ATI FireGL X1-256 vs GeForce FX 5600
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Rankine (2003−2005) | Rage 8 (2002−2007) |
| GPU code name | NV31 | R300 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Workstation |
| Release date | 6 March 2003 (21 year ago) | 1 July 2002 (22 years ago) |
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 | 325 MHz | 325 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 80 million | 110 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 130 nm | 150 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 37 Watt | 37 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 1.300 | 2.600 |
| ROPs | 4 | 8 |
| TMUs | 4 | 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 | AGP 8x | AGP 8x |
| Width | 1-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | None | None |
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 | DDR | DDR |
| Maximum RAM amount | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 128 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 250 MHz | 310 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 8 GB/s | 19.84 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 | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0a | 9.0 (9_0) |
| OpenGL | 1.5 (2.1) | 2.0 |
| OpenCL | N/A | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 6 March 2003 | 1 July 2002 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Chip lithography | 130 nm | 150 nm |
FX 5600 has an age advantage of 8 months, and a 15.4% more advanced lithography process.
ATI FireGL X1-256, on the other hand, has a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.
We couldn't decide between GeForce FX 5600 and FireGL X1-256. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce FX 5600 is a desktop card while FireGL X1-256 is a workstation one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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