ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 Mac Edition vs GeForce FX 5500

Primary details

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

Place in the rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureRankine (2003−2005)R500 (2005−2007)
GPU code nameNV34 B1M56
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date17 March 2004 (20 years ago)8 November 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$36.99 no data

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 speed270 MHz398 MHz
Number of transistors45 million157 million
Manufacturing process technology150 nm90 nm
Texture fill rate1.0801.592
ROPs44
TMUs44

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 8xPCIe 1.0 x16
Length152 mmno data
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 typeDDRGDDR3
Maximum RAM amount64 MB128 MB
Memory bus width128 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed166 MHz396 MHz
Memory bandwidth5.312 GB/s12.67 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 DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-VideoNo outputs

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX9.0a9.0c (9_3)
Shader Modelno data3.0
OpenGL1.5 (2.1)2.0
OpenCLN/AN/A
VulkanN/AN/A

Pros & cons summary


Recency 17 March 2004 8 November 2007
Maximum RAM amount 64 MB 128 MB
Chip lithography 150 nm 90 nm

ATI Mobility X1600 Mac Edition has an age advantage of 3 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 66.7% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between GeForce FX 5500 and Mobility Radeon X1600 Mac Edition. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that GeForce FX 5500 is a desktop card while Mobility Radeon X1600 Mac Edition is a notebook 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 FX 5500
GeForce FX 5500
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 Mac Edition
Mobility Radeon X1600 Mac Edition

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