GeForce FX 5900 XT vs 6800 Ultra
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 1280 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 0.30 | no data |
| Architecture | Curie (2003−2013) | Rankine (2003−2005) |
| GPU code name | NV45 | NV35 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 26 July 2004 (20 years ago) | 12 May 2003 (21 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Core clock speed | 425 MHz | 400 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 222 million | 135 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 130 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 81 Watt | 35 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 6.800 | 3.200 |
| ROPs | 16 | 4 |
| TMUs | 16 | 8 |
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).
| Interface | PCIe 1.0 x16 | AGP 8x |
| Length | 197 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 6-pin | 1x Molex |
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 type | GDDR3 | DDR |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 550 MHz | 350 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 35.2 GB/s | 22.4 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 Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0c (9_3) | 9.0a |
| Shader Model | 3.0 | no data |
| OpenGL | 2.1 | 1.5 (2.1) |
| OpenCL | N/A | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 26 July 2004 | 12 May 2003 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 81 Watt | 35 Watt |
6800 Ultra has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.
FX 5900 XT, on the other hand, has 131.4% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce 6800 Ultra and GeForce FX 5900 XT. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
