Notebookcheck Logo

NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M

NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M

► remove from comparison NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M is a fast mid-range laptop graphics card presented in 2010. It is based on the GF108 core, which is related to the Fermi architecture. Therefore, it supports DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.0. In contrast to the GT 420M, the card features only 48 of the 96 shader cores. Therfore the performance should be clearly below the GT 420M (as both feature the same clock rates). However, Nvidia still classifies the card in the performance class (the GeForce 310M is Mainstream). As graphics memory, the GT 415M supports only (G)DDR3 and no GDDR5.

GF108 architecture

The GF108 core of the GT 415M is related to the GF100 core of the GeFore GTX 480M and offers 96 shaders and a 128 Bit memory bus for DDR3. Except for the memory controllers the GF108 can basically be considered a halved GF106. Therefore, the architecture is not comparable to the old GT215 (e.g., GeForce GTS 350M) or GT216 (e.g., GeForce GT 330M) cores. Unlike the GF100 the smaller GF104, GF106, and GF108 core were not only shortened, but also considerably modified. In contrast to the GF100, which was designed for professional applications, these chips target the consumer market. They feature more shaders (3x16 instead of 2x16), more texture units (8 instead of 4) and SFUs per streaming multi-processor (SM). As there are still only 2 warp schedulers (versus 3 shader groups), Nvidia now uses superscalar execution to use the higher amount of shaders per SM more efficiently. In theory, the shaders can thereby be utilized more efficiently and the performance per core is improved. However, in worst case scenarios the performance can also be worse than of the GF100 (and its predecessors). The ECC memory protection, which is important for professional applications, was completely omitted and the FP64 hardware shortened (only 1/3 of the shader are FP64-capable and therewith only 1/12 of the FP32’s performance). Because of these cutbacks, the size of the SM  grew only by 25% despite the higher number of shaders and larger warp schedulers with superscalar dispatch capabilities. Due to the different shader architectures and the higher clock rate of the shader domain, the core count can not be directly compared to AMD cores of the Radeon 5000 series (e.g. HD 5650).

Detailed information on the GF104 architecture (and therewith also the GF106 and GF108) can be found in the desktop GTX 460 article by Anandtech.

Performance

Because the GeForce GT 415M features a new architecture, the performance is not comparable to older chips with a similar core count. As the GeForce GT 420M showed a smiliar performance as the old GT 330M (in our tests with a pre-sample), the performance of the GT 415M should below, approximately the level of the GeForce GT 320M / Mobility Radeon HD 4570.

Features

A novelty of the GF104/106/108 chips is the support of Bitstream HD Audio (Blu-Ray) output via HDMI. Alike the Radeon HD 5470, the GT 415M can transfer Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream-wise without quality loss to a HiFi receiver.

The GT415M offers the PureVideo HD technology for video decoding. The included Video Processor 4 (VP4) supports feature set C and therefore the GPU is able to fully decode MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 ASP - e.g., DivX or Xvid), VC-1/WMV9, and H.264 (VLD, IDCT, Motion Compensation, and Deblocking).

Furthermore, the GPU is able to decode two 1080p streams simultaneously (e.g. for Blu-Ray Picture-in-Picture).

Through CUDA, OpenCL, and DirectCompute 2.1 support the GeForce GT 415M can be of help in general calculations. For example, the stream processor can considerably faster encode videos than a fast CPU can. Furthermore, physics calculations can be done by the GPU using PhysX (e.g. supported by Mafia 2 or Metro 2033).

Without load, the chip is clocked at 50/100/135 MHz (chip/shader/memory) in 2D respectively 200/400/325 in 3D mode to save power. Furthermore, the 400M series supports Optimus to automatically switch between the integrated graphics card from Intel and the Nvidia GPU. However, the laptop manufacturers need to implement it and it cannot be upgraded.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M

► remove from comparison NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M is a fast mid-range laptop graphics card introduced in 2010. It is based on the GF106 core, which is related to the Fermi architecture. Therefore, it supports DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.0. In contrast to the GTX 460M, the card only features 144 of the 192 shader cores. Depending on the configuration, the GPU is available in 128 bit DDR3 or 192 bit GDDR5 for VRAM. The performance difference between the two versions can differ significantly.

GF106 architecture

The GF106 core of the GTX 445M is related to the GF100 core of the GeFore GTX 480M and offers a maximum of 192 shaders and a 192 Bit memory bus with GDDR5. The GT 445M offers only 144 shaders and, in some variants, also a smaller memory bus with DDR3. Except for the memory controllers, the GF106 can essentially be considered a halved GF104. Therefore, the architecture is not comparable to the old GT215 (e.g., GeForce GTS 350M) or GT216 (e.g., GeForce GT 330M) cores.  

Unlike the GF100, the smaller GF104, GF106 and GF108 cores were not only shortened, but also considerably modified. In contrast to the GF100, which was designed for professional applications, these latter GF10x chips target the consumer market. They feature more shaders (3x16 instead of 2x16), more texture units (8 instead of 4) and more SFUs per streaming multi-processor (SM). 

As there are still only 2 warp schedulers (versus 3 shader groups), Nvidia now uses superscalar execution in order to utilize the higher amount of shaders per SM more efficiently. In other words, the shaders operate more efficiently with higher performance per core. 

However, in worst case scenarios the performance can also be worse than of the GF100 and its predecessors. The ECC memory protection, which is important for professional applications, was completely omitted and the FP64 hardware shortened (only 1/3 of the shaders are FP64-capable and thereby only 1/12 of the FP32’s performance). Because of these cutbacks, the size of the SM  grew only by 25% despite the higher number of shaders and larger warp schedulers with superscalar dispatch capabilities. 

Due to the different shader architectures and the higher clock rates of the shader domain, the Nvidia core count cannot be directly compared to AMD cores of the Radeon 5000 series (e.g. HD 5830).

Detailed information on the GF104 architecture (and also the GF106 and GF108 by extension) can be found in the desktop GTX 460 article by Anandtech.

Performance

Because the GeForce GT 445M features the new Fermi architecture, the performance is not comparable to older chips with a similar core count. General performance heavily depends on the used memory, as DDR3 should be a bottleneck to the performance. The gaming performance is intended to be on a level with the Mobility Radeon HD 5850, assuming that the same type of graphics memory is used. In our tests, a DDR3 GeForce GT 445M was on average 14% faster than a DDR3 Radeon HD 5850 with DDR3. Furthermore, the the Fermi based chips offer a higher Tessellation performance than DX11 chips of the Radeon HD 5000 series. See below for our detailed benchmark values and gaming tests.

Features

A novel feature of the GF104/106/108 chips is the support for Bitstream HD Audio output via HDMI for Blu-ray playback. Similar the Radeon HD 5730, the GT 445M can transfer Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream without quality loss to a HiFi receiver.

The GT445M offers the PureVideo HD technology for video decoding. The included Video Processor 4 (VP4) supports feature set C and is able to fully decode MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 (MPEG-4 ASP - e.g., DivX or Xvid), VC-1/WMV9, and H.264 (VLD, IDCT, Motion Compensation, and Deblocking). In our tests, a 1080p H.264 encoded movie was playing fluently at very low CPU utilization (about 1%). A 1080p Youtube Flash video stressed the CPU only at 4%.

Furthermore, the GPU is able to decode two 1080p streams simultaneously (e.g., for Blu-Ray Picture-in-Picture).

Through CUDA, OpenCL and DirectCompute 2.1 support, the GeForce GT 445M can be of help in general calculations. For example, the stream processor can encode videos considerably faster than can a modern CPU. Furthermore, physics calculations can be done by the GPU using PhysX. Certain games, such as Mafia 2 or Metro 2033, natively support this feature.

According to Nvidia, support for 3D Vision on the GT 445M is also new. It enables the laptop to send 3D content (3D games, 3D Web Streaming, 3D photos, 3D Blu-Rays) to a built-in 3D-enabled screen or an external 3D TV if supported by the laptop manufacturer.

According to rumors, the power consumption of the GeForce GT 445M should be about 45 Watt TDP if including the MXM board and memory, which is about the level of a Mobility Radeon HD 5830. If idle, the chip is clocked at 50/100 MHz (chip/shader) in 2D mode and 200/400 in 3D mode for power-saving purposes. Furthermore, the 400M series supports Optimus to automatically switch between the integrated graphics card from Intel and the Nvidia GPU. Most notebooks include this feature, but its implementation is completely dependent on the notebook manufacturer.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 415MNVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
GeForce GT 400M Series
GeForce GT 445M 144 @ 0.59 GHz192 / 128 Bit @ 1250 MHz
GeForce GT 435M compare 96 @ 0.65 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 425M compare 96 @ 0.56 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 420M compare 96 @ 0.5 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 415M 48 @ 0.5 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 445M 144 @ 0.59 GHz192 / 128 Bit @ 1250 MHz
GeForce GT 435M compare 96 @ 0.65 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 425M compare 96 @ 0.56 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 420M compare 96 @ 0.5 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce GT 415M 48 @ 0.5 GHz128 Bit @ 800 MHz
CodenameN11P-GVN11E-GE
ArchitectureFermiFermi
Pipelines48 - unified144 - unified
Core Speed500 MHz590 MHz
Shader Speed1000 MHz1180 MHz
Memory Speed800 MHz1250 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit192 / 128 Bit
Memory Type(G)DDR3DDR3, GDDR5
Shared Memorynono
APIDirectX 11, Shader 5.0DirectX 11, Shader 5.0
technology40 nm40 nm
Features
Optimus Support, PureVideo HD VP4, Blu-Ray 3D, Bitstream HD Audio, CUDA, DirectCompute, OpenCL, OpenGL 4.0, DirectX 11
Optimus Support, PureVideo HD VP4, 3D Vision, Bitstream HD Audio, CUDA, DirectCompute, OpenCL, OpenGL 4.0, DirectX 11
Notebook Sizemedium sizedlarge
Date of Announcement03.09.2010 03.09.2010
Link to Manufacturer Pagewww.nvidia.comwww.nvidia.com

Benchmarks

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
433 Points (1%)
1291 Points (2%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
379 Points (0%)
1148 Points (1%)
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 5020     avg: 5249     median: 5249 (2%)     max: 5478 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 4513     avg: 4570     median: 4570 (3%)     max: 4627 Points
3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
9378 Points (5%)
27599 Points (14%)
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings + NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
3DMark 06
4062 Points (5%)
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x768 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
3DMark 06
4325 Points (6%)
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x768 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
10340 Points (14%)
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
3DMark 06
10304 Points (14%)
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high
16.2 fps (3%)
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 snx-01
1.8 fps (1%)
specvp11 tcvis-02 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 tcvis-02
0.6 fps (0%)
specvp11 sw-02 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 sw-02
4 fps (3%)
specvp11 proe-05 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 proe-05
0.9 fps (1%)
specvp11 maya-03 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 maya-03
6 fps (5%)
specvp11 lightwave-01 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 lightwave-01
5.8 fps (6%)
specvp11 ensight-04 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 ensight-04
11.6 fps (6%)
specvp11 catia-03 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 catia-03
3.1 fps (2%)
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
6.8 Points (86%)
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
6.8 Points (86%)
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) + NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
3922 Points (3%)
Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
4100 Points (3%)
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit + NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
11 fps (4%)
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit + NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
32.7 fps (11%)

Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M → 100% n=6

Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M → 256% n=6

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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.

med. 1024x768
GeForce GT 445M:
61.8  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GT 445M:
56.5  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
37.1  fps
Fifa 11

Fifa 11

2010
low 800x600
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
203.5  fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
94.6  fps
249%
GeForce GT 445M:
235.5  fps
high 1360x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
60.6  fps
269%
GeForce GT 445M:
163.3  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
98.9  fps
Mafia 2

Mafia 2

2010
med. 1024x768
GeForce GT 445M:
51.8  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GT 445M:
41.8  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
25.1  fps
med. 1360x768
GeForce GT 445M:
58.1  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GT 445M:
43.5  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
23.2  fps
med. 1360x768
GeForce GT 445M:
37.7  fps
high 1600x900
GeForce GT 445M:
19.4  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
6.8  fps
med. 1366x768
GeForce GT 445M:
52.7  fps
high 1366x768
GeForce GT 445M:
39.3  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
21.1  fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce GT 445M:
63  fps
high 1366x768
GeForce GT 445M:
52  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
33.8  fps
Risen

Risen

2009
low 800x600
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
31.3  fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
15.3  fps
318%
GeForce GT 445M:
48.6  fps
high 1366x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
8.8  fps
370%
GeForce GT 445M:
32.6  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
21.7  fps
Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5

2009
low 800x600
GeForce GT 445M:
109.8  fps
high 1360x768
GeForce GT 445M:
61.2  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
34.7  fps
Need for Speed Shift

Need for Speed Shift

2009
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
18.7  fps
402%
GeForce GT 445M:
75.1  fps
high 1366x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
16.7  fps
321%
GeForce GT 445M:
53.6  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
31.7  fps
Colin McRae: DIRT 2

Colin McRae: DIRT 2

2009
low 800x600
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
46.2  fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
30.2  fps
296%
GeForce GT 445M:
89.3  fps
high 1360x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
15.7  fps
360%
GeForce GT 445M:
56.5  fps
ultra 1920x1080
GeForce GT 445M:
31.4  fps
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

2007
low 800x600
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
97.5  fps
med. 1024x768
100%
GeForce GT 415M:
37.6  fps

Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M → 100%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%

Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M → 323%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 342%

NVIDIA GeForce GT 445Mlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Call of Duty: Black Ops61.856.537.1
Fifa 11235.5163.398.9
Mafia 251.841.825.1
StarCraft 258.143.523.2
Metro 203337.719.46.8
Battlefield: Bad Company 252.739.321.1
CoD Modern Warfare 2635233.8
Risen48.632.621.7
Resident Evil 5109.861.234.7
Need for Speed Shift75.153.631.7
Colin McRae: DIRT 289.356.531.4
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps


1

5
4
1
1
8
1
1
5
5
1






NVIDIA GeForce GT 415Mlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Fifa 11203.594.660.6
Risen31.315.38.8
Need for Speed Shift18.716.7
Colin McRae: DIRT 246.230.215.7
Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare97.537.6
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps

2
1
1
2
2
1
3

1









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

Add one or more devices and compare

In the following list you can select (and also search for) devices that should be added to the comparison. You can select more than one device.

restrict list:

show all (including archived), 2024, 2023
v1.26
log 29. 13:45:17

#0 checking url part for id 1944 +0s ... 0s

#1 checking url part for id 1945 +0s ... 0s

#2 not redirecting to Ajax server +0s ... 0s

#3 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Thu, 28 Mar 2024 05:37:00 +0100 +0.001s ... 0.001s

#4 composed specs +0.076s ... 0.077s

#5 did output specs +0s ... 0.077s

#6 start showIntegratedCPUs +0s ... 0.077s

#7 getting avg benchmarks for device 1944 +0.022s ... 0.099s

#8 got single benchmarks 1944 +0.01s ... 0.109s

#9 getting avg benchmarks for device 1945 +0.002s ... 0.11s

#10 got single benchmarks 1945 +0.009s ... 0.12s

#11 got avg benchmarks for devices +0s ... 0.12s

#12 min, max, avg, median took s +0.174s ... 0.293s

#13 before gaming benchmark output +0s ... 0.293s

#14 Got 46 rows for game benchmarks. +0.005s ... 0.298s

#15 composed SQL query for gamebenchmarks +0s ... 0.298s

#16 got data and put it in $dataArray +0.007s ... 0.305s

#17 benchmarks composed for output. +0.029s ... 0.334s

#18 calculated avg scores. +0s ... 0.334s

#19 return log +0.06s ... 0.395s

Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > Graphics Card Comparison - Head 2 Head
Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)