NVIDIA GeForce GTS 160M

NVIDIA GeForce GTS 160M

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 160M is a laptop graphics card, which is basically a GeForce 9800M GTS  (G94b core) produced in 55nm. Due to the smaller fabrication, the power consumption is reduced to the level of the 9800M GS (60 Watt TDP) and therefore the 160M can also be used for 15" laptops.

As all cards with DirectX 10 capabilities, the GeForce GTX 160M renders the 3D images using "Unified Shaders". There don't exist any more dedicated pixel- and vertex shaders but 64 so called stream processors make the graphic work (which has been done by pixel and vertex shaders in former days). Furthermore, the shader units are higher clocked than the chip and only 1-dimensional (as a difference to the ATI HD 4000 series).

As the GTX 160M is just a die shrink, the performance is compareable to the GeForce 9800M GTS. For DirectX 10 games in 2009 like Crysis, World in Conflict, Bioshock or Age of Conan, the performance of this graphic card is sufficient (but not for high details in Crysis - see below). The memory equipment is up to 1024 MB GDDR3.

An advantage of the GeForce GTS 100M series is the integrated PureVideo HD video processor. It is able to help with the decoding of H.264-, VC-1-, MPEG2- and WMV9 video material in HD quality and therefore eases the CPU.

HybridPower is a technique to choose between the integrated and dedicated graphics core, if performance or battery runtime is needed. This works only in Windows Vista. Up to now the user has to use a tool to switch between the GPUs. Later Nvidia wants to switch automatically in the drivers. GeForceBoost is not supported with this card, as there would be no performance gain to combine the integrated GPU with the graphic card.

The power consumption of up to 60 Watts (of the whole board) allows the use of the card also in 15" laptops. For example, MSI offered a light 2.8 kg 15" laptop (GT627) with 9800M GS (same power consumption).

Compared with Desktop graphic cards, the performance is about at the level of the GeForce 8800 GT (with a somewhat higher memory clock than the mobile version).

ManufacturerNVIDIA
GeForce GTS 100M Series

GeForce GTS 160M 64@600MHz

GeForce GTS 150M 64@400MHz

CodenameN10E-GS1
Pipelines64 - unified
Core Speed *600 MHz
Shader Speed *1500 MHz
Memory Speed *800 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 10, Shader 4.0
Transistors504 Million
technology55 nm
FeaturesPureVideo HD, HybridPower, 
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement02.03.2009
InformationMXM 3
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

Benchmarks

3DMark 2001SE - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 30011     avg: 30011 (49%)     max: 30011 Points
3DMark 03 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 29048     avg: 29048 (27%)     max: 29048 Points
3DMark 05 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 13775     avg: 13775 (43%)     max: 13775 Points
3DMark 06
0% 100%
min: 9327     avg: 9327 (36%)     max: 9327 Points
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Score 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 3964     avg: 3964 (18%)     max: 3964 Points
Windows Vista Experience Index - GPU
0% 100%
min: 5.9     avg: 5.9 (87%)     max: 5.9 Points
Windows Vista Experience Index - GPU Games
0% 100%
min: 5.9     avg: 5.9 (87%)     max: 5.9 Points
Cinebench R10 - Shading 32Bit
0% 100%
min: 3432     avg: 3432 (32%)     max: 3432 Points
3DMark Vantage - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 3965     avg: 3965 (13%)     max: 3965 Points
3DMark Vantage - P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 3374     avg: 3374 (10%)     max: 3374 Points
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Anno 1404
Anno 1404 (2009)
low:
120.7  fps      Compare
ultra:
33.5  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
ArmA 2 (2009): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
F.E.A.R. 2
F.E.A.R. 2 (2009)
low:
121.9  fps      Compare
med.:
67  fps      Compare
high:
42.2  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
GTA IV - Grand Theft Auto (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings med.. - more...
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead (2008)
low:
141.6  fps      Compare
high:
103  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Far Cry 2 (2008): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Crysis - GPU Benchmark
Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
88  fps      Compare
med.:
51  fps      Compare
high:
34  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Crysis - CPU Benchmark
Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007)
low:
108  fps      Compare
med.:
52  fps      Compare
high:
33  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
World in Conflict - Benchmark
World in Conflict - Benchmark (2007)
med.:
29  fps      Compare
high:
26  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Command and Conquer III (2007): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
Call of Juarez Benchmark
Call of Juarez Benchmark (2006)
high:
24.6  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark (2005)
high:
153.5  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
F.E.A.R. (2005): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Counter-Strike Source
Counter-Strike Source (2004)
high:
242.6  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Doom 3 (2004): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...

For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

Notebook reviews with NVIDIA GeForce GTS 160M graphics card

MSI GT628 (Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000, 15.4")
» Review MSI GT628 Gaming-Notebook - Review
» MSI GT628 - External Review

MSI GT628Q (Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000, 15.4")
» MSI GT628Q - External Review

» Comparison of GPUs
Detailled list of all laptop GPUs with a short description. Classified and sorted by performance.

» Benchmark List
Sortable and restrainable list of all GPUs with benchmarks (e.g. 3DMarks).

» Notebook Gaming List
Which game can be played with my graphics card.

Class 1
GeForce GTX 590
GeForce GTX 580
Radeon HD 6970
GeForce GTX 570
GeForce GTX 480
GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Radeon HD 6870
GeForce GTX 470
Radeon HD 5850
GeForce GTX 460 768MB
Radeon HD 6790
Radeon HD 5770
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
GeForce GTS 450
Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 5670
Class 2
GeForce GT 240
GeForce GT 430
7590M *
Radeon HD 5570
Radeon HD 6550D *
GeForce GT 220
Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
Class 3
Radeon HD 4350
GeForce G 107M *
Chrome9HD *
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
SGX543MP2 *
Mali-400 MP *
PowerVR SGX540 *
PowerVR SGX535
unknown *

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter

> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > FAQ / Tips / Technics > Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards > NVIDIA GeForce GTS 160M
Author: Klaus Hinum (Update: 2012-01-25)