SLI Scaling

At low resolutions the SLI advantage of the GTX 460 can not really play out. It makes no sense to opt for two of these cards if the scaling is below 60%. At 2560x1600, and most certainly multi-monitor surround gaming configurations the cards can show their full potential. 82% is excellent considering we have a many older titles in our test suite that do not benefit as much as the latest games.

Value and Conclusion

As you have read in the single card reviews of the GeForce GTX 460, the card is really a major step forward for NVIDIA and their Fermi architecture. The cards are low power consumption and low noise, which helps to make up lost ground against ATI's offerings.

In a dual GPU configuration, the GTX 460 can shine too. It offers near perfect scaling of 82% when running at a resolution of 2560x1600 which it can handle fine in most games we tested. Actually I would recommend this setup only for a resolution of 2560x1600 or 1920x1200, for everything below the gains are much smaller and the need for that much rendering power is questionable.

While the cards do look like a solid alternative, you still have to consider the implications of a dual GPU setup. It requires proper SLI profile support from NVIDIA's drivers, otherwise you will be stuck with single card performance. It should also be noted that doubling the power consumption and fan noise will make this setup pretty much equal to a single GeForce GTX 480 card in those two fields - but at a lower price of $460 vs. $499. Whether this is worth the trouble is up for you to decide. What is crystal clear however is that the dual GTX 460 setup offers considerably more performance than a single GTX 480 card, up by 23%.

The future looks bright for a possible single card dual GPU solution from NVIDIA. If they manage to cram two of these GPUs onto a PCB, couple it with clever power saving mechanisms and release it at a reasonable price, there is no reason to keep the GeForce GTX 480 around.