NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M
The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M is an entry level dedicated laptop graphics card presented in 2010. It is based on the GF119 or GF108 core, which are both related to the Fermi architecture. Depending on the version, it features a 64 Bit memory bus and higher clock rates (GF119 version) or a 128 Bit memory bus and slower clock rates. Theoretically, the card also supports fast GDDR5 memory, but due to cost limitations, DDR3 will be used by the laptop manufacturers.
Compared to the GT 420M, the 520M offers only 48 instead of 96 shader cores.
- GF108 - core 600/1200 MHz, 128 Bit 900 MHz DDR3
- GF119 - core 740/1480 MHz, 64 Bit 800 MHz DDR3
Architecture
The GF119 offers 48 ALUs, 8 texture units and a 64 Bit memory interface for DDR3-VRAM. Therefore, it is similar to a half GF108 (GeForce GT 540M) but already manufactured with optimized transistors. As a difference the amount of raster-operation-processors (ROP) stayed the same counting 4. The GF119 is the smalles chip of the Fermi generation and is used for low end laptops.
Performance
As an entry level card, the GT 520M has to compete against the Intel HD Graphics 3000 in the current Sandy Bridge processors. In our tests, the card was only slightly faster, but the better driver support did make a difference. However, demanding games like Battlefield 3 or The Witcher 2 are not playable. Other modern games only run in low details, and therefore gamers wont be pleased with the performance. Low demanding games like Fifa 12, however, are playable with high detail settings.
As the other 500M series chips, the 520M supports Bitstream HD Audio (Blu-Ray) output via HDMI. That means the card is able to transfer Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream-wise without quality loss to a HiFi receiver.
The GT520M offers the PureVideo HD technology for video decoding. The included Video Processor 4 (VP4) in the GF108 chip 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). The newer GF119 supports already the next generation VP5 (feature set D) with faster decodes, HD-to SD transcodes, lower power decodes and 4K x 4k resolution H.264 decode support.
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 520M 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 theoretically done by the GPU using PhysX (e.g. supported by Mafia 2 or Metro 2033) but the performance wont be sufficient for this.
The power consumption of approximately 17 Watt (including board and memory) allows the usage of the 520M in small laptops. Furthermore, Optimus is supported (if implemented by the manufacturer) for automatic switching to the processor graphics card to save power.
| Manufacturer | NVIDIA |
| GeForce GT 500M Series | |
| Codename | N12P-GP/LV |
| Architecture | Fermi |
| Pipelines | 48 - unified |
| Core Speed | 740 / 600 MHz |
| Shader Speed | 1480 / 1200 MHz |
| Memory Speed | 800 / 900 MHz |
| Memory Bus Width | 64 / 128 Bit |
| Memory Type | DDR3 (GDDR5) |
| Max. Amount of Memory | 1536 MB |
| Shared Memory | no |
| DirectX | DirectX 11, Shader 5.0 |
| technology | 40 nm |
| Features | PhysX, Verde Drivers, CUDA, Optimus, DirectCompute, OpenCL, DirectX11, OpenGL 4.1 |
| Date of Announcement | 05.01.2011 |
Benchmarks
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 510 avg: 565 median: 568.5 (1%) max: 632 Points
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3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 451 avg: 500 median: 502 (1%) max: 557 Points
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3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 1513 avg: 2218 median: 2280 (2%) max: 2357 Points
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3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 1188 avg: 1769 median: 1825 (2%) max: 1898 Points
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3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
min: 11778 avg: 19118 median: 20926 (22%) max: 24651 Points
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3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
min: 11351 avg: 12201 median: 12227 (6%) max: 13147 Points
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3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 8461 avg: 9070 median: 9098 (13%) max: 9337 Points
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3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings +min: 5284 avg: 5476 median: 5476 (10%) max: 5668 points
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3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +min: 4432 avg: 4762 median: 4742.5 (9%) max: 5353 Points
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3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x768 +min: 4980 avg: 5133 median: 5100 (9%) max: 5318 Points
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Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high
min: 6.9 avg: 7.6 median: 7.7 (1%) max: 8 fps
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SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 snx-01
min: 2.34 avg: 2.4 median: 2.4 (2%) max: 2.52 fps
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specvp11 tcvis-02 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 tcvis-02
min: 0.7 avg: 0.7 median: 0.7 (1%) max: 0.73 fps
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specvp11 sw-02 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 sw-02
5.1 fps (6%)
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specvp11 proe-05 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 proe-05
min: 0.79 avg: 0.8 median: 0.8 (3%) max: 0.8 fps
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specvp11 maya-03 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 maya-03
min: 5.41 avg: 5.5 median: 5.5 (4%) max: 5.53 fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 -73%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 6%
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specvp11 lightwave-01 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 lightwave-01
min: 6.93 avg: 7.2 median: 7.2 (8%) max: 7.4 fps
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specvp11 ensight-04 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 ensight-04
min: 5.29 avg: 5.6 median: 5.6 (3%) max: 5.82 fps
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specvp11 catia-03 +SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 catia-03
min: 2.46 avg: 2.5 median: 2.5 (3%) max: 2.55 fps
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Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
min: 6.4 avg: 6.4 median: 6.4 (81%) max: 6.5 Points
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Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
min: 4.6 avg: 5 median: 4.7 (59%) max: 5.8 Points
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Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
min: 4234 avg: 4982 median: 4960 (23%) max: 5794 points
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Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
min: 13 avg: 15 median: 15.5 (7%) max: 15.5 fps
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- 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.
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
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» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
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» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 28%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 660%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 4%
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 15%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
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» With most tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
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ATI Radeon HD 4850 278%
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 300%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 433%
ATI Radeon HD 4850 267%
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 283%
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 700%
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
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ATI Radeon HD 4350 -50%
ATI Radeon HD 5570 50%
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ATI Radeon HD 4350 -52%
ATI Radeon HD 5570 52%
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ATI Radeon HD 5570 44%
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» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1967%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
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ATI Radeon HD 5850 14%
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ATI Radeon HD 5570 43%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
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ATI Radeon HD 4350 -19%
ATI Radeon HD 5850 27%
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ATI Radeon HD 4350 -23%
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ATI Radeon HD 4350 -53%
ATI Radeon HD 5570 26%
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» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 348%
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» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 536%
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» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
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