NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 vs ATI FireGL X2-256

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 and ATI FireGL X2-256 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory.

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800

ATI FireGL X2-256

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800

Around 5% higher core clock speed: 400 MHz vs 380 MHz
Around 5% higher texture fill rate: 3.2 GTexel / s vs 3.04 GTexel / s
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 130 nm vs 150 nm
Around 14% higher memory clock speed: 800 MHz vs 700 MHz

Core clock speed	400 MHz vs 380 MHz
Texture fill rate	3.2 GTexel / s vs 3.04 GTexel / s
Manufacturing process technology	130 nm vs 150 nm
Memory clock speed	800 MHz vs 700 MHz

Reasons to consider the ATI FireGL X2-256

2x more maximum memory size: 256 MB vs 128 MB

Maximum memory size	256 MB vs 128 MB

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800	ATI FireGL X2-256
Essentials
Architecture	Rankine	Rage 9
Code name	NV30	R360
Launch date	6 March 2003	1 March 2003
Launch price (MSRP)	$299
Place in performance rating	not rated	not rated
Type	Desktop	Workstation
Technical info
Core clock speed	400 MHz	380 MHz
Manufacturing process technology	130 nm	150 nm
Texture fill rate	3.2 GTexel / s	3.04 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	44 Watt
Transistor count	125 million	117 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
Length	213 mm
Supplementary power connectors	1x Molex	1x Molex
API support
DirectX	9.0a	9.0
OpenGL	1.5 (2.1)	2.0
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	128 MB	256 MB
Memory bandwidth	12.8 GB / s	22.4 GB / s
Memory bus width	128 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	700 MHz
Memory type	DDR	DDR2