NVS 5100M vs GeForce 256 SDR

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Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureCelsius (1999−2005)Tesla 2.0 (2007−2013)
GPU code nameNV10 A3GT216
Market segmentDesktopMobile workstation
Release date11 October 1999 (24 years ago)7 January 2010 (14 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA coresno data48
Core clock speed120 MHz550 MHz
Number of transistors17 million486 million
Manufacturing process technology220 nm40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)no data35 Watt
Texture fill rate0.488.800
Floating-point performanceno data0.1162 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

InterfaceAGP 4xMXM-A (3.0)
Width1-slotno data
Supplementary power connectorsNoneno data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeSDRGDDR3
Maximum RAM amount32 MB1 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed143 MHz1600 MHz
Memory bandwidth1.144 GB/s25.6 GB/s

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors1x VGANo outputs

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX7.011.1 (10_1)
Shader Modelno data4.1
OpenGL1.23.3
OpenCLN/A1.1
VulkanN/AN/A
CUDA-1.2

Pros & cons summary


Recency 11 October 1999 7 January 2010
Maximum RAM amount 32 MB 1 GB
Chip lithography 220 nm 40 nm

NVS 5100M has an age advantage of 10 years, a 3100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 450% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between GeForce 256 SDR and NVS 5100M. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that GeForce 256 SDR is a desktop card while NVS 5100M is a mobile workstation one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR
GeForce 256 SDR
NVIDIA NVS 5100M
NVS 5100M

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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3.4 67 votes

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3.4 35 votes

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Questions & comments

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