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NVIDIA GeForce 310M

NVIDIA GeForce 310M

The Nvidia GeForce 310M is an entry level laptop graphics card and the successor of the G 210M and therefore based on the same GT218 core with very similar clock rates (shader speed +30MHz). However, there are also newer versions that are clocked at 606 MHz and therefore slightly slower. Nvidia states that the raw performance is 73 Gigaflops compared to the 72 Gigaflops of the G210M. Therefore, the 310M is an entry level dedicated graphics card for small laptops.

The performance of the 310M is similar to the GeForce G 210M and therefore located in the entry level class. Modern 3D games like COD Modern Warfare 2 run only in low details and resolutions fluently. Some demanding games like NFS Shift or GTA4 wont run fluently at all. Less demanding games like SIMS 3 run in medium details and resolutions fluently. Therefore, the graphics card can not be recommended for gamers.

The card supports DirectX 10.1 and all the features of the G 210M (as it should be based on the same GT218 core). Therefore PureVideo HD to decode HD videos with the graphics card is supported. The used Video Processor 4 (VP4) is able to fully decode H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and also MPEG-4 ASP (DivX or xVID) in hardware to minimize CPU load. MPEG-1 is not supported but can be easily handled by every modern CPU.

As the 310M supports CUDA, DirectX Compute 10.1, and OpenCL, the shaders of the graphics processor can be used for other tasks than rendering images (e.g. faster encoding of videos).

The used GT218 core is manufactured in 40nm and based on the desktop GTX 200 architecture. Therefore, the shaders have been reworked compared to the old GeForce G110M for an improved performance and battery runtime.

GeForce 300M Series

GeForce 320M compare 32 @ 0.45 GHz
GeForce 310M 16 @ 0.61 GHz64 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 315M compare 16 @ 0.61 GHz64 Bit @ 790 MHz
GeForce 305M compare 16 @ 0.53 GHz64 Bit @ 700 MHz
CodenameN11M-GE1
ArchitectureGT2xx
Pipelines16 - unified
Core Speed606 / 625 MHz
Shader Speed1212 / 1530 MHz
Memory Speed800 MHz
Memory Bus Width64 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3, DDR3
Max. Amount of Memory512 MB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1
Transistor Count260 Million
technology40 nm
FeaturesDirectX Compute Support (Windows 7), CUDA, OpenCL, OpenGL 2.1, HybridPower
Date of Announcement10.01.2010
Information73 Gigaflops
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.nvidia.com/object/product_gef...

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 1012     avg: 1106     median: 1123 (0%)     max: 1177 Points
+ 15 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 787     avg: 868     median: 882 (1%)     max: 920 Points
+ 15 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
min: 9678     avg: 16667     median: 15456.5 (16%)     max: 23157 Points
+ 14 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
min: 8643     avg: 9628     median: 9403 (5%)     max: 10702 Points
+ 23 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 5909     avg: 6662     median: 6706 (7%)     max: 7207 Points
+ 23 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings +
3DMark 06
min: 3400     avg: 3708     median: 3768.5 (5%)     max: 3895 points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
3DMark 06
min: 2907     avg: 3184     median: 3206 (4%)     max: 3622 Points
+ 17 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x768 +
3DMark 06
min: 3212     avg: 3465     median: 3469 (5%)     max: 3746 Points
+ 7 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x720 +
3DMark 06
3826 Points (5%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high
7 fps (1%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 snx-01
3.4 fps (2%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 tcvis-02 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 tcvis-02
1 fps (1%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 sw-02 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 sw-02
6.5 fps (5%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 proe-05 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 proe-05
1.1 fps (1%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 maya-03 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 maya-03
5.1 fps (4%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 lightwave-01 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 lightwave-01
8 fps (9%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 ensight-04 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 ensight-04
6.5 fps (3%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
specvp11 catia-03 +
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 catia-03
3.3 fps (2%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
min: 5.2     avg: 5.7     median: 5.7 (72%)     max: 6.1 Points
+ 18 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
min: 3.3     avg: 4.4     median: 4.6 (58%)     max: 5 Points
+ 18 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
min: 967     avg: 3019     median: 3175 (2%)     max: 4428 points
+ 26 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
min: 7.46     avg: 8.1     median: 8.2 (3%)     max: 8.6 fps
+ 20 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

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 detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops

2010
low 800x600
31.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
22.1  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
20  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Fifa 11

Fifa 11

2010
low 800x600
158  fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
71.5  fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
53.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
StarCraft 2

StarCraft 2

2010
low 1024x768
55 67.1 77 102.5 109.7 ~ 82 fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1360x768
15 18 19.1 19.2 26 ~ 19 fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
high 1360x768
10 12.1 12.6 12.7 ~ 12 fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
CoD Modern Warfare 2

CoD Modern Warfare 2

2009
low 800x600
48.3  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1024x768
17.7  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
high 1366x768
14.6  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Risen

Risen

2009
low 800x600
25.9 25.9 31.2 ~ 28 fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
14.3 14.8 14.8 ~ 15 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
8.9 8.9 9.8 ~ 9 fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5

2009
high 1360x768
22  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Need for Speed Shift

Need for Speed Shift

2009
low 800x600
22.4 23.8 ~ 23 fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
13.7 15.7 ~ 15 fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
8.3 12.1 ~ 10 fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Colin McRae: DIRT 2

Colin McRae: DIRT 2

2009
low 800x600
24.8 25.2 29 ~ 26 fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
17.4 17.7 25 ~ 20 fps    + Compare
high 1360x768
12.5 12.5 ~ 13 fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Anno 1404

Anno 1404

2009
low 1024x768
52 89.4 ~ 71 fps    + Compare
ultra 1280x1024
10.6 10.8 ~ 11 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Sims 3

Sims 3

2009
low 800x600
78.1  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
med. 1024x768
33  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
high 1280x1024
17.3  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead

2008
low 640x480
60.1  fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
high 1024x768
40.5 44.2 ~ 42 fps    + Compare + 📈 Graph
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

2008
low 640x480
58.8 62 ~ 60 fps    + Compare
high 1024x768
19.9 20.3 ~ 20 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

2007
low 800x600
38.7 40.4 ~ 40 fps    + Compare
med. 1024x768
29.3 31.1 ~ 30 fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.