GeForce 6800 vs HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)
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 | Gen. 6 Sandy Bridge (2011) | Curie (2003−2013) |
| GPU code name | Sandy Bridge | NV41 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 1 May 2011 (13 years ago) | 8 November 2004 (19 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $39.99 |
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.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 6 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 350 MHz | 325 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1100 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | no data | 190 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 32 nm | 130 nm |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 3.900 |
| ROPs | no data | 8 |
| TMUs | no data | 12 |
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 | no data | PCIe 1.0 x16 |
| Width | no data | 1-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 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 | no data | DDR |
| Maximum RAM amount | no data | 256 MB |
| Memory bus width | 64/128 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | no data | 300 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | no data | 19.2 GB/s |
| Shared memory | + | no data |
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 | no data | 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 10.1 | 9.0c (9_3) |
| Shader Model | no data | 3.0 |
| OpenGL | no data | 2.0 (full) 2.1 (partial) |
| OpenCL | no data | N/A |
| Vulkan | - | N/A |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 May 2011 | 8 November 2004 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 130 nm |
HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) has an age advantage of 6 years, and a 306.3% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) and GeForce 6800. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) is a notebook card while GeForce 6800 is a desktop 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
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
