×2+108%
Compute (TFLOPS)
1.127 TFLOPS+28%
0.88 TFLOPS ×2
ROPs
16
16 ×2
TMUs
24
40 ×2+67%
L1 Cache
144 KB
160 KB+11%
L2 Cache
512 KB+100%
256 KB

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GT 120 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The GeForce GT 120 has 512 MB of VRAM, while the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT carries 256 MB. GeForce GT 120 gives you 100% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 64-bit on the GeForce GT 120 and 64-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT. L2 Cache: 512 KB (GeForce GT 120) vs 256 KB (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT) — the GeForce GT 120 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
VRAM Capacity
0.5 GB+100%
0.25 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
Unknown
Unknown
Bus Width
64-bit
64-bit
L2 Cache
512 KB+100%
256 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.0 (GeForce GT 120) vs 10.0 (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT). OpenGL: 3.3 vs 3.3. Maximum simultaneous displays: 2 vs 2.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
DirectX
10.0
10.0
OpenGL
3.3
3.3
Max Displays
2
2
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: No (GeForce GT 120) vs Avivo HD (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP3 vs Avivo HD. Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1 (GeForce GT 120) vs H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,MPEG-4 (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT).

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
Encoder
No
Avivo HD
Decoder
PureVideo HD VP3
Avivo HD
Codecs
MPEG-2,H.264,VC-1
H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,MPEG-4
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GT 120 draws 30W versus the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT's 30W — a 0% difference. The Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (GeForce GT 120) vs 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Typical load temperature: 65°C vs 70°C.

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
TDP
30W
30W
Recommended PSU
350W
350W
Power Connector
PCIe-powered
PCIe-powered
Length
168mm
Height
111mm
Slots
1
1
Temp (Load)
65°C-7%
70°C
Perf/Watt
6.3
6.4+2%
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce GT 120 came in at $100, while the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT launched at $199. On MSRP, GeForce GT 120 was 49.7% cheaper ($99 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 1.9 (GeForce GT 120) vs 1.0 (Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT) — the GeForce GT 120 offers 90% better value. The newer card here is GeForce GT 120 (2017 vs 2009).

FeatureGeForce GT 120Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT
MSRP
$100-50%
$199
Performance per Dollar
1.9+90%
1.0
Codename
GP108
M98
Release
May 17 2017
January 9 2009
Ranking
#641
#818

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