NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 vs NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 and NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, Geekbench - OpenCL, GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps).

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

Videocard is newer: launch date 4 year(s) 7 month(s) later
2.9x more core clock speed: 1296 MHz vs 450 MHz
26.8x more texture fill rate: 48.2 billion / sec vs 1.8 GTexel / s
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 65 nm vs 130 nm
4x more maximum memory size: 1 GB vs 256 MB
Around 30% higher memory clock speed: 1107 MHz vs 850 MHz
31.2x better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 1278 vs 41

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	16 June 2008 vs 23 October 2003
Core clock speed	1296 MHz vs 450 MHz
Texture fill rate	48.2 billion / sec vs 1.8 GTexel / s
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm vs 130 nm
Maximum memory size	1 GB vs 256 MB
Memory clock speed	1107 MHz vs 850 MHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark	1278 vs 41

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

4x lower typical power consumption: 59 Watt vs 236 Watt
3x better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 170 vs 57

Specifications (specs)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	59 Watt vs 236 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - G2D Mark	170 vs 57

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
GPU 2: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

PassMark - G3D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

1278

PassMark - G2D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

170

Name	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
PassMark - G3D Mark	1278	41
PassMark - G2D Mark	57	170
Geekbench - OpenCL	21396
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	2697
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	2697
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3325
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3325

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
Essentials
Architecture	Tesla 2.0	Rankine
Code name	GT200	NV35
Launch date	16 June 2008	23 October 2003
Launch price (MSRP)	$649	$499
Place in performance rating	1038	1041
Price now	$522.78
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Value for money (0-100)	2.98
Technical info
Core clock speed	1296 MHz	450 MHz
CUDA cores	240
Floating-point performance	622.1 gflops
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	130 nm
Maximum GPU temperature	105 °C
Pipelines	240
Texture fill rate	48.2 billion / sec	1.8 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	236 Watt	59 Watt
Transistor count	1,400 million	135 million
Video outputs and ports
Audio input for HDMI	S / PDIF
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x S-Video, HDTVDual Link DVI	1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x S-Video
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536
Multi monitor support
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	AGP 8x
Length	10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)	218 mm
SLI options	2-way3-way
Supplementary power connectors	6-pin & 8-pin	1x Molex
API support
DirectX	10.0	9.0a
OpenGL	2.1	1.5 (2.1)
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	256 MB
Memory bandwidth	141.7 GB / s	27.2 GB / s
Memory bus width	512 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1107 MHz	850 MHz
Memory type	GDDR3	DDR
Technologies
3D Vision
CUDA
SLI