NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 vs ATI FireGL X1-256

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 and ATI FireGL X1-256 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark.

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600

ATI FireGL X1-256

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600

Videocard is newer: launch date 8 month(s) later
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 130 nm vs 150 nm
Around 1% better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 168 vs 167

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	6 March 2003 vs 1 July 2002
Manufacturing process technology	130 nm vs 150 nm
Benchmarks
PassMark - G2D Mark	168 vs 167

Reasons to consider the ATI FireGL X1-256

2x more texture fill rate: 2.6 GTexel / s vs 1.3 GTexel / s
2x more maximum memory size: 256 MB vs 128 MB
Around 13% higher memory clock speed: 620 MHz vs 550 MHz
4.5x better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 59 vs 13

Specifications (specs)
Texture fill rate	2.6 GTexel / s vs 1.3 GTexel / s
Maximum memory size	256 MB vs 128 MB
Memory clock speed	620 MHz vs 550 MHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark	59 vs 13

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600
GPU 2: ATI FireGL X1-256

PassMark - G3D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

PassMark - G2D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

168

167

Name	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600	ATI FireGL X1-256
PassMark - G3D Mark	13	59
PassMark - G2D Mark	168	167

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600	ATI FireGL X1-256
Essentials
Architecture	Rankine	Rage 8
Code name	NV31 A1	R300
Launch date	6 March 2003	1 July 2002
Place in performance rating	1024	1025
Type	Desktop	Workstation
Technical info
Core clock speed	325 MHz	325 MHz
Manufacturing process technology	130 nm	150 nm
Texture fill rate	1.3 GTexel / s	2.6 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	37 Watt	37 Watt
Transistor count	80 million	110 million
Video outputs and ports
Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Interface	AGP 8x	AGP 8x
Supplementary power connectors	None	None
API support
DirectX	9.0a	9.0
OpenGL	1.5 (2.1)	2.0
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	128 MB	256 MB
Memory bandwidth	8.8 GB / s	19.84 GB / s
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	550 MHz	620 MHz
Memory type	DDR	DDR