GeForce 6800 XE vs FX 5900 Ultra
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) | Curie (2003−2013) |
| GPU code name | NV35 | NV40 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 23 October 2003 (21 year ago) | 30 September 2005 (19 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | 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 speed | 450 MHz | 275 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 135 million | 222 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 130 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 59 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 3.600 | 2.200 |
| ROPs | 4 | 8 |
| TMUs | 8 | 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 |
| Length | 218 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x Molex | 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 | DDR2 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 128 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 425 MHz | 266 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 27.2 GB/s | 8.512 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 | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0a | 9.0c (9_3) |
| Shader Model | no data | 3.0 |
| OpenGL | 1.5 (2.1) | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | N/A | N/A |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
Passmark
This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 23 October 2003 | 30 September 2005 |
6800 XE has an age advantage of 1 year.
We couldn't decide between GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and GeForce 6800 XE. 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
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